EP 18: The Fates & The Furies - A Horror Show

... Welcome to Episode 18. Here we open Pandora’s Box, and inside, to our horror, we find ... the Fates and the Furies.

All divine, the Three Fates and the Three Furies were daughters of the ancient being Nyx, who was herself the daughter of Chaos …

The Fates presided at every birth, determining a mortal’s lifespan and occupation. The Furies were enforcers of natural laws and enacted vengeance on anyone who committed an unforgivable crime. Some say that the Furies were the original vampires, as they drank their victims blood ...

Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner, Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series.  Here these divine beings are viewed as if they were anything but mythical...

If you love these podcasts, you'll also enjoy new stories about the gods in Garner's novel Homo Divinitas, now available as an audio book on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

(Musical score includes selections from Fesliyan Studios and Free Sounds Library. Many thanks to both.)

Transcript

THE FATES& THE FURIES ... 

THEY WERE TRIPLE GODDESSES — THE THREE FATES & THE THREE FURIES, ALL SISTERS. AND FOREVER LINKED BECAUSE THE CARDS THEY DEALT WERE THE MOST BASIC: 

I REFER TO LIFE & DEATH ... AND HOWEVER RESPECTED, THEY WERE EQUALLY FEARED ... & IN TRUTH, DESPISED BECAUSE NO ONE ESCAPED.

THEY OCCUPIED DIFFERENT WORLDS. THE FATES SAT ON MT. OLYMPUS IN GOLDEN LIGHT BESIDE ZEUS, WHILE THE FURIES LIVED IN hades’ DARK UNDERWORLD ... 

THEIR ORIGIN? ALL WERE THE SPAWN OF THEIR CHEERLESS MOTHER, NYX ... THAT'S SPELLED N-Y-X. 

HER NAME MEANT NIGHT. SHE WAS OLDER THAN ANY OF THE OLYMPIC GODS & ONE OF THE FIRST OFFSPRING OF THE PRIMAL GOD, CHAOS. 

HER CHILDREN WERE, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, DREADFUL FORCES SUCH AS DEATH, STRIFE, PAIN ... & OF COURSE, THE FATES & THE FURIES.

AS FOR THE FATES ... TO THE GREEKS THEY WERE THE MOIRAI, SIBLINGS WHO DETERMINED EVERY MORTAL'S DESTINY.

EVEN TODAY PEOPLE MUTTER, FOLLOWING SOME SPOILED EVENT, "IT WAS FATE ..." AS IF THE THREE SISTERS ARE STILL AT WORK.

AND THE FURIES? THEY WERE GODDESSES OF VENGEANCE, ANGER & RETRIBUTION. 

THEY PUNISHED MORTALS WHO VIOLATED WHAT WERE CONSIDERED NATURAL LAWS. SOMETIMES THEY PUNISHED AN ENTIRE COUNTRY FOR EVEN HOUSING AN OFFENDER.

IN ANCIENT GREECE, GOOD BEHAVIOR WAS PARAMOUNT ... BECAUSE JUSTICE WAS METED OUT BY THE COURTS ... & BY THE GODS.

Ω

WELCOME TO EPISODE 18 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST & BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, PATRICK GARNER. 

YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT MY NOVELS and ABOUT THIS PODCAST AT PATRICKGARNERBOOKS.COM. ALL IMAGINE THE ANCIENT GODS LIVING IN MODERN TIMES.

AND CHECK OUT THE NEW PAGE ABOUT GREEK GODS I'VE JUST ADDED TO THE WEBSITE. IT COVERS ALL THE IMPORTANT NAMES. 

AS ALWAYS, THIS PODCAST SERIES WILL FOCUS ON ONE THING ... GREEK GODS, OF COURSE.

HERE THE ANCIENT GODS ARE NOT CONSIDERED IMAGINARY. HARDLY. INSTEAD, THEY, LIKE YOU, ARE HERE, NOW ...

Ω

LET’S START WITH THE FATES. THINK OF THEM AS BEING AGENTS OF PREDESTINATION. HERE’S HOW IT WORKED. 

WITHIN SECONDS OF ANY BIRTH, THE FATES CHOSE THE CHILD'S DESTINY, INCLUDING OCCUPATION & LIFESPAN…

A PERSON COULD REWRITE THE PLAN… BUT ONLY FOR THE WORSE… FOR INSTANCE, GOOD BEHAVIOR DIDN’T BUY MORE TIME, BUT A HORRENDOUS DEED COULD SHORTEN IT. 

YOU SEE, CRIME LED TO PUNISHMENT. THE FURIES WOULD CANCEL WHATEVER THE FATES HAD DECREED & INITIATE A MORE IMMEDIATE END.

IN BLACK SKIRTS & HUNTER'S BOOTS — & WITH OILY BLACK SNAKES WREATHING ON THEIR HEADS — THEY'D SWOOP DOWN UPON THE OFFENDER, SCREECHING & MOANING.

IN THAT WAY, THE FATES & THE FURIES WERE YOKED LIKE FIERCE BLACK HORSES TO A COMMON PURPOSE. 

Ω

YOU'LL REMEMBER FROM PREVIOUS EPISODES THAT THE GREEKS WERE UNUSUALLY SUPERSTITIOUS. THIS SEEMS SURPRISING COMING FROM A REGION THAT WAS THE CRADLE OF PHILOSOPHY AND LOGICAL THOUGHT.

YET IN THE SAME WAY THAT GREEKS FEARED SAYING HADES' NAME — AFRAID HE'D SUDDENLY TURN HIS FOCUS ON THEM — THEY AVOIDED SAYING ... THE FURIES. 

IN GREEK THE NAME MEANT, “I HUNT,” OR “I PERSECUTE” ... SO RATHER THAN USE THEIR REAL NAME, THE GREEKS REFERRED TO THEM AS 'THE WELL-MEANING GODDESSES.’

AND THE ATHENIANS HAD THEIR OWN EUPHEMISM, CALLING THE FURIES semnai theai, OR 'ESTEEMED GODDESSES.' 

THESE PLEASANTRIES WERE, OF COURSE, THE OPPOSITE OF the FURIES’ real nature. BUT IN ANCIENT GREECE ONE COULDN’T BE TOO CAREFUL.

DARINGLY, THE 5TH CENTURY BC PLAYWRIGHT AESCHYLUS WAS FAR MORE DIRECT, REFERRING TO THEM AS 'THE CURSES,' BECAUSE ANYONE THEY PURSUED WAS CURSED. 

PERHAPS AESCHYLUS USED ARTISTIC LICENSE TO GET AWAY WITH CALLING THEM OUT ... BUT FOR MOST GREEKS, SOME THINGS WERE BETTER LEFT UNSAID. 

 Ω

SO WHAT DID YOU HAVE TO DO TO INCUR THE FURIES’ FURY? HORRENDOUS CRIMES SUCH AS Murder WOULD ALWAYS TRIGGER THEIR WRATH.

BUT OVER TIME THE LIST OF CRIMES GREW. THE POET HOMER INCLUDED LYING, parentAL disobedience, & EVEN DISrespect OF old age.

REGARDLESS, WHAT MADE the FURIES SO FEARED WAS THAT NEITHER PRAYERS, NOR sacrifice NOR tears COULD SWAY THEM ... 

ONCE IN MOTION, THEY ALWAYS DESTROYED theIR PREY.

EVEN ROMANCE MEANT NOTHING TO THEM. LIKE THE FATES, THEY TOOK VOWS OF CHASTITY: THEIR FOCUS WAS NOT CLOUDED BY LOVE.

WITH WINGS AS LONG AS THEIR BODIES — & WHIPS MADE FROM BULLHIDE — THE FURIES WERE DESCRIBED AS HIDEOUS THINGS WHOSE PURPOSE COULD NOT BE MISTAKEN.

I MENTIONED EARLIER THAT THEY RESIDED WITH HADES IN THE UNDERWORLD. THERE, THEY WORKED WITH HERMES, ESCORTING SOULS TO THEIR DESTINATION ...

Ω

BUT LET'S SHIFT FROM THE FURIES TO THEIR SISTERS, THE THREE FATES ...

THEY HAD NO NEED TO DIRTY THEIR HANDS LIKE THE FURIES. ON MT. OLYMPUS THEY WORE WHITE GOWNS & WERE ENTERTAINED BY APOLLO & PAN. BUT THERE WAS LITTLE GLAMOUR IN THEIR LIVES.  

THE FATES WERE MORE LIKE BUREAUCRATS, RECORDING NAMES & ASSIGNING DESTINIES AS IF THEY WERE ENDLESSLY SHUFFLING CARDS.

IF WE WERE TO LISTEN IN ON ONE OF THEIR WORKING SESSIONS, WE MIGHT HEAR, "THIS ONE WILL BE A FARMER WHO LIVES 43 YEARS, 47 DAYS & 42 SECONDS ... 

"AND THIS ONE, THE RED-FACED BABY BORN A MOMENT AGO IN LAKONIA, WILL LIVE TO THE AGE OF 24, THEN FALL OFF A HORSE WHILE HUNTING WOLVES ...

"AND THE ONE THERE IN ATHENS WITH THE DARK HAIR — MAKE HER A PRIESTESS TO SERVE APOLLO UNTIL SHE FALLS ILL AT 74 YEARS & 12 DAYS ON THE NIGHT OF THE FULL MOON ..."

THEIR TONES WILL BE MONOTONOUS, RARELY EXCITED ... BUT OCCASIONALLY ZEUS MAY INTERVENE, SAYING, 

"PLEASE — A LONG LIFE FOR THAT ONE. HE'S TO BECOME A GENERAL. HE'LL SERVE HIS PEOPLE WELL. LET HIM LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO TASTE GLORY ON THE BATTLEFIELD —"

Ω

… THERE’S AN IMAGE OF THE FATES THAT GREEKS USED TO ILLUSTRATE THEIR DUTIES, AND THAT'S OF A WOMAN MAKING THREAD ON A SPINNING WHEEL. 

THE FATES WORKED ON THE THREAD OF LIFE. AT THE SPINDLE ONE WAS THE SPINNER, WHO SPUN THE THREAD. ANOTHER MEASURED ITS LENGTH. 

AND THE THIRD CUT THE THREAD, ENDING THE LIFE ... REMEMBER I USED THE WORD PREDESTINATION? I ALSO NOTED THAT ONE'S DESTINY WAS NOT INFLEXIBLE. ZEUS MIGHT TRY TO INTERVENE.

BUT ZEUS' INVOLVEMENT WAS A RARITY. FOR THE MOST PART, A MORTAL WOULD LIVE EXACTLY AS LONG AS THE FATES DECREED.

AND EVEN ZEUS COULD ONLY PUSH SO FAR. THE PLAYWRIGHT AESCHYLUS  HAS THE CHORUS ASK IN HIS WORK PROMETHEUS BOUND, "Who then DRIVES ALL OF THIS?"

Prometheus, ONE OF THE TITANS, REPLIES, "The Fates & the ever-mindful Furies." 

THE Chorus then asks: "Can it be that Zeus has less power than they do?"

Prometheus QUICKLY ANSWERS, "Yes, even he cannot escape what is foretold.”

REMEMBER THE STORY OF SEMELE? SHE WAS DIONYSOS' MOTHER, A GIRL CAUGHT UP IN ONE OF ZEUS' MANY AFFAIRS.

ZEUS' WIFE HERA TRICKED SEMELE INTO PERSUADING ZEUS TO REVEAL HIMSELF AS THE THUNDER-GOD. 

OF COURSE, HERA KNEW THAT NO MORTAL COULD SEE ZEUS IN HIS DIVINE LIGHT & SURVIVE.

Zeus tried to dissuade SEMELE but KNEW he COULD NOT fight against WHAT THE FateS HAD DECREED ... 

WITH REGRET, KNOWING THE OUTCOME, HE REVEALED HIMSELF & SEMELE WAS INSTANTLY DESTROYED.

THERE'S LITTLE DOUBT THAT THE FATES WATCHED IT HAPPEN, & THEN, WITHOUT EMOTION, WENT ON AS BEFORE, ASSIGNING DESTINIES TO EACH NEW SOUL.

Ω

IN MY NOVEL, THE WINNOWING, THE THREE FATES REAPPEAR IN MODERN AMERICA AND CALL THEMSELVES CHLOÉ, LAINE & AISA. 

THEY'RE SISTERS, OF COURSE, & SEEM TO BE THREE REGULAR GIRLS WHO LIVE WITH THEIR FATHER JACK.

HOWEVER, AFTER A SERIES OF STRANGE EVENTS — THE APPEARANCE OF A 3-HEADED DOG IN THE BACK YARD & A WOMAN DRESSED LIKE A GREEK GODDESS CARRYING A SILVER BOW — JACK CONFRONTS LAINE, WHO SEEMS UNSURPRISED & UNTROUBLED BY WHAT’S GOING ON ...

I’LL READ A FEW PARAGRAPHS ... AS THE STORY BEGINS, LAINE SHRUGS & SPEAKS OF HER REAL MOTHER WHO WAS THE PRIMEVAL GODDESS NYX, SAYING,

"OKAY, JACK, WE'LL START WITH MY MOM. SHE WAS a dark personality. Imagine a girl from today with spiked hair & face tattoos ... A derringer tucked in her bra. 

"A hell-raiser with a bottle of gin half out her purse. A nose-ring or two. She was aptly called Night. Or at the time, Nyx.”

JACK leaned forward & she said, “There’s more. Nyx gave birth to numerous children, including three girls called the Moirai. 

"Some of the children resulted from her coupling with other gods, some she generated herself. No matter how many kids SHE HAD, she looked like a kickass starlet.” 

Laine seemed enthralled by this divulgence. “This is or isn’t a myth?” JACK ASKED.

“Isn’t.” A Botticellian beauty radiated from Laine’s face, her lips, her cheeks, THE black lashes cradling her eyes. 

“There’s more," SHE SAID. "I mentioned the Moirai?” JACK nodded. “They were later called the Fates, or Enchanters, or the Apportioners.”

“Three sisters," HE SAID. "I’m getting bits of this. But IT all sounds like Disney.”

“OH It’s not. They were powerful. They controlled the fortunes of mortals & gods alike.”

“What were their names? Chloé, Laine & Aisa?”

Standing, LAINE said, “Klotho, Lachesis & … yes, Aisa.”

A hellish ringing FILLED HIS EARS. “I’m way over my head, girl.”

“No, you’re not.” She was dazzling, her eyes resplendent. 

“I’m to believe you & Chloé & even Aisa are these ancient goddesses, somehow revived.”

She spread her arms out, saying, “Yes—”

... THAT'S ALL I'M READING FROM THE WINNOWING, JUST A TEASE. BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT, HERE, THESE DIVINITIES ARE HARDLY MYTHS ...

Ω

NOW WE'LL GO BACK TO ANCIENT TIMES TO MINGLE WITH THE OLYMPIC GODS. 

SOMETIMES THE FATES STEPPED AWAY FROM THEIR MUNDANE DUTIES & FOR SOME HANDS-ON INTERVENTION.

THERE ARE STORIES ABOUT HOW THEY ARRANGED A COUPLE OF ZEUS' SEVEN MARRIAGES.

THE GREEK LYRIC POET PINDAR WROTE, "FIRST THE FATES IN THEIR GOLDEN CHARIOT BROUGHT HEAVENLY GODDESS THEMIS FROM THE OCEAN'S SPRINGS TO THE SACRED STAIRS OF OLYMPUS TO BE THE BRIDE OF ZEUS ..."

AND THE COMIC PLAYWRIGHT ARISTOPHANES WROTE, "THE FATES UNITED HERA TO ZEUS, WHO GOVERNS THE GODS FROM THE SUMMIT OF HIS THRONE."

THE FATES WERE ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOVE-GODDESS, APHRODITE. WE THINK OF HER AS STIRRING PASSION & CREATING MAD INFATUATION.

THAT'S RIGHT UP THE FATES' ALLEY.  LOVE LED TO NEWBORNS, & AT BIRTH, THE FATES STEPPED IN ...

Ω

NOW FOR A SOMEWHAT SOMBER, FINAL COMMENT ON THE FURIES ... WE’VE HEARD THEM CALLED 'THE CURSES'. THEY HAD TWO TYPES OF CURSES ...

ONE WAS THE FURIES' OWN — WHICH WERE CURSES THAT IMPOSED MADNESS OR PLAGUE ON THE OFFENDER. 

BUT IN ADDITION, THEY SOMETIMES ACTED ON THE CURSES MADE BY MORTALS ... 

THINK ABOUT THAT THE NEXT TIME YOU LOSE YOUR TEMPER. WORDS SAID IN ANGER MAY BE TEMPORARILY SATISFYING, BUT WHAT IF THE FURIES OVERHEAR?

WHEN A CURSE WAS JUSTIFIED, THE FURIES TURNED IT INTO A DEATH WARRANT ... & ONE THAT COULD NOT BE ESCAPED.

WHEN THAT OCCURRED, THE FURIES TRUMPED THE FATES, COMPLETELY REWRITING WHATEVER HAD BEEN PREORDAINED ...

AND AS IT TURNS OUT, THERE'S WAS A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA IN IT FOR THE FURIES WHEN THEY RESPONDED. THINK OF IT AS A KIND OF TIP ... 

AESCHYLUS CLUES US IN WHEN HE DESCRIBES THE FURIES ... DRINKING THE BLOOD OF THEIR VICTIMS ... IN OTHER WORDS, THE FURIES MAY HAVE BEEN THE FIRST ... VAMPIRES.

THIS REVELATION WAS SHOCKING TO HIS AUDIENCES. TODAY WE'VE REIMAGINED VAMPIRES AS HANDSOME, SUAVE YOUNG MEN & SOPHISTICATED WOMEN. 

THEY'RE ALWAYS ON THE HUNT. THEY APPEAR IN BOOKS, MOVIES & ON TV ... BUT THE VAMPIRE-FURIES OF ANCIENT GREECE WERE HARDLY POLISHED OR DEBONAIR ... ON THE CONTRARY.

SUPPOSE YOU'VE COMMITTED SOME HORRENDOUS CRIME ... A DAY OR TWO PASSES & YOU BEGIN TO HOPE THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN AWAY WITH ... LET'S SAY, MURDER ... 

IT'S EARLY EVENING. YOU'RE WALKING TOWARD TOWN & SUDDENLY, AHEAD OF YOU, THREE WOMEN MATERIALIZE ON THE PATH ... 

SLICK BLACK SNAKES WREATHE IN THEIR HAIR. ALTHOUGH THEIR FACES ARE SHROUDED, YOU CATCH GLIMPSES OF RED EYES. 

YOU KNOW INSTANTLY: THEY'RE THE FURIES WHICH YOU HAD THOUGHT TO ESCAPE.

AS YOU FREEZE, EACH OF THEM UNROLLS A WHIP. THEY HAVEN'T TAKEN A STEP, BUT NOW, BEWILDERINGLY, THEY SURROUND YOU. THERE'S NOWHERE TO FLEE.

THE FULL MOON DARKENS. YOU FEEL A COLD WIND ... IN TERROR ... YOU ... FACE ... YOUR END ... [Sound of a bullwhip snapping--must be unambiguous]

Ω

IN OUR NEXT EPISODE WE FOLLOW THE EXPLOITS OF GREECE'S MOST INFAMOUS WOMAN, MEDEA. SHE HELPS JASON & THE ARGONAUTS STEAL THE GOLDEN FLEECE.

BUT THAT'S HARDLY ALL. A DECADE LATER WHEN SHE'S SPITED BY JASON, HER REVENGE LEADS TO MULTIPLE DEATHS, INCLUDING KINGS, PRINCESSES & HER OWN CHILDREN ...