Allecto, one of the three Furies of Roman mythology, is portrayed by Virgil in his epic poem, The Aeneid, as a monster (I envision her as a large cat with tentacles) who does not seem to have the same amount of free will as the other immortals in Virgil’s story. She is a hideous beast said to have been created by chance, who resides in the Underworld where it is her job to punish sinners for their crimes. She is called by circumstance, duty, and instinct to perform this task and she lacks certain traits common to beings who possess free will. She does not need a personal reason to act, she has no concern for the consequences of her actions, and she is unable to stop acting without external direction. Allecto carries out despicable and destructive acts because it is her nature to do so.
Allecto does not need a personal reason to unleash her terror. In Book Seven, Allecto is called out of the Underworld by Juno, the queen of the gods, to start a war. Juno is angry and frustrated because she wants to prevent Aeneas, the hero of the story, from founding the city of Rome and she thinks that a war between Aeneas’ Trojans and the native Latins would be a great idea. Juno, however, does not have the power to start the war herself, and she is unable to enlist the aid of her fellow gods, so in frustration she proclaims, “If I cannot sway the heavens, I’ll wake the powers of hell!” (7.365). So Juno plummets down to the underworld to seek Allecto and enlist her terror. But when she meets Allecto, Juno does not ask or cajole Allecto. Instead, “Juno whips her on with a challenge like a lash: / ‘Do this service for me, virgin daughter of Night, / a labor just for me’" (7.387-389). Allecto does not protest, hesitate or question the idea, but immediately acts, "In the next breath, / bloated with Gorgon venom, Allecto launches out” (7.399-400). Allecto never asks Juno “what’s in it for me?” and Juno does not offer Allecto a reason for starting the war, because she knows that Allecto does not need a reason. Juno tells Allecto “you make brothers / bound by love gear up for mutual slaughter” (7.391-392), and “you have ... / a thousand deadly arts” (7. 396-397). However, when Juno recruits the help of Aeolus, the Lord of the Winds, Juno approaches him in a different manner, Virgil tells us, “Now Juno made this plea to the Lord of the Winds” (1.77). Juno makes a plea to Aeolus, and promises him a gift if he complies (1.85-87), and then she says, “Such service earns such gifts” (1.88). Similarly, when Venus wants her own son Cupid to perform a task for her, Venus does not command, or demand, but begs it of him, implying that Cupid in contrast to Allecto needs a personal reason to act. Virgil tells us that Venus “...makes an appeal to [Cupid]”(1.791) saying, “You, my son, are my strength ... Help me, I beg you” (1.792-795). Here Venus appeals to her son’s loyalty and love for her, his mother, to perform the task. However, Allecto does not appear to need a personal reason to act. In addition to a lack of personal investment, Allecto also has no concern for the consequences of her actions.
To do Juno’s bidding, “Allecto launches out” (7.400) without concern for the consequences of her actions. Allecto is tasked to start a war, and she does not care who she hurts to do it. For example, the first thing Allecto does is “[fling] a snake from her black hair at the queen” (7.406). Allecto does not care what flinging the snake will do to the poor woman herself, only that flinging the snake could help start the war, “...the unlucky queen, whipped insane by ghastly horrors, / raves in her frenzy all throughout the city. / Wild as a top, spinning under a twisted whip” (7.440-442). Next, disguised as an old priestess, Allecto urges the king Turnus to start a war against the Trojans. When he doesn’t take her seriously, she hurls him backwards and throws a burning torch at his chest. Later, Allecto causes Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, to kill a pet deer, beloved of the family of Tyrrhus (King Latinus’ herdskeeper): “Iulus himself...aimed a shaft...and Allecto steadied his trembling hand, and the arrow shot / with a whirring rush, pierced through womb and loins” (7.579-582). A small, yet heinous event that first stirs the Latin people to war: ”Silvia, she is the first to call for rescue, / hands beating her arms, summoning hardy rustics” (7.587-588). Silvia, the daughter who raised and loved the deer is heartbroken, but Allecto doesn’t care about the girl’s feelings because the deer’s death was the tool she needed to get the country people angry in order to start the war.
And once Allecto starts destroying she cannot stop, because she has no self control: her function is to make war. “Savage Allecto, high on a lookout, spots her chance / to wreak some havoc” (7.595-596). Allecto continues on to stir up anger and hatred, even after Juno’s war is started. She says to Juno “Now I’ve spattered the Trojans red with Italian blood / I’ll add this too, if I can depend on your good will: / With rumors, I will draw the border towns into war ... I’ll sow their fields with swords!” (7.336-341). So even though Allecto’s task of starting the war is completed, she does not know when to stop. She wants to continue sowing death and destruction. Juno has to tell Allecto to cease, or she will keep going. Juno tells her, “Enough terror, treachery too ... You’re roving far too freely, high on the heaven’s winds” (7.642-647). Allecto is derived from the Greek word "Alektos," which means unceasing. Allecto has no will to restrain herself, and needs Juno’s will to continue, but "quick to Juno's command” (7.650), Allecto flies back to hell, without so much as a word of protest.
Because Allecto is a being portrayed without a free will, without a personal reason to act, or concern with the consequences of her actions, she is unable to control her actions. Allecto needs an external force of another’s will in order to be controlled. Allecto acts only in accordance with her instinct and makeup. Born ugly, she is tasked to forever torture souls as punishment for their crimes. According to Virgil, she is an entity who acts purely on instinct and her malice is inborn and unavoidable. Allecto can no more change the way she behaves than she can change the color of her eyes. She can disguise herself, or change her form from moment to moment (like she does when she becomes the priestess), but eventually her true nature will reappear. She cannot know mercy, she cannot know empathy, she cannot know love, or even self-love. The Aeneid tells us that “even her father, Pluto, loathes the monster, / even her own infernal sisters loathe her” (7.383-384). We are not told in The Aeneid why she is so awful, there is no reason given beyond that it is her nature. Perhaps Allecto is a victim—condemned to live a life of eternal damnation in Tartarus, tormenting souls, only allowed to come up for fresh air at the behest of a greater being. Perhaps she is not to blame for her hideousness, because it is in her nature. And because she has no free will, Allecto is objectified and used like a barn cat who is kept only to chase, kill, and keep away mice. Perhaps, we are to pity Allecto instead of hate her because she has no will of her own, and cannot be blamed for her crimes—it’s just how she was made.
As Jessica Rabbit says in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?: “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.”
Allecto does not need a personal reason to unleash her terror. In Book Seven, Allecto is called out of the Underworld by Juno, the queen of the gods, to start a war. Juno is angry and frustrated because she wants to prevent Aeneas, the hero of the story, from founding the city of Rome and she thinks that a war between Aeneas’ Trojans and the native Latins would be a great idea. Juno, however, does not have the power to start the war herself, and she is unable to enlist the aid of her fellow gods, so in frustration she proclaims, “If I cannot sway the heavens, I’ll wake the powers of hell!” (7.365). So Juno plummets down to the underworld to seek Allecto and enlist her terror. But when she meets Allecto, Juno does not ask or cajole Allecto. Instead, “Juno whips her on with a challenge like a lash: / ‘Do this service for me, virgin daughter of Night, / a labor just for me’" (7.387-389). Allecto does not protest, hesitate or question the idea, but immediately acts, "In the next breath, / bloated with Gorgon venom, Allecto launches out” (7.399-400). Allecto never asks Juno “what’s in it for me?” and Juno does not offer Allecto a reason for starting the war, because she knows that Allecto does not need a reason. Juno tells Allecto “you make brothers / bound by love gear up for mutual slaughter” (7.391-392), and “you have ... / a thousand deadly arts” (7. 396-397). However, when Juno recruits the help of Aeolus, the Lord of the Winds, Juno approaches him in a different manner, Virgil tells us, “Now Juno made this plea to the Lord of the Winds” (1.77). Juno makes a plea to Aeolus, and promises him a gift if he complies (1.85-87), and then she says, “Such service earns such gifts” (1.88). Similarly, when Venus wants her own son Cupid to perform a task for her, Venus does not command, or demand, but begs it of him, implying that Cupid in contrast to Allecto needs a personal reason to act. Virgil tells us that Venus “...makes an appeal to [Cupid]”(1.791) saying, “You, my son, are my strength ... Help me, I beg you” (1.792-795). Here Venus appeals to her son’s loyalty and love for her, his mother, to perform the task. However, Allecto does not appear to need a personal reason to act. In addition to a lack of personal investment, Allecto also has no concern for the consequences of her actions.
To do Juno’s bidding, “Allecto launches out” (7.400) without concern for the consequences of her actions. Allecto is tasked to start a war, and she does not care who she hurts to do it. For example, the first thing Allecto does is “[fling] a snake from her black hair at the queen” (7.406). Allecto does not care what flinging the snake will do to the poor woman herself, only that flinging the snake could help start the war, “...the unlucky queen, whipped insane by ghastly horrors, / raves in her frenzy all throughout the city. / Wild as a top, spinning under a twisted whip” (7.440-442). Next, disguised as an old priestess, Allecto urges the king Turnus to start a war against the Trojans. When he doesn’t take her seriously, she hurls him backwards and throws a burning torch at his chest. Later, Allecto causes Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, to kill a pet deer, beloved of the family of Tyrrhus (King Latinus’ herdskeeper): “Iulus himself...aimed a shaft...and Allecto steadied his trembling hand, and the arrow shot / with a whirring rush, pierced through womb and loins” (7.579-582). A small, yet heinous event that first stirs the Latin people to war: ”Silvia, she is the first to call for rescue, / hands beating her arms, summoning hardy rustics” (7.587-588). Silvia, the daughter who raised and loved the deer is heartbroken, but Allecto doesn’t care about the girl’s feelings because the deer’s death was the tool she needed to get the country people angry in order to start the war.
And once Allecto starts destroying she cannot stop, because she has no self control: her function is to make war. “Savage Allecto, high on a lookout, spots her chance / to wreak some havoc” (7.595-596). Allecto continues on to stir up anger and hatred, even after Juno’s war is started. She says to Juno “Now I’ve spattered the Trojans red with Italian blood / I’ll add this too, if I can depend on your good will: / With rumors, I will draw the border towns into war ... I’ll sow their fields with swords!” (7.336-341). So even though Allecto’s task of starting the war is completed, she does not know when to stop. She wants to continue sowing death and destruction. Juno has to tell Allecto to cease, or she will keep going. Juno tells her, “Enough terror, treachery too ... You’re roving far too freely, high on the heaven’s winds” (7.642-647). Allecto is derived from the Greek word "Alektos," which means unceasing. Allecto has no will to restrain herself, and needs Juno’s will to continue, but "quick to Juno's command” (7.650), Allecto flies back to hell, without so much as a word of protest.
Because Allecto is a being portrayed without a free will, without a personal reason to act, or concern with the consequences of her actions, she is unable to control her actions. Allecto needs an external force of another’s will in order to be controlled. Allecto acts only in accordance with her instinct and makeup. Born ugly, she is tasked to forever torture souls as punishment for their crimes. According to Virgil, she is an entity who acts purely on instinct and her malice is inborn and unavoidable. Allecto can no more change the way she behaves than she can change the color of her eyes. She can disguise herself, or change her form from moment to moment (like she does when she becomes the priestess), but eventually her true nature will reappear. She cannot know mercy, she cannot know empathy, she cannot know love, or even self-love. The Aeneid tells us that “even her father, Pluto, loathes the monster, / even her own infernal sisters loathe her” (7.383-384). We are not told in The Aeneid why she is so awful, there is no reason given beyond that it is her nature. Perhaps Allecto is a victim—condemned to live a life of eternal damnation in Tartarus, tormenting souls, only allowed to come up for fresh air at the behest of a greater being. Perhaps she is not to blame for her hideousness, because it is in her nature. And because she has no free will, Allecto is objectified and used like a barn cat who is kept only to chase, kill, and keep away mice. Perhaps, we are to pity Allecto instead of hate her because she has no will of her own, and cannot be blamed for her crimes—it’s just how she was made.
As Jessica Rabbit says in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?: “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.”
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ReplyDeleteHey AJ!
ReplyDeleteYou made a good point in this essay. I never would have thought to look at Allecto from this perspective. I now see Allecto as almost a sympathetic character, because, as you said, she is confined down there in the Underworld until someone like Juno decides to use her.
Your essay also caused me to view all three Furies in a different light as we read the Oresteia. I noticed that the ghost of Clytaemnestra, like Juno, wants to use the Furies to hound and torment someone, and does not care that the Furies just want to sleep! Perhaps your argument would help to explain the dramatic turnaround we see at the end of the Oresteia. When we understand that the Furies are essentially treated as slaves by the higher deities, it makes a lot of sense that they would accept Athena’s humanizing offer of redemption in The Eumenides.
T.T.F.N.!
Nikki