The Kindly Ones, the Erinyes, the Eumenides, the Furies. Named by Virgil as Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. While in myth the Kindly Ones may be more than three in number, in modern conception they seem to have become three. Which of reminds me of my post on the Deficiencies of theTriple Goddess. But that’s not the point
of the Kindly Ones.
As the Kindly Ones, their job was to extract vengeance, which
doesn’t sound very kind. In the Iliad they
are referred to as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn
a false oath.” While the Iliad in
particular seems to emphasize characters swearing on the Erinyes’s name in a “May
god strike me down if I lie” kind of way.
I am not concerned with the cosmic punishment angle, but I am concerned
with my own consistency in keeping my oaths. In my day to day life, I may make a lot of
promises. I may agree to work with a colleague
on a project (one that I probably should be working on now), I may promise my students
that I will grade/return their essays by a certain date; I agree to keep
specific records for my job and to turn in all kinds of paperwork on time. I may even feel that I have made some
unspoken promises, for example, to be a good friend. Or in less elevated term, I may feel that I
have promised to not be a jerk.
The thing is, it is easy to make promises. It is easy to say “yes” – it is not always as
is to follow through. As a witch and a
writer, I know that words have power.
They influence people’s emotions and more importantly they can change
the nature of reality. I know there are a number of theorists who have
expressed this far more eloquently than I am – but off the cuff, I can’t think
specifically of names (I’m thinking Luce Irigaray or perhaps Hélène Cixous –
somewhere my grad school professors are weeping). But words change our reality, not even in the
witchcraft spell way. The words we
choose impact how we view/create reality.
From this mindset, my words must matter.
I must be responsible for the words I choose and the words I use. This would then mean that the promises I
make, also matter. The Kindly Ones are a
reminder, often a bloody maybe even frightening reminder, of the power of
words.
I think their name (the words used for them) “the Kindly
Ones” dovetails nicely here. They are
not “evil” or “bad” – they are kind, or at least they are bringing a
kindness. The character Orestes (in The Oresteia) is trapped between conflicting needs. He needs to seek revenge for his father (‘cause
that’s what people did) – but to seek revenge, he must kill his mother. He has two conflicting vows. The furies torment him for his crimes, and he
eventually seeks out Athena. The furies
eventually relent, recognizing that he is in an impossible situation (and the convoluted
nature of Greek tragedy). Thus, the
Kindly Ones also serve to remind me to be kind.
To be kind and try to understand the many influences and obligations
that bind people, that trap them with their words. To remember that kindness is sometimes the
correct option (not harshness or vengeance).
For me the Kindly Ones are a two-fold metaphor about
words and deeds. Words and deeds both
have consequences, but the consequences often must be measured against many
factors. The contemporary idea of the
furies as mindless hunters seeking vengeance, does not at all do them
justice. Even the mythic invocation of
their names in making of oaths, reduces them.
The Kindly Ones are my reminder to keep track of my words and as such my
reality.
Actual text from the Iliad:
Agamemnon looked into the vault of heaven and
prayed saying, "I call Jove the first and mightiest of all
gods to
witness, I call also Earth and Sun and the Erinyes who dwell below
and take vengeance on him who shall swear falsely, that I have
laid
no hand upon the girl Briseis, neither to take her to my bed nor
otherwise,
but that she has remained in my tents inviolate. If I swear
falsely
may heaven visit me with all the penalties which it metes out to
those
who perjure themselves."
