How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
(Chorus of Furies): "Son of Zeus there!
You are turning to theft!
Young god against old, you have ridden me down;
and the suppliant has your respect, a man godless
and harsh to his parents;
you stole the matricide away—you, a god!
Which of these things will be said to be just?" (149-154)
This isn't strictly a family-issue here, but the gods are all distantly related, so it still counts. It also touches on an issue that is common to most families: conflict between generations. At many points in the play, it seems like the Furies are less mad about the specific fact that Orestes is getting off lightly than they are about Apollo and the other younger gods (like Athena) taking away their hard-won respect.
Quote #2
(Apollo): "What then of a woman who does away with her husband?"
(Chorus of Furies): "Such killing would not be murder of one's own blood." (211-212)
The undercurrent of these lines is that it is worse to kill somebody who is "of one's own blood" than it is to kill some random person (212). This may sound pretty obvious, but, just for argument's sake, why do you think this is so?
Quote #3
(Apollo): "You quite dishonour the pledges given Hera and Zeus for a marriage's fulfilment! You make them of no account! Cypris too is rejected with dishonour in your argument, Cypris the source of what is dearest to mankind." (213-216)
At this point in the play Apollo paints an interesting picture of family life. He suggests that it isn't just as a result of inherited blood-relations. Instead, he argues that the vows a man and woman take when they are getting married make them part of a single family. Which do you think is Apollo's true opinion: this, or the argument he makes in the court-room scene, which has the effect of cutting the ties binding women to the rest of their families?