Revenge vs. Justice in "The Eumenides"9/11/2021 Revenge and justice can be considered as the basis of themes and understanding in The Oresteia. One can argue, however, that it always ends up as justice in the end.
What is the difference between revenge and justice? Revenge is often thought of as the impulsive, evil way to handle a situation or crime that was caused by someone else. It is as a response to a wrongdoing in order to avenge those who were affected in some way. Justice can be confused with this, and it is understandable. But looking closer, justice relies of morals laws, quality, and ethics. It is more of a concept rather than an actual action. The person performing the action of revenge is often one that was harmed from the original situation. Justice is living up to someone else who was affected in negative ways. The Oresteia is a perfect example of the revenge vs. justice theme. The Furies want to seek vengeance over Orestes, who killed his mother under permission, and do not even bother to hear both sides of the story. There is no further investigation, only revenge against him because he committed a crime. Athena’s mention in the last play, “The Eumenides”, provides further knowledge on the revenge vs. justice theme. While the furies fall onto one side in order to make the situation right again, Athena hears from both sides. The furies wanted revenge and Athena’s appearance to hear from both sides opposes that. Because of this, she has a complete empowerment of justice. Listening to both stories to determine the decision shows the following of equality, law, and ethics. Since Orestes had a trial in the play, it serves as an important turning point for anything or anyone during this time period. It can be known as the first trial of its kind and is crucial to understanding the democratic system of the Greek mythological time. At the end of the play, the furies take notice of Athena’s ways and agree to reason with the other side before making their decision. This also serves as another turning point at this time period in history because it shows their ability to stray away from the harmful effects of revenge and lean more toward the better, and more moral, option or justice. This symbolizes a change in society, not just the furies themselves. It shows how it changes from being a society full of hateful revenge and not paying attention to both sides of the story to following law and becoming civilized. “The Eumenides” show a perfectly example of the conflicting themes revenge and justice. They oppose each other and most tended to fall for the more popular and more negative version. Changing from this into civilized and moral standards demonstrated a perfect turn in the Greek society to become more beneficial to those under trial. When speaking of revenge and justice it is important to have examples that show the difference and lack of harmony between the two and The Oresteia is a perfect case of this.
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