erinyes

IPA/ˈɛɹɪnˌaɪz/
IPA/ˈɛɹɪnˌaɪz/

erinyes — noun

1. In Greek mythology, three terrifying female spirits who hunt down and torment wi

1.nounC2
Definition

In Greek mythology, three terrifying female spirits who hunt down and torment without rest anyone guilty of killing a family member, breaking a sacred oath, or violating the natural order, often driving their victims to madness.

Example

The Erinyes chased Orestes across the land, demanding justice for his murdered mother.

the Erinyes + chased + [person] — mythological narrative pattern

Professor Amara showed her students a vase of the Erinyes hunting down a man stained with his father's blood.

vase of the Erinyes + hunting down — visual storytelling in mythological art

Common collocations
  • pursued by the Erinyes
  • haunted by the Erinyes
  • tormented by the Erinyes
  • the Erinyes of Greek myth
Synonyms
  • Furies

    the Latin and common English name for the same goddesses; more frequent in everyday speech

  • Eumenides

    euphemistic Greek name meaning 'the kindly ones', used after they are appeased or transformed

  • avenging spirits

    a broader, cross-cultural term; not specific to Greek mythology

Usage Note

Always plural in form; the singular 'Erinys' is extremely rare. The Erinyes are also called the Furies (their Roman name) or the Eumenides ('the kindly ones') after their transformation in Athenian myth.

Common Mistakes

An Erinyes appeared before him.
One of the Erinyes appeared before him.
'Erinyes' is plural; use 'one of the Erinyes' or the rare singular 'Erinys' for a single goddess.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three names refer to figures of divine retribution, but they carry different overtones. Erinyes is the oldest Greek name and appears in classical tragedy with a dark, terrifying force — they physically hound the guilty. Furies is the Latin-derived English name and is far more common in everyday and literary English; someone might say 'the Furies of guilt pursued him' without any scholarly weight. Eumenides ('the kindly ones') is a ritual euphemism used after Athena transforms the Erinyes into benevolent guardians of Athens — it signals appeasement and civic order rather than raw vengeance. Nemesis, by contrast, is a single goddess who punishes arrogance and excessive pride (hubris), not crimes against blood-kin. If you read about a character tormented for murdering a parent, the Erinyes or Furies are at work; if a character is brought low by their own overconfidence, that is Nemesis.

FuriesEumenides ↗Nemesis ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • the Erinyes of legend
  • the wrath of the Erinyes

Phrases

  • appease the Erinyes
  • call down the Erinyes

Prepositions

  • pursued by the Erinyes
  • hounded by the Erinyes
  • in the grip of the Erinyes

Etymology

Pre-Greek (uncertain)Ancient GreekLatin (via Furies)English

From Ancient Greek Ἐρινύες (Erinyes), the name for the three goddesses of vengeance in Greek religion. The word's origin before Greek is uncertain — it may come from a pre-Greek Mediterranean language. In English, the term entered through classical scholarship and translations of Greek tragedy, appearing in texts from the 16th century onward. The Romans called them Furiae, which gave English the more common word 'Furies.'