kokopelle | A Classic Take on Personal Redemption

Scott Peck used the classic story of the story of Orestes in Peck's book "The Road Less Traveled". He corresponded the Furies to metal disease/distress/depression. In Scott's take of the story, Orestes steps forward and accepts responsibility for the matricide. Apollo tries to say, "I made him do it", but Orestes will not have it. In accepting his role, Orestes has a hand in transforming the haunting Furies into the blessed Eumenides. This really spoke to me. I can connect to this modern interpretation of Orestes' story in relation to the struggle for both sanity and fuller living.

A Synopsis of Scott's Story (**):

In ‘Further Along the Road Less Traveled,’ Dr. Peck talks about the story of Orestes. Orestes had murdered his mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus in revenge for their murder of his father Agamemnon. This was how he chose to settle his internal conflict between the horror of murdering his own mother and the compulsion to avenge the murder his father. He had to chose one or the other course of action.

In revenge he’s pursued by horrible hags known as the Erinyes, or Furies, and eventually put on trial, in Peck’s story, by the Gods. He is defended by Apollo. The Gods are getting ready to absolve him of all responsibility, but he refuses their offer, choosing instead to take full responsibility for his actions. With this gesture the Erinyes are all at once beings of light, joy, and creation — the Eumenides — and they bless him with life and good judgment.

**: From Pop Occulture Blog