Also called The Furies, The Eumenides, Semnai Theai, Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone.
Their story
The Erinyes sprang from the blood of Uranus when it fell on the earth. They pursue those who kill their kin and break oaths. In Aeschylus they hound Orestes for killing his mother, until Athena persuades them to accept a home below the Areopagus as honoured goddesses. Later writers named them Alecto, Megaera and Tisiphone.
Best times to give to them
- When a serious wrong must be named
- When oaths are made
- In quiet, at night, as their rites were held
What they like being given
- Wineless offerings of honey mixed with water, as given to the Semnai Theai
- Flowers
- Water
How to honour them
- Approach them with respect and in silence; the Athenians called them the Kindly Ones.
- Keep your oaths, and do not swear lightly.
- Seek help from lawful authority for serious harm rather than taking revenge.
How they can help you
- Justice for grave wrongs
- Keeping promises
- Breaking cycles of family harm
Symbols
- snakes
- torches
- whips
- black robes
Their names were often avoided; euphemisms like Eumenides were used out of caution.
Sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 182-187
- Aeschylus, Eumenides
- Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 466-492
- Homer, Iliad 19.259-260
More Greek spirits
- The Anemoi The four winds
- The Muses The nine daughters of Memory
- The Moirai Spinners of the thread of life
- The Charites The Graces of joy and charm
- The Horae Keepers of the seasons and order
- The Harpies The snatchers
- The Gorgons The three sisters of the terrible gaze
- The Centaurs The wild horse-men of the hills