As we know, the Eumenides was performed in 458 B.C. as the culminating part of the Oresteia. It can be divided into three parts. The first part takes place at Delphi, before the temple of Apollo where Orestes has been pursued by the furies or Erinyes on account of the murder of his mother Clytemnaestra. While the furies are asleep, he receives assurances from Apollo that he will protect him because it was he that incited him to murder. He tells him to wander the earth pursued by the furies until he comes to Athens, where he will be released from the burden of his crime.
Between the first and second parts, the wanderings of Orestes take place. The fact that Orestes is instructed to wander until he reaches Athens would suggest that Athens is the location of justice. His wanderings perform the function of an act of purification. By the time he reaches Athens, he says he comes:
"with my guilt's edge already blunted and worn away at other homes and in the travelled paths of men,"
which would suggest he is therefore already purged himself of his crime by the time he's got there. Once in Athens, he appeals to Athena for help and she decrees that he will be tried and the furies, who agree under protest, to be prosecutors. The final part consists of the trial and aftermath itself, at a place called the Areopagus. Apollo acts as advocate for Orestes in the trial and once both sides have said their piece, Athena announces she will acquit the defendant in the event of a hung jury, which is what happens. Orestes is freed but this is far from being the climax of the play. In fact, reading the play in a certain way, you could say it is almost incidental. What follows is that the Erinyes are won over, with some difficulty, to the side of justice as conceived by Athena and as demonstrated in the trial of Orestes, and become the guardians or custodians of that institution.
Mythological Background to the play and the origin of the word Eumenides
It translates as 'the kindly ones,' presumably in contrast to their alternative identity as furies, and is an indicator of their status following the conversion I mentioned above. This amounts to a domestication or a restraining of fury and passion personified. They make a deal with Athens in which, in exchange for their loss of freedom, they are promised a home and the assurance of respect and prosperity. In a sense, they are incorporated into a broader conception of justice partly based on reason and promoting a greater social cohesion than the simple law of 'an eye for an eye.' I say partly because there is a recognition that this new conception of justice cannot afford to omit because justice cannot be founded upon cool, cerebral reason alone. Athens gains from the deal in that, having provided a home the furies, they can be harnessed in war.
Near the end, they bestow a weird sort of blessing on Athens:
"may they hate with one mind; for this is the cure of many an evil in the world." [985]
Which is a kind of strange sentiment to our ears but not apparently to the Athenians.
This new type of justice that will be instituted at the Areopagus, is signaled from the very moment the Erinyes inform Athena about Orestes murdering his mother, when she asks under what circumstances:
"Through other compulsions, or in fear of someone's wrath?" [425]
This is a sign already that, to Athena, the law is not something as black and white as the Erinyes would have it. Their reply is:
"Where is there a spur so keen as to compel the murder of a mother?"
So the Erinyes in a sense represent an absolute type justice, in which certain acts are unpardonable under any circumstances and which is administered through fear rather than respect:
"There is a time when fear is good and ought to remain seated as a guardian of the heart. It is profitable to learn wisdom under strain." [520]
This section is translated more concisely and effectively in Kitto's book as "What man will be just if he fears nothing?"
It is the difference between a sort of child-like morality motivated purely by fear of punishment and a more grown-up internalized morality of (ostensibly at least) doing the right thing for its own sake.
Eumenides
The word 'Eumenides' does not actually occur in the play itself except for the title and in fact it seems to have become synonymous with the Erinyes mainly through Aeschylus' play. There is no definite documentary evidence, as far as I can tell, to suggest that the Erinyes were known as Eumenides prior to Aeschylus' play. That is not to say they weren't, but it certainly seems likely that the play was responsible for a broad adoption of the association. It is also possible that the conversion of the furies was an innovation of Aeschylus himself and therefore a surprise to viewers of the play. This view is, I think, re-enforced by the fact that, if the conclusion was foregone and predictable for the audience, the characters would most likely hint towards it as they do in other Aeschylus plays. (examples?)
Mirroring this idea of an earlier form of justice giving way to a newer, is the suggestion throughout the play, that the conflict between the Erinyes and Apollo is part of a wider conflict between older gods such as the furies and newer ones—those the Erinyes themselves refer to as:
"the younger gods, who rule, wholly beyond justice."
They in turn are described by Apollo as:
"creatures hateful to men and to the Olympian gods."
So both sides recognize that it's definitely a rift there. After the trial is over and the votes are being cast, the furies again berate Apollo for usurping their power and they intimate that they will punish Athens for defying them. That's just before they're won over by Athena.
There are also lines suggesting that the Erinyes have been designated the role of doing the dirty work of the gods. They say:
"This office was ordained for us at birth; but the immortal gods must hold back their hands from us, nor does any of them share a feast in common with us; [350] and I have neither lot nor portion of pure white ceremonial robes"
The Areopagus
Only 4 years before the performance of the Oresteia, the Areopagus had been a council of elders of sorts, with wide-ranging political powers, but in that year its functions were reduced in scope to that of a judicial tribunal. Some have read the play as a conservative protest against the curtailment of its powers, others as an approving reminder that it had returned to its original function as a court for trying cases of homicide. Eumenides can also be read as an explanatatory story of why, in the event of a hung jury, defendants were acquitted. The idea that it is a story of the founding of the Areopagus is contradicted by the existence of several other foundation stories that existed prior to Aeschylus' play. One was that Ares was tries for killing a son of Poseidon, hence the name Areopagus, which means 'hill of Ares' although it could be argued that this story is only an explanation of the name of the particular place where the Areopagus was located. Aeschylus' play could be seen as a repudiation of this myth, because of the way Athena rejects the role of judge, in stark contrast to the trial of Ares by a jury of Gods.
The jury in Eumenides is composed of people Athena describes as "the best of my citizens." It is curious that citizens of Athens are competent to try the case but not Athena herself. She explains this by saying:
"The matter is too great, if any mortal thinks to pass judgment on it; [470], it is not lawful even for me to decide on cases of murder that is followed by the quick anger of the Furies"
which suggests that justice is being portrayed as a matter of consent and common interest amongst citizens rather than something absolute and implacable. On the other hand, when the furies have taken up residence in Athens, she portrays their presence as a salutary example for the citizens to fear.
There is a strong sense in which the play is presenting a sort of template for a sort of idealized legal procedure. More than once Athena declares that this case will establish a precedent for justice to come:
"I will select judges of homicide bound by oath, and I will establish this tribunal for all time." [480]
Political background/themes
The play was performed at the moment when the expansion of Athens had its brightest prospects according to Verrall. Another point to note is the mention, several times, of the acquittal of Orestes serving to strengthen a military alliance between Athens and Argos which had been made only three years prior to the performance of the play. Orestes says, for example:
"Without the spear, she will win me and my land and the Argive people [290] as faithful and true allies for all time."
The eternal nature of this alliance is stressed here and in other lines, by Apollo. In fact, it is stressed so much that it makes you suspect the alliance was at this stage, still fragile and something they were anxious and doubtful about.
Patriotic sentiments are clear in the implication, made throughout the play, that the decree of the Areopagus should have universal validity throughout the Athenian empire. Like all imperial powers, Athens asserts its competence and the superiority of its justice over others. The fact that Athena spares Orestes can be seen as establishing the idea that divine justice is inclined towards mercy if the verdict is open to dispute, although it's debatable whether this was an interpretation the Greeks themselves might have made in the fifth century. She does not so much decide a moral question concerning Orestes action, as simply grant him a favour by an act of mercy. Athena is a sort of conciliatory figure in the play, making possible the compromise that Apollo's more intractable attitude makes impossible.
Theatre of Dionysus in Athens
