When Orpheus travels down to the Underworld to rescue Eurydice from death he is granted an audience with King Hades and Queen Persephone and he sings them a song as a request to release his bride. The Furies, with their snake-like hair, can be seen sitting up on a cliff listening to the song, tears falling down their cheeks. As his song ends, he requests once again that Eurydice is given to him and Queen Persephone says “Thou hast made the Furies cry, Orpheus. They will not forgive you for that.” (Gaiman, Sandman Special # 1, page 35, panel 5)
Are these Furies the same three women who are The Kindly Ones? Are they somehow related to Stheno and Euryale, who met with Lyta during her search for Daniel? I don’t really know the answer to these questions, but they appear in The Sandman Special # 1 on page 35, panel 1 and there does seem to be some connection to the two ladies Lyta met with the snakes in their hair (from The Kindly Ones). I think there are a lot of possibilities of interpreting who these women are, given that Persephone refers to them as The Furies.
an older post, but i happened upon it and thought i should clarify. stheno and euryale were the two eldest immortal gorgons and the sisters of medusa (who was beheaded by the hero perseus, hence why the third sister was missing). none of this is neil gaiman's, all straight out of greek myth.
ReplyDelete"the kindly ones" was just a term used to refer to the furies/eumenides/erinyes. the three ladies (maiden/mother/crone) are representative of the "triple goddesses" found in ancient religions ie. the norns of norse mythology, the moirai of roman myth, and the the hecate of greek myth. they are all one and the same.
Yep, this is all true....but these three women are not Stheno, Euryale or Medusa...nor are they The Kindly Ones. If you look at The Song Of Orpheus page 35 (panel 1), you will see three women with snakes for hair crying and a few panels later Persephone says that Orpheus has "made the furies cry." So, are these three women in The Song Of Orpheus, Stheno, Euryale and Medusa? I don't think so, because Medusa would have already been killed at this point (if I remember my Greek mythology). Are these three women the Witches? No, they do not appear to be the Triple Goddess.
ReplyDeleteAll I know is that there are three women who Persephone seems to be calling "The Furies" in Hades. Perhaps if we had access to Gaiman's script we would know exactly what he had in mind with these characters. Perhaps we will get some answers in The Annotated Sandman once the second volume is released.