Abstract
In Aischylos’ Eumenides, Apollo intimates a theory according to which the father is the sole genetic parent of the child. The status of this conception, and whether it is depicted as an outlandish idea, has been much and inconclusively discussed. This paper considers a neglected piece of evidence: Apollo’s use of the very unusual word αὐτάδελφον when addressing Hermes. In light of the Greeks’ awareness of this etymology as well as the other instances of this rare word in tragedy, the author argues that Aischylos’ text highlights the etymological connection to δελφύς, the womb, thus evoking the role of the mother. This suggests that Aischylos subtly lets his, and Apollo’s, language rebel against the notion of merely paternal kinship, and the concomitant ideas about revenge, retaliation and children’s obligations to their parent.
Highlights
In Aischylos’ Eumenides, Apollo intimates a theory according to which the father is the sole genetic parent of the child
In the final play of Aischylos’ Oresteia, Apollo develops a doctrine of blood relations according to which only the father is related to the child, while the mother serves as a mere vessel and nourishing device1
The argument serves the purpose of defending a political morality according to which there are strong obligations vis-à-vis one’s father, but not the mother – in this case, retaliatory killing for the sake of the male parent
Summary
In the following we will, as I said, see that an intriguing expression at the beginning of the play may provide a key to understanding how Apollo’s doctrine was depicted in the drama. Anthony Podlecki says that “this is something of a redundancy”, that is, both expressions – “very brotherly” and “of the same father” – convey the same idea (Podlecki 1989, 136) These views trade heavily on the assumption that αὐτάδελφος means ἀδελφός, brother. This highlights the mother as the common origin, not the father. Unlike Greek φράτηρ, likewise designating the brother (Proto-Indo-European *bhrāter, Avestan brātar-, Latin frater, Lithuanian brolis, Russian брат, English brother, Swedish broder and so on), which had acquired a political sense in Greek (designating men belonging to the same phratry, including non-kin), ἀδελφός does originally signify siblings with reference to the mother, not the father. As we shall see, the word is not innocent – Aischylos’ language rarely, if ever, is
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