First, he attacks the Furies and their cause. Apollo does not respect the Furies in general, let alone respect the Furies’ cause. He argues using rhetoric heavily in favor of the male, based on the notion that a man has more stature and worth than a woman, and that marriage is a stronger bond than kinship. The Furies then advocate that “once a mother’s blood is spilled on the ground, it can’t return again, not ever” (Lines 294-296) and therefore that “ have to pay with own blood for ” (Line 300).Īpollo, however, expresses a different view than the Furies.

One can clearly see that the Furies uphold the mother’s rights over those of the husband’s. The Furies respond to this inquiry by saying murdering a spouse “isn’t killing one’s own flesh and blood” (Line 236), referring to the fact that unlike a mother and son, a husband and wife are not related by kin, therefore, the murder does not carry as much weight. When Apollo questions the Furies, asking why they did not seek to punish “a wife who kills her husband” (Line 235), referring to Clytemnestra’s murder of Agamemnon. This notion conveys that the Furies strongly value kinship and the respect for the role of the mother. The Furies are adamant that a man who commits matricide, such as Orestes, is justified to be brutally punished. In the case of Orestes murdering Clytemnestra, the Furies do not view their advocation of Clytemnestra as a way to side with only mothers, but instead as reinforcing justice within a family. Also core to the Furies’ belief is that children should “first honor parents, then respect the guest” (Line 639-640), putting the value of family over any other bond. The Furies exclaim that if the court does not favor them, injustice will be upon both sexes, and “ caught unaware by pain, some father or mother now will cry” (Lines 606-608), as their system of justice places emphasis on the filial bond, not just the honor of motherhood. Implemented by the Furies, the original justice system rationalized that both genders are equally important, and therefore, this system upheld the rights of the mother.

The old form of justice was one that valued the sanctity of the parent-child bond and revenge when that familial bond was betrayed.

Aeschylus the eumenides