AESCHYLUS
to the accused man is that both parties can be made to swear. If the accused can swear that he did not commit the crime, well and good. If he cannot, he is guilty. This leaves out of account any inquiry into justification or extenuating circumstances or even intention. Hence Athena condemns it, and eventually substitutes a trial by free inquiry into the whole of the facts.
P. 23, ll. 470 ff. "A mystery graver to decide Than mortal dreameth." Because it involves the whole problem of forgiveness. To reject the suppliant who has tried his best to do right is an offence; yet to save a particular sinner from the due consequence of his sin is an offence too. If one guilty man is to go unpunished, what remains of the Law? Athena decides to found a tribunal to inquire into the whole case and decide as it may think just, and this is the origin of the famous Court of the Areopagus. The Furies, as soon as they hear of this new-fangled form of trial, are bewildered and begin to feel that they have been deceived. Their simple rule, that the doer shall suffer, is no longer holding good.
Pp. 24–27, ll. 490–565. The above leads on to the main argument of this fine lyric. "Spare the criminal, and the law is broken; and then there will be no protection for the helpless and innocent. Society cannot do without Fear, though of course it must be the Fear of Law. The righteous and law-fearing man may suffer, but is never utterly lost; the law-breaker may succeed for a time, but in the end he is destroyed."
Pp. 27 ff., ll. 566–777. The Trial Scene, though
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