Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Much of the imagery and argumentation in The Eumenides suggests a change from a society in which women play a limited but important role to one that is much more patriarchal. What possible connection could there be between patriarchy and Athenian civil society as it is portrayed in the play?
- The Eumenides shows a blood feud that gets resolved through a trial. What are the major advantages of the trial system over the system of revenge? Does the system of revenge have any advantages, or is it just purely bad?
- Of the three plays of the Oresteia, The Eumenides is probably the least well known. Why do you think it might be less popular than the other two with readers and theatergoers? Do you think this reputation is fair, or has the play simply gotten a bad rap?
- Does The Eumenides have anything important to teach us about life today?
- Why do you think the Furies/Eumenides are sentenced to live underground? Are they being hidden from society? If so, why?
- Does Apollo truly believe that mothers are not related by blood to their children, or is he just making a clever argument?
- For all the misogyny apparent in The Eumenides, the presiding judge of the trial is the goddess Athena—a female deity with a very masculine presence. So if it's not the body of women that is under attack here, what is? What aspects of being female are being shown as lacking?
- How does the Prophetess' history lesson at the beginning of the play (referring to the various gods that were worshipped at the temple) underline the important themes of the play?
- What "human" (i.e. flawed) attributes do the gods exhibit?