Theatrical Furies

This paper is about Furies as stage presences in Aeschylus’ Eumenides , which may have been the first play to introduce them to the Greek theatre and certainly gave Greek literature some of its most influential images. I use ‘Furies’ as a convenient shorthand for Erinyes/Eumenides/Semnai Theai, without wishing to imply that their complex identity can be captured in a single English word. 1 In concentrating on theatrical performance I am deeply indebted to Oliver Taplin’s inspiring work, and I want to use an approach akin to his in addressing a question central to interpretation of the Oresteia , namely how we are to understand Athena’s persuasion of the Furies and their ultimate acceptance of honours at Athens. Are they ‘transformed’? Are they ‘subordinated’?