MEGAERA (one of the Erinyes or Furies)

Megaera resides in an infernal abode before being summoned to battle, where she is commanded to lead her band of viperous sisters.^4,5 When Tisiphone performed a ritual involving a serpent to rouse her, Megaera broke through the massive earth to stand beneath the stars.⁵ She possesses kindred snakes that accompany her to battle.⁵ She attends at the throne of Zeus and watches his doors.³

Megaera was tasked with driving Heracles to madness, a role that required her to snatch a burning brand from a funeral pyre.⁴ She followed Deianira while sounding dreadful scourges, wielding a scourge and Stygian brands.^2,6 The Eumenides, including Megaera, are said to spare the hand of the killer.² She carries a deadly torch and a blazing brand, exulting during a vision of impending ruin.^7,2,8 Megaera brandishes two deadly darts at her ugly temples.²

Her pursuit of Orestes was marked by intense fury, as she sought revenge as part of a group of furies.^9,7 She tortures Phlegyas with an unholy feast that defeats his hunger.¹⁰ Megaera has the authority to restrict how much a shade can prophesy.¹¹ Zeus sent one of these Furies down to cross Juturna's pathway.³

Megaera is seen as part of a throng of furies with brandished fires.⁷ She holds a flaming torch high in each hand.¹² As a fiend engaged in war, she embodies the relentless and terrible nature of divine retribution.¹² Her presence is marked by a dreadful and dire quality.² Megaera remains a formidable figure, a keeper of punishment who attends at the throne of Zeus.^1,4,3,11,10