Eumenides

[yoo-men-i-deez]

noun

1. (used with a plural verb),  a euphemistic name for the Furies, meaning “the Kindly Ones.”

2. (italics),  a tragedy (485 b.c.) by Aeschylus.

Eumenides

/ juːˈmɛnɪˌdiːz /

plural noun

1. another name for the Furies, used by the Greeks as a euphemism

Word History and Origins

Origin of Eumenides¹

from Greek, literally: the benevolent ones, from eumenēs benevolent, from _eu- + menos spirit

Example Sentences

Aeschylus’ “Oresteia” concludes with “Eumenides,” depicting the establishment of the Areopagus court to replace cycles of vengeance, thus mythologizing the roots of jury trials.

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"A Greek playwright entered a tailor shop. The tailor asked him, 'Euripides?' The tragedian responded, 'Yes, Eumenides?'"

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The central theme of Aeschylus’s Eumenides is the trial of Orestes, the prince of Argos, for the murder of his mother, Clytemnestra.

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From the Furies of frightful aspect they became the Benignant Ones, the Eumenides, protectors of the suppliant.

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“We are fierce and cannot be deviated by man,” the Eumenides remind him.

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