Justice in Mythology
Erinyes Vengence of the Gods
the Erinys (Erinyes) (also called Dirae, Furiae, Eumenides or
Semnae) would pursue criminals, at the beqest of Nemesis,
permitting the fugitive no rest. An example of the above is the
tale of Agamemnon's son, Orestes, who slew his mother,
Klytaemnestra, in revenge for his father's death.
In Mythology, justice was in the hands of three goddesses
  1. FATE
  2. NEMESIS
  3. THE ERINYES
FATE
Also known as Ananke, and Fatum, to the Romans, Fate was the very personification
of the destiny that holds sway over the lives of men, and even gods. Fate was the
offspring of Night and Erebos, and her sentences were carried out by the Parcae.
NEMESIS
NEMESIS was the Greek goddess of vengeance, and her province was especially
in the area of crimes that had gone unpunished. She was seen as the goddess
of punishment, the tracker down of the wrongdoer, the giver of luck to the
fortunate, and the taker of fortune from the unworthy. Also called Adrasteia
and Rhamnusia, she was represented as a thoughtful, beautiful figure of
queenly aspect, with a winged crown on her head, and driving a carriage
pulled by griffins. She is said to have been the daughter of either Okeanos
or Erebos, with Zeus as her lover, and Helen as their daughter. To help her
execute her justice, she had three attendants, Dike (Justice), Poena
(Punishment) and Erinys (Vengeance).
THE ERINYES
The Erinyes were born out of anger: Gaea's fury at Ouranos'
imprisonment of their sons, three monstrous giants with hundreds of
hands and fifty heads. Gaea and Ouranos also had three Cyclops and
a number of Titans; it was to these that Mother Earth appealed for
help. Only the titan Cronus was bold enough to take the challenge.
He laid in wait for his father and wounded him horribly. From his
blood, the Erinyes and the Giants were born.

They are either daughters of Night, by others Earth and Darkness,
while still others ascribe to them Kronos and Eurynome as their
parents. The Erinys were attendants of Hades and Persephone, and
lived at the entrance to the Underworld. Their first duty was to see
to the punishment of those who had committed some crime in the world
above, but had arrived at Hades without obtaining absolution from
the gods.

Three sisters: Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto. The Erinyes were the
punishers of sinners, called "those who walk in darkness." Weeping
tears of blood and hissing with hair of vipers, they would descend
like a storm. As long as there was sin in the world, they could not
be banished.

The Erinyes have also been referred to as the Eumenides the Kindly
ones, the Potniae the Awful Ones, the Maniae the Madnesses, and the
Praxidikae the Vengeful ones.


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