eumenides

eumenides — plural noun

1. in ancient Greek stories, a group of goddesses who punished people for committin

1.複數名詞C2
釋義

in ancient Greek stories, a group of goddesses who punished people for committing terrible crimes, especially crimes against their own family members. The name Eumenides was a polite way of referring to them, because people feared saying their real name, the Furies.

例句

The Eumenides are often shown with snakes in their hair and tears of blood on their cheeks.

plural-only proper noun: the Eumenides + plural verb

In Aeschylus' famous play, the Eumenides chase Orestes for killing his mother Clytemnestra.

literary context: play title as cultural reference

同義詞
  • the Furies

    the older, more direct name that the Greeks avoided saying aloud; 'Furies' emphasises their role as punishers, while 'Eumenides' is the polite euphemism

  • the Erinyes

    the original Greek name; used in scholarly writing. 'Erinyes' sounds more academic and technical than 'Eumenides.'

  • the Kindly Ones

    a literal translation of 'Eumenides' from Greek; used in some English translations of classical texts

文法句型

the Eumenides

用法筆記

Always used with the definite article 'the' and a plural verb. This word appears almost exclusively in discussions of classical mythology, ancient Greek drama, and literary criticism. The singular form is not used in standard English.

常見錯誤

❌The Eumenides was angry at the criminal.
✅The Eumenides were angry at the criminal.
💡Eumenides takes a plural verb even though it names a single group.
❌I saw an eumenides in my dream.
✅I read about the Eumenides in my mythology book.
💡Eumenides is a proper noun, always capitalised and never used without 'the.'