In ancient Greece, today was the Feast of the Furies. 10 things you might not know about the Furies:
The furies are goddesses of vengeance according to Greek and Roman mythology. According to Euripides, there are three of them.
They were also known as the Erinyes, or Erinys. This word may originate from words meaning raise, stir, excite, or strife.
Their names are Allecto (“Unceasing in Anger”), Tisiphone (“Avenger of Murder”), and Megaera (“Jealous”).
According to some writers of the time, they are either daughters of Nyx, the goddess of night, or Gaea (Earth). In the latter case, they were born from the Blood of Uranus after he was mutilated.
The most heinous crime in the eyes of the Furies is murdering one’s father or mother. However, any murder, or the harbouring of a murderer would be subject to their wrath. So might acting in a way that goes against the natural order of things.
One of the most famous myths about them is their pursuit of Orestes after he avenged his father Agamemnon’s death by killing his mother, Clytemnestra.
Anyone could summon the Furies to curse someone who had committed a crime against them. Disease and madness were common punishments. Even whole nations could be cursed with famine or disease.
The curse could be lifted if the victim performed a ritual purification or a task to atone for their crimes.
In art, the Furies are depicted as ugly, winged women with Snakes entwined around their arms and waists, and in their hair. Each of them carries a whip and they will be wearing either hunting garb or mourning clothes.
When they weren’t busy cursing people, they had a regular day job, working for Persephone and Hades in the underworld. Their job there was to oversee the torture of the prisoners in the Dungeons of the Damned.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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