Irony In Aeschylus's Eumenides
In Aeschylus’s Eumenides, the trial of Orestes leads to a profound interaction between the Erinyes, soon to be the Eumenides, and the goddess Athena. The Erinyes are forced to abandon their “ancient rights”, with their reward being a cave underneath the city and the power to bless those who honor them. There is a distinct tension created between Athena and the Erinyes, as it is clear that Athena is taking their customs by force rather than the Erinyes choosing to give up what they hold dear. Refrain I of Aeschylus’ Eumenides begins with the Chorus exclaiming “IOU! IOU! You young gods—you / have trampled down the age-old laws, / ripped them out of my hands!” (Eumenides, 903 - 905). First, the Chorus cries out “IOU! IOU!”. Although this brief
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phrase has no objective meaning, it is an interjection full of emotion and begins to convey the agitation of the Chorus. This quote also shows a certain disdain stemming from the Chorus towards Athena. Their contempt does not appear to be only towards Athena, but rather it appears to be directed at all the “young gods”. The Chorus is distraught at the rapidly evolving environment and blames these “young gods” for it, and claims that they have “trampled down the age-old laws”. The word “trampled” evokes a violent and negative mental image. The old laws were not simply replaced or amended, rather they were “trampled down”. The idea that this was not simply a peaceful exchange of power but rather a more aggressive substitution is supported by the next lines, where the Chorus says that Athena “ripped them [the laws] out of my hands”. “Ripped” is of the same vein as “trampled”, with distinctive vicious connotations. It continues the implication of a clash between Athena and the Chorus and their two different schools of thought. The Chorus goes on to say that their “honor stripped away, enraged, / aggrieved, now I / will squeeze out all the poison in my heart / against the land for all I’ve suffered” (Eumenides, 906 - 909). This passage shows the strength of the emotion that the Chorus has, and the staunchness with which they adhere to their archaic customs, as proven by the words “enraged” and “aggrieved”. The “honor” that was “stripped away” from the Erinyes can also be taken as the “age-old laws” that Athena is now replacing, thus strengthening the point of tension between the hoary Chorus and the revered Athena. These lines, especially when taken with the next two lines which say: “yes, poison now will ooze and drip / unbearably into the soil”, create a certain sense of premonition in the reader, as the Erinyes threats, were they to come to fruition, would certainly spell disaster for Greece. This passage as a whole elucidates some of the motivation behind the actions of the Erinyes. They are servants of justice, as they claim, yet this is a very barbaric type of justice. They deal not with just payment for one’s crimes, but rather in absolutes revolving around death and destruction. This is shown when they say that “out of it [their poison] pale fungus / blighting leaf and child (O justice!) / will quicken across the land,” (Eumenides, 912 - 915). The word “quicken” implies a rash and uncontrolled spread. The Erinyes care not who they harm, they simply want to “cover it [the land] and all the people / in a miasmal fog of / killing illnesses” (Eumenides, 915 - 917). There is no restraint, there is only revenge. “Miasmal” in particular is extremely graphic, and ignites the olfactory sense, creating a powerful notion of what the Erinyes consider justice: a very primal and raw version of it, based around equal retribution rather than concession and negotiation. Although the Erinyes are, at first, portrayed as heartless, there is some evidence to the contrary. Soon after threatening all of the land with an unspeakable blight, they say “Sorrow! / What can I do? Mocked! Spit on / by the citizens!” (Eumenides, 917 - 920). The Erinyes exclaim “sorrow!”. They do not appear to enjoy the idea of the revenge they promise to enact on the land, rather they seem melancholy that it is a necessity. They go on to say “What can I do?,” which carries with it a certain amount of resignation and defeatedness, as if the Erinyes wish there was some other course of action, yet are under the impression that this is the only viable choice for the wrongdoings, such as being “mocked” and “spit on by the citizens”, which they have suffered. The Chorus closes the first refrain with the lines “We suffer the insufferable, / luckless daughters of Night, / who have been wronged, stripped of our honor,” (Eumenides, 920 - 922).
The tone of this passage is extremely affective. The Erinyes claim that they “suffer the insufferable”. This can be taken in two ways. First, it could be seen as the lack of honor and sacrifices from the people. From a deity’s perspective, not being honored is one of the worst possible things and without a doubt would cause the Erinyes acute pain. This is supported by the fact that Athena promises them honor and power through being honored. Another potential way to interpret this is that the “insufferable” is having their “age-old laws” and “ancient rights” taken away from them. They are clearly very fond of their perennial customs and thus it would cause them great pain to have them taken away. The forceful emotion of the Chorus is also carried across to the reader not only by the compelling language, but also by the repetition of Refrain I. The Chorus has twenty lines, after which it is followed by fifteen lines from Athena with a variety of reasons as to why the Chorus should accept her proposal. After Athena makes a robust argument, the Chorus simply rejects everything Athena says and repeats their first lines, exactly as they did the first time. This shows their pain and suffering and how much they want to maintain their old
traditions. The first refrain of the interaction between the Chorus and Athena in the end of the Eumenides creates a clear point of tension between the old customs of the Erinyes and the new thought of Athena and the Athenians. The Chorus experiences severe pain in this metaphorical changing of the guards, where Athena’s new form of justice, involving a more modern court system, replaces and supersedes the Erinyes older version of a retributional idea of justice.
phrase has no objective meaning, it is an interjection full of emotion and begins to convey the agitation of the Chorus. This quote also shows a certain disdain stemming from the Chorus towards Athena. Their contempt does not appear to be only towards Athena, but rather it appears to be directed at all the “young gods”. The Chorus is distraught at the rapidly evolving environment and blames these “young gods” for it, and claims that they have “trampled down the age-old laws”. The word “trampled” evokes a violent and negative mental image. The old laws were not simply replaced or amended, rather they were “trampled down”. The idea that this was not simply a peaceful exchange of power but rather a more aggressive substitution is supported by the next lines, where the Chorus says that Athena “ripped them [the laws] out of my hands”. “Ripped” is of the same vein as “trampled”, with distinctive vicious connotations. It continues the implication of a clash between Athena and the Chorus and their two different schools of thought. The Chorus goes on to say that their “honor stripped away, enraged, / aggrieved, now I / will squeeze out all the poison in my heart / against the land for all I’ve suffered” (Eumenides, 906 - 909). This passage shows the strength of the emotion that the Chorus has, and the staunchness with which they adhere to their archaic customs, as proven by the words “enraged” and “aggrieved”. The “honor” that was “stripped away” from the Erinyes can also be taken as the “age-old laws” that Athena is now replacing, thus strengthening the point of tension between the hoary Chorus and the revered Athena. These lines, especially when taken with the next two lines which say: “yes, poison now will ooze and drip / unbearably into the soil”, create a certain sense of premonition in the reader, as the Erinyes threats, were they to come to fruition, would certainly spell disaster for Greece. This passage as a whole elucidates some of the motivation behind the actions of the Erinyes. They are servants of justice, as they claim, yet this is a very barbaric type of justice. They deal not with just payment for one’s crimes, but rather in absolutes revolving around death and destruction. This is shown when they say that “out of it [their poison] pale fungus / blighting leaf and child (O justice!) / will quicken across the land,” (Eumenides, 912 - 915). The word “quicken” implies a rash and uncontrolled spread. The Erinyes care not who they harm, they simply want to “cover it [the land] and all the people / in a miasmal fog of / killing illnesses” (Eumenides, 915 - 917). There is no restraint, there is only revenge. “Miasmal” in particular is extremely graphic, and ignites the olfactory sense, creating a powerful notion of what the Erinyes consider justice: a very primal and raw version of it, based around equal retribution rather than concession and negotiation. Although the Erinyes are, at first, portrayed as heartless, there is some evidence to the contrary. Soon after threatening all of the land with an unspeakable blight, they say “Sorrow! / What can I do? Mocked! Spit on / by the citizens!” (Eumenides, 917 - 920). The Erinyes exclaim “sorrow!”. They do not appear to enjoy the idea of the revenge they promise to enact on the land, rather they seem melancholy that it is a necessity. They go on to say “What can I do?,” which carries with it a certain amount of resignation and defeatedness, as if the Erinyes wish there was some other course of action, yet are under the impression that this is the only viable choice for the wrongdoings, such as being “mocked” and “spit on by the citizens”, which they have suffered. The Chorus closes the first refrain with the lines “We suffer the insufferable, / luckless daughters of Night, / who have been wronged, stripped of our honor,” (Eumenides, 920 - 922).
The tone of this passage is extremely affective. The Erinyes claim that they “suffer the insufferable”. This can be taken in two ways. First, it could be seen as the lack of honor and sacrifices from the people. From a deity’s perspective, not being honored is one of the worst possible things and without a doubt would cause the Erinyes acute pain. This is supported by the fact that Athena promises them honor and power through being honored. Another potential way to interpret this is that the “insufferable” is having their “age-old laws” and “ancient rights” taken away from them. They are clearly very fond of their perennial customs and thus it would cause them great pain to have them taken away. The forceful emotion of the Chorus is also carried across to the reader not only by the compelling language, but also by the repetition of Refrain I. The Chorus has twenty lines, after which it is followed by fifteen lines from Athena with a variety of reasons as to why the Chorus should accept her proposal. After Athena makes a robust argument, the Chorus simply rejects everything Athena says and repeats their first lines, exactly as they did the first time. This shows their pain and suffering and how much they want to maintain their old
traditions. The first refrain of the interaction between the Chorus and Athena in the end of the Eumenides creates a clear point of tension between the old customs of the Erinyes and the new thought of Athena and the Athenians. The Chorus experiences severe pain in this metaphorical changing of the guards, where Athena’s new form of justice, involving a more modern court system, replaces and supersedes the Erinyes older version of a retributional idea of justice.