Justice In The Eumenides

In the Eumenides, the resolution of the trial indicates that justice does not always have to arise from the rules of systematic court. Based on the will of Apollo, Orestes is ordered to avenge his father and thus, Orestes’ actions are justified because he will suffer if he opposes the gods. However, even though the conclusion to free Orestes is just, there is no evidence provided for Apollo’s claims nor any validity in Athena’s decision. In other words, the lack of proof and validity shows that the justice does not arise from the laws of the court and that it arises from the personal considerations of these gods. Moreover, Apollo does not completely prove that Zeus commanded him to help Orestes. Apollo states: “Seer that I am, I never lie…This is his justice – omnipotent, I warn you. Bend to the
Apollo, without proof, strongly pushes the fact that the father is the true parental figure while the mother only nurtures the child which, in this case, significantly influences Athena’s claim to justify Orestes. Since Athena has an honorable view towards her father from her birth, she naturally states that she will support Orestes and not Clytaemnestra because she killed Orestes’ noble father. Furthermore, Athena does not have a mother which reveals that she does not know the true value of a maternal figure and thus, she cannot judge fairly within the rules of the court. This tiebreaker effectively shows that Athena’s vote for Orestes solely depends on her own personal life and relation to the situation. Merely swayed by Apollo’s words, she makes a decision omitting the rules of orderly trials. In both of these situations, there is an absence of the law, in other words, an absence of evidence, which is essentially one of the main elements of the court. If Apollo provided proof for his arguments, then the justice would have arisen out of the systematic