Γῆς τε καὶ Σκότου κόραι: as in Aesch. Eum. 416 they call themselves “Νυκτὸς αἰανῆς τέκνα”, and invoke “μᾶτερ Νύξ” (844): Aesch. does not name the other parent. In Hesiod. Theog. 184 the mother is Earth, impregnated by the blood of Uranus,—the idea being that the Erinyes were called into life by the crime of a son (Zeus) against a father. Other versions made them daughters of Euonymè (a name for Earth) and Cronus (Epimenides ap. Tzetzes on Lycophron 406), or of Earth and Phorkys (i.e. the sea): cp. Welcker Griech. Götterl. 3. 81.
This text is part of:
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part II: The Oedipus Coloneus. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1899.
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