Orestes 'Idea Of Justice In The Movie Eumenides'

“Eumenides” is the final act in the Oresteia trilogy, resuming the story where “The Libation Bearers” ended as Orestes is pursued by the vengeful Erinyes. The main plot point in the piece is Orestes’s trial for his act of matricide and the various parties at the trial (the Erinyes, Apollo with Orestes, and Athena) who discuss conflicting ideas of justice. In “Eumenides”, Athena has the best idea of justice because her lack of a personal stake in the situation allows her to provide an idea of justice that is free of bias and fair to those involved.
After a period of time spent pursuing Orestes, the Erinyes catch up to him and state their deceptive idea of justice to him. By stating that they only prey upon the guilty, the Erinyes appear to
Their manipulated morals are seen when, despite having previously stated they would prey upon the sinners while leaving alone the innocent, they treat sinners unequally and attempt to justify their behavior. The Erinyes reveal this injustice when Orestes suggests that his mother was guilty and deserved to die, saying, "Or. She was polluted with a double crime. / Ch. How so? .... / Or. She slew her husband, and she slew my father. / Ch. Well, she died guiltless, thou art still alive. / Or. Why, when she lived, did you not harass her? / Ch. She was not bound by blood to him she slew" (Aeschylus 359). This exchange occurs during the trial as Orestes questions the Erinyes for preying upon him (who killed his mother) but not bothering Clytemnestra (who killed the man that was both her own husband and Orestes’s father), and the Erinyes state that Orestes was the only one of the two who deserved to be punished because only he killed a person who was related to him by blood. The discrepancy that Orestes points out is a valid point of argument against the Erinyes, but they merely dismiss it with a simple and weak excuse that is convenient to their motives, revealing the questionable nature of their ideals. Their hasty coverup and dismissal of a valid doubt demonstrates their lack of integrity and impartiality, and thus they do not have the best idea of justice in the piece. However, the ideals of the opposing party in the matter would not be much more noble as they suffers from similarly selfish