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The Gods of the Neokoroi - The Eumenides



Allekto, Tisiphone, & Megaira

Wikimedia Commons, “Deux furies, extrait d'un livre du XIXe siècle reproduisant une image d'un vase ancien.” (Two Erinyes from a nineteenth-century sketch of an ancient Greek vase image.)

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Background

The Eumenides, also known as the Erinyes, preside over crimes against the natural order — especially familial violence, oath-breaking, and hubris. They were born when the blood of Ouranos fell on Gaia, but may also be daughters of Nyx. In Orphic theogony, their mother is Euonyme, but they can also be the daughters of Hades and Persephone.

Kerenyi states that “in the neighborhood of Megalopolis in Arcadia, sacrifices were made to the Eumenides and the Charites simultaneously” (Gods of the Greeks, 47). There is a strong connection between the Eumenides and Charites in Arcadia because both receive similar sacrifices. As Eumenides translates to “the Benevolent,” the function of this aspect of the two triads of goddesses may have been similar in Ancient Greece.

The Eumenides play a role in the Orphic mystery cults:

The Derveni commentator, who is pre-Platonic in philosophical outlook if not date, is aware of a preliminary sacrifice that the initiates (mystai) offer to the Eumenides “in the same way as the magoi.” The magoi offered cakes and libations of water and milk as part of a sacrifice that they perform “as if they were paying a penalty;” the aim of their rite was to placate dead souls that might otherwise “be in the way.” (Ritual Texts for the Afterlife, 149).

According to sacred iconography, the Erinyes are depicted with snakes in their hair and black skin. They frequently have wings. Once placated, the Erinyes transform into the Eumenides, and their skin sometimes becomes white.

Wikimedia Commons, “Wikimedia Commons, “Three Furies.” Wenceslas Hollar. The three Eumenides are depicted with their snake iconography accompanied by Cerberus.

It is customary to address the Eumenides by a positive name, much in the same way that it is customary to call Hades “Plouton.” The Eumenides are associated with the sacred priestesshood of the Hesykhides, or descendants of Hesykhos, in Attica.

Acceptable Offerings

Erinyes

Eumenides

Both

Wine is not customarily offered to the Eumenides unless offered on the Eumenideia.

Epithets

Eumenides – kindly, well-disposed, gracious, benevolent
Semnai – revered, august, holy
Meilikhioi – gentle, soothing, mild
Praxidikai – Exacters of Justice
Poiniai – retributions
Maniai – madnesses
Arai – curses
Daspletai – horrid, frightful
Aei Parthenous – Eternal Virgins
Telphousia/Tilphoussa - Bringing Forth Dues
Kynes Enkotoi – Hounds of Wrath

Primary Cult Centers

Akhaia – Keryneia
Arkadia – Megalopolis
Attica - Athens
Sikyonia – Titane
Boiotia – Mount Tilphousios, Haliartos
Lokris – Myonia
Central Italy – Rome

Festival(s)

The Eumenideia (near Diasia, most likely in the Attic month Anthesterion)

Sacred Day(s)

Fifth day of the Lunar Month

Ways to Honor

Make amends with close family members. Make and keep oaths to the Gods. Follow a comprehensive ethical system such as the Delphic Maxims, Commandments of Solon, Aristotle's Ethics, or Golden Verses of Pythagoras. Hold yourself (and others) accountable for their actions. Learn how to do ritual purification and offer your services to the community.

Wikimedia Commons, “The Rape of Persephone.” Baltimore Painter. Hades has just departed his chariot, driven by an Erinye, to abduct Persephone. Considering the subject matter, it is unlikely that the artist considered the Erinyes (or at least the one depicted) to be the daughter of Persephone.

For More Information

Derveni Papyrus, VI.
Dionysiaca: 44.198ff. Nonnus.
Eumenides, Aeschylus.
Georgics, 1.276, Virgil.
Guide to Greece, Pausanias.
Orphic Hymns: 69, 70.
Theogony, Hesiod.
Works and Days, Hesiod.

Scholarship

Ritual Texts for the Afterlife, Fritz Graf & Sarah Iles Johnston.
The Gods of the Greeks, 46-48. C. Kerényi.
“Delphika, Erinyes, Omphalos,” Jane E. Harrison.
Bell's New Pantheon, 297. John Bell.
Erinyes, Theoi.com

Eumenides Rituals

Image Credits

1: Wikimedia Commons, “Deux furies, extrait d'un livre du XIXe siècle reproduisant une image d'un vase ancien.” (Two Erinyes from a nineteenth-century sketch of an ancient Greek vase image.) [link]

2: Wikimedia Commons, “Three Furies.” Wenceslas Hollar. The three Eumenides are depicted with their snake iconography accompanied by Cerberus. [link]

3: Wikimedia Commons, “The Rape of Persephone.” Baltimore Painter. Hades has just departed his chariot, driven by an Erinye, to abduct Persephone. Considering the subject matter, it is unlikely that the artist considered the Erinyes (or at least the one depicted) to be the daughter of Persephone. [link]