MEGAERA

Megaera is “she who holds grudges,” and she is the Fury of jealousy and envy. The Furies would sing a harrowing and overwhelming song to paralyze their victims with feelings of intense guilt and remorse. In this manner, criminals and wrongdoers were castigated by exposure to their own guilt and fear. Seneca gives a vivid picture of this in his tragedy Medea: “Whither hastes that headlong horde of Furiae? Whom seek they? Against whom are they preparing their flaming blows? Whom does the hellish host threaten with its bloody brands? A huge snake hisses, whirled with the writhing lash. Whom does Megaera seek with her deadly torch?”

To the ancient Greek, the Furies were the personification of guilt, and they stood in this capacity as the last defense against the tyranny of corruption and unscrupulous abandon. Their existence manifested our need to reflect on responsibility and fallibility. If humans lacked the ability to realise wrongdoings, they would not recognize their transgressions and thus have no reason for remorse or restraint. The furies, who represented our ability to reckon with some of the darker aspects of human nature, serve as an important counterpart to the goddesses, who empower us to reach towards our better selves.

Total length: 525 mm
Blade length: 323 mm
Blade width: 87 mm

Materials & techniques: The guard and pommel are sculpted using a technique invented by the artist’s father and then cast in bronze. The grip is bound with fine silver and set with fabricated sterling silver ferrules. The blade is 550 layers, comprising 1075 and 15N20 steels of varying thicknesses. It is carved with undulating grooves and pierced with holes. It is etched deeply to reveal the topography of the layered steel.