Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

After killing Clytemnestra (and Aegisthus), Orestes is polluted by mother’s blood and hunted by the Erinyes. The classical line—especially Aeschylus—sends him first to Apollo at Delphi, whose oracle had commanded the deed. There Apollo performs rites of purification: in tragic staging the god stands as sponsor and cleanser, declaring that he will not abandon the suppliant; the Furies, temporarily put to sleep in the temple, still scent the blood and will not yield fully to ritual alone. Apollodorus compresses the same hinge: Orestes is purified by Apollo (or, in handbook variants, driven mad and purified at other shrines as well), then sent onward for judgment. Purification at Delphi thus does not end the story; it marks the transfer from private vendetta to divine sponsorship. The pollution remains active enough for the Erinyes to pursue him to Athens (or, in other strands, across Hellas) until a civic or further sacred resolution. Catalogue Delphi as the necessary first cleansing—Apollo’s house acknowledging the oracle’s consequence—before wanderings and trial complete the cure.