STUDY QUESTIONS
Aeschylus' THE FURIES
Illustration: Orestes at Delphi. Apollo holds pig above his head to purify Orestes from the murder of Clytemntestra. Next to Orestes is the Omphalos, or navel stone of the world. To the right, Apollo's sister Artemis. To the left, the Ghost of Clytemnestra attempts to wake up the sleeping Furies.
(translated by Peter Meineck)
Written Responses Due November 14.
1. Why is this play called THE FURIES?
2. Summarize the plot of THE FURIES in three sentences.
3. In the Prologue, spoken by the Pythia, what is the relationship between Apollo and Zeus? (15ff) How is this emphasized at 614ff?
4. In the Prologue, why does the Pythia re-enter from the Temple, "scurrying on all fours"? What is the "center-stone," and what is its name in Greek? How does the Pythia describe the Furies?
5. How does Apollo calm Orestes' fears? (64ff) What does Apollo say about his brother Hermes and his father Zeus? How are these gods important to the story? (88-93)
6. What kind of reciprocity does the Ghost of Clytemnestra expect from the Furies? Why does she refer to a "hunting net"? How might this reference to a "net" recall the death of Agamemnon? (105ff)
7. Why do the Chorus members refer to "these new gods" at line 162? Why are there so many references to "old" and "young" gods in this play? (349, 393, 490, 727, 731, 778, 848, 883)
8. How does Apollo describe the "justice" of Persians and other Eastern "barbarians"? (180-196, and note)
9. How does the Chorus summarize the main crux of this play in their dialogue with Apollo? (229-231)
10. How does the Chorus distinguish between husband-killing and mother-killing? (211ff, 604-605)
11. How was Orestes purified from murder? What does he offer to the Athenians if their goddess Athena receives him well? (276-298)
12. What is the purpose of the "spellbinding song" (307ff, and note), and how do the Furies describe themselves in this song?
13. In the Chorus' "Spellbinding Song" they say that "Zeus detests our gruesome kind, and shuns us from his side" (365) and "The gods hate our gory share, shunned in sunless grime" (385). Why is there this antipathy between the Furies and the gods?
14. What is Athena's dilemma? How is she "damned if she does, and damned if she doesn't?" How does she propose to solve this problem? (470-489)
15. When the Chorus sings about Justice (especially lines 490-565), they speak in line with Greek (and modern) thought about its vital and central importance. If what they say is so unobjectionable, why don't they win their case?
16. If Apollo appears on the roof of the scene building at line 572ff, what might the spatial relationship between him and the Chorus would Aeschylus be making? (note 574) What does "chthonic" mean, and how is it related to the Furies?
17. Why does the Chorus challenge Orestes' ability to worship at an altar or join a clan? (653ff)
18. Why does Apollo say that the "mother" is not the "true parent"? What example does he give to prove this? (657ff)
19. How does Athena establish the court of the Areopagus? What historical event in Athenian history might this passage reflect? (681ff, and note)
20. Why does Athena always "defer to the male"? (734ff)
21. How might Orestes' oath to Athena regarding the future of Argive-Athenian relations be an allusion to actual Athenian history? (753ff, and note)
22. What is the effect of the Chorus' almost repetition of its Strophes in their argument with Athena? (788-793 = 807-822; 837-846 = 870-880).
23. What veiled threat does Athena make while trying to calm down the Furies? (824ff)
24. What rewards does Athena offer to the Furies if they will relent from their wrath? (853ff, 894ff)
25. What does Athena say about the power of Persuasion, and the strength of words? How does this correspond to what we know about the way Athenians liked to conduct themselves? (885, 968ff; compare to Pericles' notion of the importance of speeches to the Athenians: Thucydides, book 2,section 40, page 42 in Woodruff's text).
26. What kind of "division of labor" does Athena propose for herself and the Furies at Athens? (903ff)
27. What does the Chorus say about stasis? Why is this important to Athens? (976ff)
28. This play is also called EUMENIDES. Why? (1003ff, and note)
29. What does Helene P. Foley say in the Introduction about the Chorus of The Furies? (xl)
30. What does Helene P. Foley say in the Introduction about Male/Female Conflict as it relates to The Furies? (xxxvi)