We sometimes come across people in our lives who cause us pain. It can be tempting to want to make them pay for the pain they cause us, but William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s painting “Orestes Pursued by the Furies” may provide visual insight as to why it’s better to forgive. The Vengeance of Orestes In Greek legend, Orestes was the son of King Agamemnon, who is best known as a military leader who guided the Greeks during their war with the Trojans. After being exiled to Sparta by Aegisthus, Agamemnon married Clytemnestra with whom he had three daughters and a son, Orestes. Agamemnon, however, angered the goddess Artemis when he killed one of her sacred deer and claimed to be a better hunter than she was. To appease Artemis, he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia. Some versions of the story state that Artemis saved Iphigenia at the last moment by replacing her with …
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