The Eumenides

The Eumenides is the final play of Aeschylus’s Oresteia, and it brings the long story of blood for blood to its resolution. Hounded by the Furies for the murder of his mother, Orestes flees to Athens and takes refuge with the goddess Athena, who refuses to judge him alone. Instead she founds a court of Athenian citizens, the first trial by jury, to weigh his guilt, while the god Apollo speaks for the accused and the Furies demand his death. When the votes fall even, Athena casts hers for acquittal and then persuades the ancient Furies to become the Kindly Ones, honoured protectors of the city. This free PDF and EPUB presents Gilbert Murray’s verse translation of a founding drama of law and justice.