Comparing Justice In Oresteia, Euthyphro, And The Republic

The texts of The Oresteia, Euthyphro, and The Republic of Plato all have strong underlying themes of piety as it relates to justice. The definition of piety, does not remain static, but rather has a fluid quality that allows it to change over time. When considering the three works in chronological order, it is possible to realize a change in the definition of justice from a definition closely related to piety to a more censored version of justice. As the society and culture of the Greeks change and the people become less reliant on the gods, the definition of piety as it governs justice shifts from the divine to the individual.

In the early years of Greek culture, the people relied strongly on mythology. The presence of fate and curses take

The Furies focus on justice in a simple manner, as illustrated by their statement: “Matricides: we drive them from their houses” (208). Orestes killed his mother, which elevates the crime and “break(s) the god’s first law” (170). Justice, to the Furies, means that punishment must prevail for an evil deed, saying, “you’ll give me blood for blood, you must” (262). Apollo, however claims that Orestes’ actions occurred because he was both avenging his father’s death and following the will of a god, since Apollo himself “commanded him to avenge his father” (201). The Furies’ definition of justice primarily is built on the action itself, whereas Apollo’s definition is more closely related to piety: justice is obeying the god’s will. Orestes situation can be measured through either lens: it is just because he avenges his father’s death and observes the gods orders, or unjust because he commits murder, specifically the murder of his own blood. Justice and piety become difficult to achieve simultaneously for humans in a world where gods are wrathful, and following the will of the gods and being pious often means killing another human unjustly. Athena simply frames the situation saying, “Two sides are here” meaning the different definitions of justice are oppose each other (440). The Oresteia in its entirety is fueled by the conflict of the earliest form of justice, the form similar to piety, beginning to