A trial before the gods, who would have imagined this. Yet, the question was one perhaps only the gods could determine: Can men atone enough for the murder of their mother such that the stain of their crime is washed clean? I had no doubt in my own mind that Ore had suffered more than enough for what he did, though for my part, I hoped that my life as an exile was sufficient. As for the opinion of the gods, only the gods know.
After some procedural speeches, and an introduction of all the twelve gods, it was our turn to speak. Ere and I did the best we could, and it wasn’t too bad, since we were trained in the art of rhetoric. When I looked up after speaking, there wasn’t much sign that any of them was going to vote either way. Zeus looked solemn, and Poseidon too, but they were staring into the distance. Some of the gods seemed to listen intently, such as Hera, Apollo, and Athena, maybe that was a good sign. But more of the gods simply looked bored: Artemis kept stringing and unstring her bow, Ares sharpening his sword, Hephaestus playing with some mechanical contraption of his, Aphrodite doing make-up to a mirror, and so on. I guess that many of the gods weren’t happy that they got pulled by Athena to attend a court trial when they could be doing … well, whatever gods do I guess. But still, I was a little bummed about the lack of care some of them showed.
Then came time for the victims, and Athena called in the Furies. I had caught but a glimpse of their outline when they slammed against the invisible barrier outside early; they were large, winged, dark creatures, with vengeful, ugly faces. Now that they came in, I could better see them. No, those faces were not ugly, but were rather beautiful; they were just twisted by anger. Their stares were intense and judgmental, and when we sometimes met eyes, I cannot help but look away.
“You may now present your case,” Athena declared.
“We are but vengeance, our voice an echo of the dead,” they say, in unison no less. It had a chilling effect and I felt a shiver down my spine. Not only where these goddesses angry, they were also pretty weird too. Then a silver apparition appeared, and I recognized the form of Clytemnestra, brother’s mother. “This is the only one with complaints,” the furies say, “the other had found his end just.”
Clytemnestra looked angry when she appeared, and angrier when she saw me, but her expression did soften when she looked at Ore. “You are still hanging out with this scoundrel, I see.” She snorted. I’d be honest here, after my ears were dragged through the cesspool that are the tongues of my road brothers in the mercenary band, I didn’t even flinch at the insult. But Ore did, and I could see that he was pained to hear such a thing.
“He saved my life,” Ore said, “and we had sworn each other brothers, under witness of the gods and upon our immortal souls. I was to defend his life with my life, mother; his life, which you threatened. Otherwise, I would have never lifted the sword against you.”
One of her eyebrows seemed to perk up, and she looked at Apollo. “Oh Apollo, are the words of my son as true as your prophecies?”
“Yes,” the god said.
Clytemnestra looked taken aback, as if she thought her son was lying. She had to be stupid, I thought, why else would someone risk their life to go with her son, what was there to gain. Then I thought again, there was the gold, the power, and the Throne of Argos itself. Ok, maybe I was the stupid one for not seeing these when I first went with Ore, but perhaps I was just blinded by my love towards this man. I looked at Ore, he was speaking again. That face, shaped by righteous indignation, was so very adorable. I know that I shouldn’t be having such thoughts at such a serious situation, but I really couldn’t help myself. I haven’t seen him in four years, and none of the feelings that I had were dead. They were buried but an inch beneath the Earth, and now they bloom upward like a mighty spring. There was an intense conversation that went on, but I wasn’t listening to a single bit of it.
“And you, Pylades, is loyalty to my son as strong as his to yours?”
Someone asked me a question.
“Huh?” I responded.
Clytemnestra looked at me, and then asked again. “Pylades, is your loyalty, and love, to my son as strong as his to yours?”
“Yes,” I answer with certainty.
She looked to Apollo, and the God of Truth backed me up. There was a short silence, then Clytemnestra spoked again.
“Then it is perhaps I, who should apologize to you Orestes. Somewhere along the way, I seem to have forgotten what it meant to be a mother. I had become so infatuated with revenge and anger that I had forgotten what real love meant. It shames me to admit that I had tried to kill you, more times than you know.” She then looked at me.
“All these years, Ore, I thought you had no one,” she continued, “but it seemed that you’ve had it better than me. You have found a friend more loyal than any husband a woman can ask for, one who is willing to go to the ends of the Earth with you, and back. I am sorry Ore, that I could not have given you the love that a mother should have given you when I was alive. But I am glad that someone else could. And now I can only wish what any mother can for their sons, that my very own sons may live good, happy lives.”
“Sons,” she said, she had used the plural!
Then she turned to the Furies. “I am done. No longer am I vengeful. I withdraw my case.”
As her image starts to fade brother reaches towards her, but she disappears before he was there, a blissful smile apparent on her face. Again there was silence, and I could see that brother was on the verge of tears. I walk to him. “Hey, be strong now,” I say, “don’t want to cry in front of the gods now do we?” He nods.
“Both sides have given their cases, we shall now enter discussion,” Athena declared. “The accused may now enter the waiting room.” A priestess came, and led us to a side room. Behind the closed doors, we could hear the voices of gods murmuring.
“Hey, how you holding up?” I ask.
Ore looks up at me. “That scar, the brand mark, who did this to you?”
“My father. Well, not really him. He gave the sentence, and some random jailer did the act.” That fell flat, because Ore’s pained expression didn’t change.
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“I am sorry that you had to go through all of this, for me.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“You don’t have to say that.”
“I meant it.”
I could feel a silence coming. But I didn’t want there to be, I wanted to hear more of Ore’s voice. But the silence stretched on longer, much longer. Just when I was about to speak, the voices behind the door got louder.
“…and what do you think you know about honor, Ares?”
“More than you, woman; I am the God of War.”
“You, the God of War? Remember that time in Troy where you got wounded by a mere mortal and had to come crying for daddy?”
“You shut up you little…”
“Oh, by the way, do you happen to know what the name of this city is? And who it’s named after? Do you even have a single city name after you, my little brother?”
“Stop bullying him Athena, you are the Goddess of Wisdom, this is not a fair fight.”
“We get it Athena, you’ve got the greatest city in the world named after you. You don’t have to keep reminding us every single family gathering.”
“Stop rubbing salt into uncle Poseidon’s wounds girl. Get it? Salt, into Poseidon? ‘cause uncle is the God of the Sea? So his wounds…”
“Your jokes are fucking terrible Hermes, I don’t know why the mortals love you so much.”
“Can we all please get back on track?”
“Yeah let’s get this over with.”
“I think it is already, no one is going to change minds at this point.”
“Motion to proceed to a formal vote?”
“Twelve for, none against, the motion has been passed.”
The priestess came again, and brought us into the main chamber.
“You now stand before the gods to receive divine judgment,” Athena says, “is there anything you’d like to say before your verdict?”
I had nothing. I turned to Ore, and saw him biting his lips, then opening his mouth. “I was guilty of my mother’s murder,” he said, “but I have been cleansed of my guilt. That is all.”
Athena nodded, “Let the votes now be cast.”
“As the Guardian of Filial Piety,” Zeus announced, “I cannot condone this behavior, no matter the justifications. If Pylades had killed Clytemnestra then perhaps there can be forgiveness, but since it is Orestes, I vote that they are still guilty.”
“As the Patron of Wives, and a mother myself,” Hera stated, “I too, cannot condone this. I vote that they are still guilty.”
This wasn’t good, the leader of the gods and his wife has voted against us. I turned to see the next god in line, it was Apollo.
“It is I who am answerable for what they did,” Apollo said, “they killed at my command. There was no crime to begin with, and I vote that they are not guilty.”
“In the short time I have spent with these two,” Hermes said, “I have come to be convinced that there is no longer such evil in their heart. Even if the deed was done, they do not deserve so great a punishment, I vote not guilty.”
“I vote guilty,” Poseidon said, not giving a reason. I saw that Athena shot him a glare. It seemed that family politics was involved in this judgement, and that Poseidon was still angry about losing the name of Athens to Athena. But on the bright side, this implied that Athena would vote in favor of our innocence. You win some you lose some, I guess.
“As the Goddess of the hearth and of the home,” Hestia said, “I say there is more to family than mere blood.” She looked at us, “The bond that these two shares are thicker than the water of a mother’s womb, a mother who gave up her right to be called mother when she tried to murder her son. I vote not guilty.”
Then it was Athena’s turn. “Orestes told us that he has been cleansed of his guilt. Never were these words spoken before by any of the House of Atreus. The killers of that race had never suffered from their guilt to be made clean, yet Orestes is the exception. I say it is time to end the curse that we have all once placed on the Royal House of Argos. I vote not guilty.”
“You all vote based on your personal opinions,” Demeter said, “yet none heed my call that we shall rule by law. Divine law has always been interpreted in the past to say that such acts merited a sad and lonely end no matter the justifications. What message do we send to the mortals if we change our interpretation of our own rules? Though I do not believe that they deserve such a punishment, the law must remain supreme. I vote guilty.”
“I vote guilty too,” Ares said, shooting a hateful look at Athena.
“So do I,” said Hephaestus, looking bored.
My hopes were falling fast. The vote was at six to four, against us. We will need both the last two Olympians to vote in our favor.
“You all talk about justice and laws and such,” Aphrodite said, “But honestly just look at these two, they make such a cute couple. Seriously you two should make out already.”
Ore blushed, “We are not that,” he said, “we are just brothers, strictly platonic.”
Ouch. From anyone one else that would have been great, but from Ore it kind of hurt.
Aphrodite laughed, “but as I was saying, these two are too handsome to die sad lonely ends. I vote not guilty, and can someone please remove the scar from that one’s pretty face?”
Now it was my turn to blush.
I looked at the final Goddess, it was Artemis, and she looked as bored as Hephaestus. “I do not care much for boys or men as Aphrodite does,” she said.
I started to despair.
“Though I am inclined to vote towards innocence.”
Whoa, is that hope that I feel?
“But on one condition.”
Oh no, here it comes.
“Locked away in a temple dedicated to me in the Kingdom of Tauris is a golden image of myself. The Taurians kill any Greeks they find on the island as a sacrifice to me. Although I am charmed, I do also feel that it is a bit too barbaric, and would like the image returned to Greece where it can be worshipped properly. Now I would go get it myself, but I do have my hunt to attend to, and none of the members of my very own family,” she shot everyone an evil glare, “are inclined to help me.”
She looked at us. “So, what do you say?”
“I swear upon my immortal soul, as witnessed by the gods, to bring your image back to Greece,” brother said.
“And I join his pledge,” I added.
Artemis nodded, “and so I vote not guilty,” she said.
Athena stood, “there are six votes for guilty and six against. By the laws of the court previously agreed upon by all, the final verdict is not guilty.” The sound of the gavel echoed through the chamber, and it is as if a weight had been taken off my shoulder.
“Let it be known,” Athena continued, “that the men Orestes and Pylades are acquitted by the power vested in this court by the Olympian twelve, and that they are criminals no more.”
I felt a tiny tingle on my right cheek, placed my hand there, and could not find my scar. I looked at Ore, his face has now returned to one of mirth and happiness. I held him in an embrace as he approached me. I so very much wanted to kiss him then and there, but it was neither the time nor the place.
“The lesser consensus has been reached, I now call for the greater consensus in the interest of unity,” Zeus said, “I shall change my vote to not guilty.” The other gods then joined in, even Ares and Poseidon though not without complaints.
“The greater consensus has now been reached,” Demeter declared, “As Guardian of Divine Law, I say that in this new age, the faces of divine justice shall no longer be Vengeance, Suffering, and Retribution, let them instead be Mercy, Atonement, and Reconciliation!”
There was a sound to the side, and I turned to it. The Furies were transforming, from their once terrible shells of flesh emerged something divine. The once angry faces now filled with empathy, love, and understanding. Their once dark wings and bodies now pure and clean, emanating a light that seemed to clear the stain in the air that I didn’t even realize had been there.
“Furies,” Apollo declared, “No longer shall you be called the Vengeful Ones. Throughout the land, you shall be known as the Benignant Ones, the Eumenides, protectors of the suppliant!”
That day, we went forth from Athena’s tribunal as free men. Brothers acquitted, and with the words of acquittal, I can feel that the spirit of evil that had haunted Ore’s house for so long was banished. I was confident that neither he nor any descendent of his would ever again be driven into evil by the irresistible powers of the past.
The curse of the House of Atreus has ended.