Berkeley Undergraduate Journal of Classics

Scholars have long debated the exact difference between what is “pious” (ὅσιος) and what is “lawfully right” (δίκαιος). Many agree that τὰ ὅσια are actions or deeds that please the gods, while τὰ δίκαια are mortal customs. Although, by definition, these two realms of justice are distinct, they are largely conflated in Euripides’ Orestes. In the end, piety (ὅσιος) trumps justice (δίκαιος) and even the τὸν κοινὸν Ἑλλήνων νόμον.

This paper explores the syntactic differences between these two realms and how Euripides comments on them within the play. After establishing a general trend toward anti-intellectual and religiously motivated sentiment after the scandals of 415 BCE in addition to the many rumors of persecuting intellectuals for impiety, this paper seeks to understand why Euripides departed for Macedon just after the production of the Orestes in light of these sweeping attitudes toward intellectuals and impiety. If, in fact, the intellectuals and philosophers of Athens were being persecuted for their work, Euripides’ Orestes comments on the injustice of these allegations of impiety and puts the god Apollo front and center to correct the populace’s misgivings and misunderstandings on the meanings of ὅσιος and δίκαιος. Given these new developments, this paper explicates exactly how the Orestes fits into the political context of its performance in 408 BCE.