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The Erinyes pursue Orestes for the murder of his mother.
TheErinyes (orEumenides) were thegoddesses ofrevenge inGreek mythology. They are also known as theFuries. These three female divinities were namedAlecto,Tisiphone, andMegaera.
The Erinyes were born from Mother Earth and the blood ofUranos. They avenged family crimes such asmatricide andpatricide. They also tormentedevil men in the "Hell" of the underworld,Tartarus.
The Erinyes forever followed a person who did acrime. They even could make the person gomad. They are often shown withsnakes on their heads,blood coming out of their eyes, and looking horrific.
A well known story about the Erinyes is that ofOrestes. Orestes' motherKlytaimnestra, and her loverAegisthos, killed Orestes' fatherAgamemnon. The godApollo told Orestes to kill themurderers of his father, which he did. Orestes was then pursued by the Erinyes for his crime. With the help ofAthena andApollo Orestes went to acourt inAthens. It was decided that Orestes acted correctly and nobody should hurt him. Even the Erinyes accepted the decision, and from then on they were also calledEumenides, which means "the kind ones", because they could also let people go in peace if their crime was done for a good reason.
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