Abstract

This article attempts a new explanation of the word γονίας which makes its only appearance in the concluding lines of Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers. Though evidently qualifying the vengeance taken by Orestes, its meaning is obscure. The gist of the present argument is that the sense of the term is more clearly defined by the context than is hitherto recognised, and that it may be interpreted as a metaphorical application of a medical concept.