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When we think of paintings of Ancient Greece, the famed portrait of Orestes and the Furies, created by William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1862, may come to mind. To give background on this painting and the story that it entails, one must have some knowledge on the Furies, Clytemnestra, and the story of Orestes.
The Furies were goddesses of revenge in Greek and Roman mythology. They were the personification of curses, sometimes depicted as the ghosts of the murdered. According to Hesoid, they were the children of Gaea and Uranus, being born from his blood. They were later assigned the names Allecto, meaning undiminishing anger; Tisiphone, avenger of murder; and Megaera, envy. The Furies are often present in stories of the underworld and punish mortals on earth who have committed terrible deeds. They are also present in Homer’s Iliad, which describes the tale of the Trojan War. Homer depicts the Furies as monstrous creatures that have live in darkness and lack all pity; however, the Furies are often shown as punishers of wrongdoing and oath-breakers and protectors of family and societal outcasts. Now, to Clytemnestra, who was the daughter of Leda and Tyndareus as well as the wife of Agamemnon, who played a major role as one of the leaders of the Trojan War. In the Iliad, upon her husband’s return from the war, Clytemnestra murders him. In some versions of the story, Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon because he sacrificed their daughter in order to please the gods and succeed in the war, in other versions, she does so because she was having an affair with Aegisthus. To avenge his father’s death, Orestes, the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, in turn, kills his mother.
Orestes was a child when Agamemnon was murdered by his wife and her lover, Aegisthus, and he was hidden and taken away by his nurse. According to Aeschylus’ Oresteiance, once he reached adulthood, Orestes was told by Apollo to disguise himself as a stranger and avenge his father by killing Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. He is hunted by the Furies after the murder as punishment for killing a parent and he runs to Delphi. He later travels to Athens where he stands trial before Areopagus. In one version of the tale, he is acquitted and the Furies finally give up their hunt. Upon his return, Orestes takes over Agamemnon’s kingdom and takes Hermione, daughter of Helen and Menelaus, as his wife.
With the established background, we may now turn to the painting, depicting Orestes, who is being tormented by the Furies after the murder of his mother, Clytemnestra. Matricide was considered a great crime, deserving the punishment of the goddesses of revenge. In the painting, Orestes stands tensely and slightly hunched, with his hands covering his ears. His stance suggests that he will either take off running or is struggling to stand. Behind him is his mother, Clytemnestra, with a dagger plunged in her chest, either dead or dying. She is draped in white and red cloth. Both are surrounded by the three Furies, who have snakes in their hair and wield torches, one of them supporting Clytemnestra. The Furies hover slightly above and behind Orestes and have gray cloth. Orestes’ expression is one of distress and fear, with his hands over his ears as if hoping to deafen the sound around him. The Furies have expressions of anger and have open mouths, screaming and seeming to blame Orestes. All three Furies face Orestes with one arm outstretched and pointing toward Clytemnestra’s lifeless form in accusation for the murder he committed.
Orestes is the central figure and the only entirely visible figure in the piece, making him the focal point and enhancing his expressions and stance. This conveys his distress and anguish. The Furies take up a large portion of the rest of the painting mainly to the right, and melt into the darkness of the background. This is symbolic of the fact that they are immortal beings, omnipresent and inescapable, like a dark cloud. Clytemnestra is set to the left of the piece and mainly in the background, as she is the figure of the past and her murder was the starting point, the cause of Orestes’ suffering. The Furies are placed surrounding and behind Orestes, as well as all being slightly above him. This shows their influence and the weight of his punishment pushing down on him and always chasing after him. Clytemnestra is to the left of both the Furies and Orestes, and due to the perspective of her being behind Orestes, she is depicted slightly above him as well. This is symbolic of her death, as she fades into the background.
Color and light are also used to convey meaning. Orestes wears a white cloth, symbolic of the life still within him. Clytemnestra is likewise wearing white clothing but a large potion of her body is covered by a red cloth, symbolizing the blood that was spilt by her murder overtaking the whiteness of life. The Furies are dressed in gray to indicate that they are similar to specters of death but are neither alive nor dead and wholly unhuman. The background is a murky black and gray, recalling the darkness of the underworld. The only light is at the forefront of the piece and seems to emit from Clytemnestra. This indicates her death as she loses the last light of the living. Orestes’ face is cast into shadow as he is facing away from the light and what he has done. He is to be submerged into the darkness of his crime.
The overall mood of the painting is dark and threatening, with the figures all wearing expressions of rage and fear. The mood that is created is done so by all the aforementioned painting elements, including color, light and dark, and relative positions. The stances and gestures of the characters, shown through the use of line and form, indicate their reactions to the death of Clytemnestra and build tension between them. The perspectives and proportions of the people influence the mood as well.
Works Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Orestes". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Jan. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/
Saldarriaga, Nicole. “The Worship of Guilt: The Furies and Justice.” Classicalwisdom.com, 6 Aug. 2015, classicalwisdom.com/mythology/
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