Chthonian (pronounced thoh-nee-uhn)
(1) In Classical mythology, of or relating to the deities, spirits, and other beings dwelling under the earth.
(2) Dwelling in, or under the earth
1840–1850:
From the Greek chthóni(os), the
construct being chthon (stem of chthṓn (earth)
+ -ios (the adjectival suffix, accusative
masculine plural of –ius) + -an (from the Latin -ānus, which forms adjectives of belonging or origin from a noun. It was akin to the Latin humus (earth). The alternative spelling in Ancient Greek was
khthonios (in or under the earth), from χθών (khthṓn) (earth, ground, soil).
The Furies (Erinyes)
In Greek mythology, the Furies were the three chthonic female deities of vengeance; known also as Erinyes (the avengers), their counterparts in Roman mythology, the Dirae. The names of this grumpy triumvirate were Alecto (the angry one), Tisiphone (the avenger) and Megaera (the grudging one). In the literature, they’re sometimes called the infernal goddesses.
In Internet mythology, three chthonic female deities of vengeance. Opinion might be divided about the allocation of the labels Angry, Avenging & Grudging.
There are several myths of the birth of the Furies. The most popular is they were born simultaneously with Aphrodite but in Hesiod’s Theogony, he claimed the Furies were born out of Uranus’ blood while Aphrodite was being born from sea foam when Titan Cronus castrated his father Uranus and cast his genitals to the sea; implicit in this version is the Furies preceded the Olympian Gods. Another myth suggests they were born of a union between air and sea while according to Roman Poets (Ovid's (Publius Ovidius Naso; 43 BC–17 AD) Metamorphoses and Virgil's (Publius Vergilius Maro (70–19 BC)) Aeneid, they were the daughters of Nyx (the Night). In some old Greek hymns and Greco-Roman poet Statius' (Publius Papinius Statius (circa 45-circa 96) Thebaid they were the daughters of Hades and Persephone, serving them in the kingdom of underworld. Furies listened to the complaints and callings of victims in the world when these people cursed the wrongdoers. Those who murdered their mothers or fathers were especially important for Furies because (at least according to the Ancient Greek poet Hesiod (7-8th century BC)), they were born of a child’s wrongdoing to his father. They punished people who committed crimes against gods, crimes of disrespect, perjury and those who broke their oaths, but they thought murder the most vile crime and one demanding the most cruel punishment.
Virgil pointing out the Erinyes (1890), engraving by Gustave Doré (1832–1883).
The Furies served Hades and Persephone in the underworld. When souls of the dead came to the kingdom of Hades, firstly they were judged by three judges; that done, the Furies purified souls the judges deemed good and permitted their passage. Souls deemed wicked were condemned to the Dungeons of the Damned in Tartarus to be subjected to the most awful torture, overseen by Furies. Descriptions of the Furies (almost always by male writers or artists) varied in detail but mostly they were depicted as ugly with serpents about their hair and arms, wearing black robes with whips in their hands. Some claimed they also had wings of a bat or bird with burning breath and poisonous blood dripping from their eyes.
