Athena is by far my favorite Greek goddess, however, in the Eumenides, I question her judgement. I agree that Orestes is innocent, but I don't think her reason for clearing him was good enough. The evidence cleared him, but she reasoned that because she has no loyalties to a mother (since she has no mother), she does not side with the Furies who argue that killing the mother was wrong. Of all the information and evidence she has, she chooses to clear him based on her bias? I don't know...that doesn't quite seem fair. To clear him because Apollo told him to or because it was just to revenge his father, I can understand. But not because she has no mother and therefore does not relate.
(I commented on Ty and Ethan's posts.)
That is a very good point. Athena's bias had a role in the overall atmosphere of the case, but ultimately it was the jury's decision.
ReplyDeleteI think Athena's bias was more based on the idea that it is against every moral compass to kill ones own mother. Except Athena herself lacks a mother so clearly not everyone has a mother figure that they can relate to and fall back on. I think she was trying to debunk the whole, "she is your sacred mother", ideology.
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