Furies

called also the Erinyes (e-rin'iez) and the Eumenides (u-men'i-dez). In Grecian mythology, the three goddesses who punished crimes, especially secret crimes which have escaped public justice. Their names were Alecto, the unresting; Megaera, the jealous; and Tisiphone, the avenger. Their work on earth was to torment the guilty with mental sufferings. In the lower world they punished sinful souls. The name Erinyes, which is their most ancient appellation, signifies the hunters of criminals. The later name, Eumenides, means the soothed goddesses, given as was another name meaning the venerable goddesses, for euphemistic reasons, the Athenians having such a horror of the Furies that they feared almost to mention them. In Aeschylus' drama, The Eumenides, fifty Furies were introduced, accompanied by Horror, Paleness, Terror, Rage, and Death. See Fates

These terrible beings were described as clothed in black robes, with serpents instead of hair, with fingers like claws, a whip of scorpions in one hand and a burning torch in the other, an outstretched tongue, and eyes dripping with gore.-Americana.