The greatest play about the tension between law and justice is Aeschylus’s The Eumenides, a story of murder and vengeance in which the furies represent justice. They drive people to avenge terrible misdeeds, saying:&#160;“We claim we represent true justice….Blood avengers, always in pursuit, we chase them to the end.”&#160;So it is that the furies help Orestes to wreak vengeance on his mother, Clytaemnestra, for killing his father, Agamemnon.
古希腊人能够很好地理解这一点。反应法律和公正之间的矛盾的最伟大戏剧是埃斯库罗斯的《欧墨尼得斯》（The Eumenides），这是一个关于谋杀和复仇的故事，在这个故事中，愤怒代表了公正。愤怒让人们对严重罪行以牙还牙，他们说：“我们宣布，我们代表了真正的公正。……我们要他们以血还血，追杀他们到天涯海角。”于是，愤怒让俄瑞斯忒斯（Orestes）以武力复仇的方式杀了其母克吕泰涅斯特拉（Clytaemnestra），为其父阿伽门农（Agamemnon）报了仇。俄瑞斯忒斯杀了克吕泰涅斯特拉，也种下了暴力循环的种子。