In Greek mythology the Erinyes; literally “the avengers” from Greek ἐρίνειν “pursue, persecute” [sometimes referred to as “infernal goddesses” were female chthonic deities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as “those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath”. Burkert suggests they are “an embodiment of the act of self-cursing contained in the oath”. They correspond to the Furies or Dirae in Roman mythology.