Character Clues

Character Analysis

Actions

Because this is a play, it makes sense that characters are often revealed through their actions. The fact that Orestes gets himself purified at Delphi and then agrees to go all the way to Athens shows that he is pious and obedient to the gods. The fact that the Furies chase him all the way there even though they are exhausted reveals that they are relentless in carrying out their duty.

Direct Characterization

Because this is a play, the only direct information we receive about characters comes from their own mouths. (That is to say, there's no narrator to pop up and say stuff like, "Orestes is innocent" or "Apollo is a sneak.") But, because the play ends with a big climactic trial, that gives the different characters plenty of opportunity to give direct characterizations of themselves and others. For example, when Orestes describes his mother Clytemnestra as a fiendish murderous she-devil, that's a (pretty dang nasty) form of direct characterization.

Family Life

So, the protagonist of The Eumenides is a guy who killed his own mother. That looks pretty bad, right? But he did it out of loyalty to his father. And his mother only killed her husband in order to avenge her daughter. In any case, Orestes's bizarre, twisted family life is one of the ways Aeschylus lets us gain insight into his characters.

Physical Appearances

The Furies are described as utterly revolting creatures that nobody would want to be around. And you know what? Given that their main job is chasing people down and killing them in horrible ways, that sounds like a pretty accurate description. Aeschylus uses the Furies' physical appearance to reveal something about their character.