Aeschylus, Libation Bearers, 1047–1056
• Herbert Weir Smyth, transl., Aeschylus, II (1926), p. 263
“

Orestes: Ah, ah! Ye handmaidens, see them yonder—like Gorgons, stoled in sable garb, entwined with swarming snakes! I can no longer stay.Chorus: What fancies disturb thee, thou dearest of sons unto thy sire? Hold, be not greatly overborne by fear.Orestes: To me these are no fancied troubles. For in very truth yonder are the wrathful sleuth-hounds that avenge my mother.Chorus: ’Tis that the blood is still fresh upon thy hands—this is the reason of the disorder that assails thy wits.Orestes: O lord Apollo, lo! now they come in troops, and from their eyes they drip loathsome blood!

— Aeschylus on Erinyes

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Orestes: Ah, ah! Ye handmaidens, see them yonder—like Gorgons, stoled in sable garb, entwined with swarming snakes! I can no longer stay.Chorus: What fancies disturb thee, thou dearest of sons unto thy sire? Hold, be not greatly overborne by fear.Orestes: To me these are no fancied troubles. For in very truth yonder are the wrathful sleuth-hounds that avenge my mother.Chorus: ’Tis that the blood is still fresh upon thy hands—this is the reason of the disorder that assails thy wits.Orestes: O lord Apollo, lo! now they come in troops, and from their eyes they drip loathsome blood!" in the context of "Aeschylus, Libation Bearers, 1047–1056
• Herbert Weir Smyth, transl., Aeschylus, II (1926), p. 263" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Erinyes" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Aeschylus

About Aeschylus

Aeschylus (Greek: Αἰσχύλος; 525 BC – 456 BC) was a playwright of ancient Greece, the earliest of the three greatest Greek tragedians, the others being Sophocles and Euripides.