Furies



The Furies (Ἐρινύες in Greek, Erinyes) are female deities of vengeance. They represent regeneration and the potency of creation, which both consumes and empowers. They are referred to as 'Kindly Ones' in order to remain safe from them, however ironic it is.

History
When the mighty Titan Kronos castrated his father Uranus and threw what was left into the sea, the Erinyes emerged from the drops of blood, while Aphrodite was born from the seafoam. According to a variant account, they issued from an even more primordial level—from Nyx, 'Night'.

History recognized three:
 * Alecto
 * Megaera
 * Tisiphone

In the story of Canto VIII of the Inferno they confront the poets at the gates of the city of Dis. The heads of the Erinyes, whom the two poets met in Canto IV, were wreathed with serpants and their eyes dripped with blood, rendering their appearance rather horrific. Sometimes they had the wings of a bat or bird, and the body of a dog.

According to a legend recounted in Bulfinch's Mythology, the Furies played a central role in avenging the tragic death of playwright Ilbycus. When two thieves attacked Ibycus on his way to a festival in the Isthmus of Corinth, the poet, realizing his imminent death, appealed to a flock of cranes flying overhead to take up his cause. Later, the murderers attended a theatrical performance in which the "Eumenides," presented as a chorus of Gorgon-like monsters, called out for torment to consume the hearts of the guilty. At that moment, a flock of cranes unexpectedly appeared, causing one of the guilty men to cry out Ibycus' name to his accomplice, thus revealing their identities to the audience.

The Lightning Thief
In The Lightning Thief, Alecto is disguised as "Mrs. Dodds", a pre-algebra teacher at Yancy Academy. She disliked Percy Jackson and always seemed to prefer Nancy Bobofit, the class bully. It was later discovered that she was actually one of the Furies and not really human at all. On a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Percy kills her with Riptide (although he does not realize it is Riptide yet, he just thinks that he's having a hallucination after Mr. Brunner throws him his pen) and she disintegrates into dust.

He later fights Alecto again, while on a bus just as he is setting out on his quest, along with the other two Furies. Percy encountered the Furies when in the Underworld upon encountering Hades. After hearing what really occured with the theft of Zeus' Master bolt and Hades' Helm of Darkness during Percy's fight with Ares, the Furies arrived after the battle and Percy gave them the Helm of Darkness to return to Hades.

The Last Olympian
In The Last Olympian, it is revealed that Alecto was the "lawyer" who brought Nico di Angelo and Bianca di Angelo to the Lotus Hotel and Casino under Hades's orders. After about 70 years, Hades had the Fury get his children out as he hoped that one of them could be the child in the Great Prophecy. The furies also appeared to carry Nico and Percy to Hades's throne room before Percy bathes in the River Styx