Monday, September 22, 2014

The Difference

I find the relationship between the gods and the furies to be interesting. There is an obvious tension at the opening of The Eumenides between the two parties. The exchange between the furies and Apollo is a harsh one as Apollo says things like "no god will ever shepherd you with love." The two parties are immediately at odds. In contrast when the furies encounter Athena the exchange is not one of harshness, but one of mutual respect. The furies express this when they say "We respect you. You show us respect." Initially I assumed that the furies were at odds with all Olympian gods but that is not the case.

P.S. I commented on Ashley Harding's blog.

3 comments:

  1. I agree! I felt the same way. This relationship between the furies and the gods is just simply confusing. But I think it all boils down to treating others the way you want to be treated.

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  2. I agree too! In the beginning they may not always agree with each other, but in the end they end up coming to an agreement because they respect each other.

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  3. This is an interesting observation. I was wondering the same thing myself. It appears as if Athena has some sort of characteristic that overcomes hatred, considering she seemingly talked all the fury out of the Furies at the end.

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