How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
The CHORUS OF FURIES moan from within.
(Clytemnestra): "Moan, then, do!—while the man is already far away in his escape! Suppliants are no friends of mine!"The FURIES moan again.
(Clytemnestra): "You are too sleepy, you have no pity for my suffering! This is the mother Orestes murdered, and now he is gone!"
The FURIES groan.
(Clytemnestra): "You groan, you are sleepy—be quick and get up! What work is set for you except to wreak evil?"
The FURIES groan again.
(Clytemnestra): "Those conspirators with authority, Sleep and Weariness, have enfeebled the dreadful serpent's energy!" (117-128)
The Furies are tired out after having to follow Orestes on his winding course all the way from Delphi to Athens. Could this be a way of saying that, as time goes on, the urge to get revenge diminishes? And what about the fact that Clytemnestra urges them on to continue their revenge: could this be Aeschylus's way of saying that, from the victim's perspective, nothing short of revenge is good enough?
Quote #5
(Chorus of Furies): "Look, here he is himself, with no defence,
clasping the statue of the immortal goddess:
he wants to undergo trial for his accountability!
That is not possible; a mother's blood on the ground
is not to be recovered—horror, no!
What soaks into the earth when shed, is gone!
(to ORESTES) You must repay us with a gruel of red
to slurp from your limbs while you live;
I shall want my food from you by drinking this grim draught […]." (257-266)
The Furies think that revenge is the only way to go. Even a trial is unacceptable to them. Orestes had simply better pay up, and fast, in their (not so) humble opinion.
Quote #6
(Chorus of Furies): "We drive murderers from their homes."
(Athena): "And where has the killer an end to his flight?"
(Chorus of Furies): "Where happiness has no currency at all." (421-423)
Trial? Fat chance. The Furies know in advance what they want: Orestes's death… and they don't plan on letting up until they've made it happen.