How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
(Prophetess): "With first place among the gods in this prayer, I give special honour to Earth, the first prophet; and after her, to Themis, for she was the second to sit at her mother's oracle here, as one story has it. The third to have this office assigned—it was at Themis' wish and with no violence to anyone—was another of Earth's daughters by Titan, Phoebe. She it was who gave the office as a birthday gift to Phoebus, who has his name from hers. He left Delos with its lake and spine of rock; he beached on Pallas' shore where the ships put in and came to this land and his seat at Parnassus. The sons of Hephaestus escorted him here with great reverence and made a road for him, taming an untamed land. After his arrival the people magnify him in honour, as does Delphos, this land's lord and helmsman. Zeus inspired his mind with skill, setting him as the fourth prophet on the throne here; so Loxias is his father Zeus' spokesman." (1-19)
These are the first words of the play. Does anything strike you as weird about them? Okay, we know that one weird thing is that Aeschylus's killer opener is just a list of the gods who were in charge of the oracle of Delphi. But how about the fact that Apollo is the first male divinity to be lord over Delphi?
Now think about the play as a whole, in which, you know, some Furious ladies are chasing down a guy who killed his mother—only to have that guy get acquitted based on a blatantly sexist argument and the vote of a judge who explicitly sides with men in all things. The play as a whole shows a society becoming increasingly patriarchal. How does this speech relate to that?
Quote #2
(Apollo): "And now you see these rabid creatures overtaken (gesturing towards the closed door): they have fallen into sleep, abominations that they are, maidens in old age, ancient children, whom no god mixes with, nor man, nor beast, ever. It was for evil's sake that they even came into being, since their sphere is the evil dark of Tartarus under the earth; and they are objects of hate to men and the Olympian gods—but make your escape from them nevertheless, and do not soften! For they will drive you throughout all the long mainland as your steps take you constantly wandering the earth beyond the ocean and the cities round which it flows." (67-77)
Notice that, among the ways in which Apollo describes the Furies as disgusting, he places special emphasis on the fact that they have not had any children. (Don't think there isn't a double meaning in that word "mixes with.") What does this say about Apollo's views on the proper role of women in society? Do you think the play as a whole agrees with his opinion, or not? In thinking about this question, you might want to broaden your perspective to look at the earlier two plays, Agamemnon and Libation Bearers.
Quote #3
(Apollo): "And you, Hermes, my own blood-brother by the father we share, keep guard over him; be quite true to your name and bring him on his way, shepherding this suppliant of mine. Zeus respects this sanctity in outcasts when they are sped among men with good fortune as escort." (89-93)
Note that, when Apollo calls Hermes his "blood brother by the father we share," he could be using the same standard of relatedness that comes up again in his defense speech at the trial. There, he says that only fathers are related to their children by blood, because mothers are merely incubators of embryos. And Apollo and Hermes have different mothers, and so are only be related by blood through their father, Zeus. (Apollo's mother is Leto; Maia is the mother of Hermes.)