Irony In Aeschylus's Eumenides

In Aeschylus’s Eumenides, the trial of Orestes leads to a profound interaction between the Erinyes, soon to be the Eumenides, and the goddess Athena. The Erinyes are forced to abandon their “ancient rights”, with their reward being a cave underneath the city and the power to bless those who honor them. There is a distinct tension created between Athena and the Erinyes, as it is clear that Athena is taking their customs by force rather than the Erinyes choosing to give up what they hold dear. Refrain I of Aeschylus’ Eumenides begins with the Chorus exclaiming “IOU! IOU! You young gods—you / have trampled down the age-old laws, / ripped them out of my hands!” (Eumenides, 903 - 905). First, the Chorus cries out “IOU! IOU!”. Although this brief
The tone of this passage is extremely affective. The Erinyes claim that they “suffer the insufferable”. This can be taken in two ways. First, it could be seen as the lack of honor and sacrifices from the people. From a deity’s perspective, not being honored is one of the worst possible things and without a doubt would cause the Erinyes acute pain. This is supported by the fact that Athena promises them honor and power through being honored. Another potential way to interpret this is that the “insufferable” is having their “age-old laws” and “ancient rights” taken away from them. They are clearly very fond of their perennial customs and thus it would cause them great pain to have them taken away. The forceful emotion of the Chorus is also carried across to the reader not only by the compelling language, but also by the repetition of Refrain I. The Chorus has twenty lines, after which it is followed by fifteen lines from Athena with a variety of reasons as to why the Chorus should accept her proposal. After Athena makes a robust argument, the Chorus simply rejects everything Athena says and repeats their first lines, exactly as they did the first time. This shows their pain and suffering and how much they want to maintain their old