How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #10
(Apollo): "I have this to say as well, and you are to understand that what I shall say is right. The so-called mother is no parent of a child, but nurturer of a newly seeded embryo; the parent is the one who mounts her, while she conserves the child like a stranger for a stranger, for those fathers not thwarted by god. I will show you proof of this argument: there can be a father without a mother; a witness is close at hand, the daughter of Olympian Zeus [a line missing] nor nurtured in the darkness of a womb, but the kind of child no goddess could give birth to." (657-666)
If you check out our discussion of this quotation under the theme of gender, you'll see that we make some arguments that this wasn't the prevalent view in Aeschylus's day. The questions we asked there still remain, however: (1) Why does Apollo make the argument? (2) Is he just improvising, making up something on the spot to get Orestes off the hook? (3) What would the consequences be if people in Athens started widely believing in it?