The object of this research is the role played by the Erinyes in the Greek literature on Theban myth from the Odyssey to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. These goddesses or daimones, who originally played an important role as punishers of blood...
moreThe object of this research is the role played by the Erinyes in the Greek literature on Theban myth from the Odyssey to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. These goddesses or daimones, who originally played an important role as punishers of blood crimes inside the family, extended greatly their prerogatives in the time: they intervene
whenever they observe a violation in the natural order. In this way they are connected with malediction (ἀρά) and pollution (μίασμα). In the Theban myth, which presents family crimes in successive generations (Laius, Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneikes), the Erinyes have to perform a great work. In this research texts as the Nekyia (Epikaste’s Erinys), the Thebais, Pherekydes, Pindar’s Ol. 2, Aeschylus’s Seven against Thebes and other ones are reexamined from this perspective. The comparison
with the myth of Orestes (Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Euripides’ Orestes) will help to explain the ways of their intervention in Greek tragedy. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex has some references to the Erinyes, but they don’t play an important role in this tragedy. Really Oedipus Rex is not focused on the history of the family and its crimes but on the character of the protagonist.
