Chapter 4 Orestes and Furies

Orestes avenged his father by killing his mother and her lover, which was divinely acceptable, since the oracle of Apollo had commanded him to do so.However, his filial piety to his father made him a murderer of his mother.Afterwards, Tianliang made him feel a surge of love for his mother.His behavior is really a sin against the heavenly relationship, and it also makes him a victim of the Furies.The Greeks called them Eumenides, the goddess of mercy, because they were in awe of the goddess of revenge.They are daughters of the night, fierce as their mother.They were tall, with blood-red eyes, and venomous snakes wriggling in their hair.They held torches in one hand, and whips twisted from adders in the other.Wherever the murderer of his mother was, they followed him, and made his conscience torment with remorse.

Immediately after Orestes killed his mother, the Nemesis drove him mad, and Orestes left his sister, his father's palace and Mycenae, and wandered about.His loyal friend Pylades has been with him and is his only companion in pain.But there is also a god who is helping him, and this is Apollo.Apollo, who had commanded him to take revenge and kill his mother, is still with him now and then, fending off the aggressive Furies for him from harming him.Whenever the god Apollo approached, he felt calm and sober, otherwise, he became mad. The unfortunate couple came to Delphi after a long wandering.Orestes took refuge in the temple of Apollo, where Furies could not enter, and found a moment of peace.He was weary from the long journey, and Apollo stood beside him sympathetically, encouraging his courage and hope. "Unfortunate people, please rest assured! I will not leave you. Whether I am by your side or not, I will take care of you and will never give in to the Furies who persecute you! Although you have to continue wandering, you will not leave you alone. Wandering aimlessly. You must go to Athens. There I will find you a just court, and you can defend yourself with confidence. Do not be afraid! I must leave you now for a while, but my brother Hermes will Protect yours."

The Furies fell asleep in front of the temple, which was a gift from Apollo to them.Suddenly, the ghost of Clytemnestra appeared in their dreams, and she angrily condemned the goddess of revenge: "Why are you asleep? Listen, I am Clytemnestra, and you promised to avenge me Yes. Orestes, the mother-murderer, has escaped!" As she spoke, she shook Furies out of her dream.The Nemesis jumped up and ran towards the temple with impunity. "Son of Zeus," they cried to Apollo, "don't deceive me too much! How dare you protect your mother-murderer from our punishment! You have stolen him from us! A god like this Is it right to do it?"

Apollo drove the dreaded Furies from his temple. "Get out of here!" he yelled.The Furies clamored loudly for their rights, but to no avail.Apollo claimed that he ordered Orestes to avenge his father, and that he was obliged to protect him.In the end, the Nemesis had to retreat, and fled quickly. So Apollo paid Orestes and his friend Pyladesto to Hermes to protect them, and he returned to the holy mountain of Olympus.The goddess of nemesis just followed from a distance because she was afraid of Hermes' golden rod.But then they became more and more daring.When the two arrived in Athens safely, the Nemesis was behind him.No sooner had Orestes and his friend Pylades entered the gate of the temple of Athena, than the dreaded Fury, through the door they rushed.

Orestes fell before the statue of Athena, stretched out his hands to the goddess, and begged, "Goddess of Athens, I have come to seek your protection by the order of Apollo. Please take me in kindly. My hands are not I was not stained with the blood of innocent people. I was exhausted by the pursuit of Furies. I obeyed your brother's will and came to you through countless cities and wilderness, and I begged your judge before your image!" Suddenly the Furies cried out behind him: "You criminal, we followed you in your tracks, like hounds after a stag, and we followed your bloody footprints into the temple gates! Mother murderer, you will never There is no refuge to be found! Neither Apollo nor Athena can free you from eternal torment! Come, sisters, let us dance around him and drive him mad with our songs!"

Just as they were about to sing, a divine light illuminated the temple, and the statue of Athena suddenly disappeared, and Athena herself stood in place.Athena stared at the group of people in front of her with a serious expression in her blue eyes. "Who dares to break in and disturb the peace of the holy temple?" asked the Goddess. "What a crowd of guests I have seen in the temple! A stranger embraces my altar, and three women who are not mortal stood behind him. Tell me, who are you? What do you want?" Orestes trembled with fright, fell to the ground, and dared not speak a word.But the Furies immediately replied: "Daughters of Zeus, we are the daughters of the night, the Furies. This man who defiled your altar killed his own mother. Judge him, and we will honor your sentence." We know that you are a stern and just goddess!"

"If you ask me to judge," replied Pallas Athena, "how, then, stranger, will you refute the charge against these three goddesses? Tell me first, who are your ancestors? Your native land Where? What happened to you? Then, you can wash away the sins you have been accused of!" Orestes raised his head boldly at this moment, but still knelt on the ground and said: "Goddess Athena! I am not guilty of unforgivable murder; I am not holding your god with unclean hands." Altar! I am a man of Argos; you may know my father, Agamemnon, who was the general of Troy, and with your aid destroyed the acropolis of Priam. But he But was murdered after the triumph. My mother conspired with her lover, and insidiously put a net over my father while he was bathing, and killed him with a knife. After a long exile, I returned to To my fatherland to avenge my father. I do not deny that I killed my mother to avenge the murder of my father. Your brother Apollo commanded me to do so. His oracle told me that if I do not punish the murderer of my father, I will will be tormented forever. Ah, Goddess, judge now whether I have acted justly or unreasonably."

The goddess pondered silently for a while, and then said: "The case that I am asked to judge is peculiar and complicated, and it is almost impossible for a human court to decide. Although I will still summon human judges to judge, it is reasonable for you to come to me first Yes. I will call the judges to the temple to preside over the trial, and if the judges are difficult to judge, I will preside over the trial. During this time, the stranger will be under my protection, and he can live in our city. And you These tyrannical goddesses, please go back and don't defile my temple. Don't come here again until the trial. Both sides have to find evidence and witnesses, and I will also choose the most upright and wise people in the city to come Hear the case, because the city is named after me!"

When the date for the court session arrived, an envoy invited all the people selected by Athena to a hillside in front of the city.This is the hill dedicated to the temple of Ares, the god of war, so it is called Mount Ares.The goddess Athena is waiting on the mountain.Both plaintiff and defendant have arrived.At this time, a stranger also came and stood beside the defendant. In fact, he was the god Apollo.When the Furies saw Apollo, they cried out in fright: "Apollo, you must attend to your own business! What are you doing here?" "This man," replied the god, "is the one I should protect. He fled to Delphi, and took refuge in my temple. I washed the blood from him, so it is right that I stand with him. For it was I who persuaded him to kill his mother, And tell him, this is a pious act welcomed by the gods!"

Now Athena stood up and called upon the Furies to submit their lawsuits. "We may ask the question directly," began the oldest of the Furies, "answer my question, defendant: Did you kill your own mother?" "I don't deny it," said Orestes, but his face was pale with terror. "How did you kill her?" "I," replied the defendant, "cut her neck with a sword." "Who ordered you to do this?" "The god who stands beside me has only directed me to do this by an oracle. He is here to testify against me," answered Orestes.He then defends himself that he killed Clytemnestra not as his mother, but as the murderer of his father.Apollo also made a wonderful speech in his defense.But the Furies were not to be outdone, and they refuted it.Apollo described the murder of Agamemnon as a heinous crime.The goddess of revenge pointed out that killing a mother is a heinous crime.When they had finished debating, the Goddess of Judgment spoke, and she said:

"Let us wait now for the verdict of the judges!" Athena distributed black and white pebbles to each judge, with black pebbles denoting guilt and white pebbles denoting innocence.The small bowl for throwing stones is placed in the middle of the open space, surrounded by fences.Before the judges voted, the goddess stood up from the seat of the chief judge and said: "Citizens of Athens, please listen to the speech of the founder of your city: today, you have started the first court trial. From now on , you shall forever keep this court, set up on this holy Mount Ares, where the heroines of the enemy camped in former times when the Amazons were against Theseus, and offered sacrifices to the God of War. Hence the name of the mountain. In the future, here will be a solemn court for the trial of the crime of murdering one's kin. The court will be composed of the most just and honest people in the city. They should not take bribes. Its majesty, make it the pillar of the city. Nowhere else in Greece or in foreign countries is there such a sacred place of law. This is my hope for the future. Now, judges, please stand up, remember your oath, and vote for the referee! " The judges silently stood up from their seats, walked to the small bowl in a row, and threw the voting stones into it.When all the people voted, another group of elected residents stood up and counted the black and white stones thrown into the bowl.It turned out that the two kinds of stones had the same number, and at this time, the deciding vote was in her hands.Athena stood up from her seat and said: "I am not born of my mother, I sprung from the head of my father Zeus, so I stand for the rights of men. I cannot stand with a woman who shamelessly killed her husband. I think Orestes' behavior is reasonable, what he killed was not his mother, but the murderer who killed his father. He should live!" She left the judgment table and took a white stone, Throw it in a bowl.Then she returned to her seat and solemnly announced: "After the vote, the majority vote: Orestes is not guilty, he is free!" Orestes asked to speak after she pronounced the sentence, and he said with great emotion: "Goddess Pallas Athena, I am a man deprived of my country, you saved me, saved my family, all The Greeks will praise your grace. They will say: Orestes the Argos has returned to the palace of his ancestors, and it was the gods Athena, Apollo, and the justice of the father of the gods who saved him, otherwise, This will never happen. I am about to return home, and I will take this opportunity to swear to the country and people here that the Argos will never wage war on the Athenians. If after my death, my people dare to destroy this I swear, my soul will also come out of the grave to punish him! Farewell, the outstanding goddess of justice! Farewell, the pious people of Athens! I wish you victory in war, and peace in peace Prosperity!" After speaking, Orestes left the sacred Mount Ares with his friends.The goddess of revenge dared not offend the acquitted person, and she was also afraid of Apollo's divine power, and she dared not act rashly.However, the elder spokeswoman among them stood up, dissatisfied with the judgment of the goddess, and boldly opposed the judgment that had been passed with a horrible and hoarse voice. "My God! You young gods have only trampled on the ancient law. But you Athenians, you will regret today's sentence! In our angry hearts flow the venom of resentment, and we will sprinkle the venom on this land The land, our humiliated and mocked goddess of the night, will make cities and villages barren, and plagues spread." Apollo heard their terrible curses, was very worried, and he tried to dissuade them and appease them. "You should not express your anger at the verdict! This is not your failure and humiliation. The number of black and white stones in the bowl is equal. The judges did not wrong you. The defendant must choose one of two sacred obligations. In choosing Of course he will give up one of these. Sympathy wins here. Our gods are only responsible for judgment, so we cannot blame the judges of the court. This is the will of Zeus! You should not vent your anger on innocent people. I I assure you, in the name of the people, that here you will attain greatness and honor, and that the people of this city will sacrifice you year after year as just, ruthless Furies!" Athena also reiterated this promise, saying: "Believe me, venerable goddesses, the citizens of this city will honor you; Build your temples next to you! Those who do not worship you will not be blessed!" The goddesses of revenge gradually calmed down their anger after hearing this promise, and they kindly agreed to live in Athens.They thought it a great honor to have a temple in the most prestigious city, like Athena and Apollo.They therefore became so gentle that they solemnly swore in the presence of the gods to protect the city from drought, pestilence, and harsh storms, to make their livestock multiply, to have happy marriages, and to live happily with their half-sisters. The goddess of fate cooperates to benefit the local people in various ways.They wish the people harmony and peace.Finally, Evernight left Athens.Athena and Apollo thanked them repeatedly. All the citizens of Athens sang praises and sent them out of the city.