Paul Poulton considers the consequences for doing wrong

Paul Poulton

During the last week of March 2013, 46 year old Stephen Seddon was convicted by a jury in Manchester UK of murdering his parents for financial gain. Members of the Seddon family were understandably left feeling numb, saying that Stephen's mum and dad, whose names were Pat and Bob, were kind, loving and selfless. Mr Justice Hamblen, sentenced the defendant to a minimum of 40 years and told him he will never be paroled. The judge also summed up by saying, "In Greek mythology, someone who killed a parent would be pursued until death by the Furies."

Not everyone will know exactly what the Furies are, but I'm sure most people got the idea and may have had a mental picture of ugly malevolent creatures from the underworld buzzing around a person like wasps he can't shake off. It would be enough to drive someone insane; in fact 'tormenting madness' was one of the ways the Furies were said to manifest their wrath upon a slayer of parents.

Now we all know that Greek mythology has its own colourful way of painting life's story, but the judge went on to say that killing your parents has, throughout time, been recognised as a terrible and unnatural crime. Most people would surely concur with Mr Hamblen's remarks. All crimes are bad to some degree but some offences are particularly monstrous.

Dante's Inferno has levels of badness; the more evil you are the lower you sink in the decreasing circles of hell. Jesus also made the analogy of some servants being beaten with a few blows and some with many, depending on their misconduct. Or as Gilbert and Sullivan put it, "Let the punishment fit the crime". It's common sense; although I have sometimes heard some enthusiastic church-goers say that "all sin is the same". I think that they are getting mixed up with the fact that everyone has sinned and because of that fact we are all below the line, but it's plainly obvious that some people are much further below the line than others.

The ninth and lowest circle of Dante's Inferno is reserved for the treacherous. Many people know what it's like to be betrayed in some way, and the overriding emotion of the victims often seems to be shock. We hear people say things like, "What really hurts is that I thought they were my friend", or, "And after all I've done for them, why would they treat me like that?" Even Jesus seemed to be surprised at just how low Judas had sunk when he said, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" A kiss is used as a sign of affection, but Judas used it to conceal his treachery. Shakespeare captures the stunned anguish of Julius Caesar perfectly when Caesar realises that his friend Brutus is also among the members of the senate who are stabbing him to death, Caesar utters the tragic words "Et tu, Brute?" (You too Brutus?). It's as if Julius Caesar is being hurt more by being betrayed than by being stabbed to death.

And so the Furies get to work on the wretched souls who are treacherous. Judas went out and hung himself pretty quickly; Brutus committed suicide a couple of years after the conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar. Others may linger on with their tormented lives, but most people seem to realise there is a severe price to pay for those who betray people close to them.

Modern people, with our analytical minds and propensity for precise detail, may like to know if creatures called 'The Furies' actually exist; but if we go down that route then we would be missing the basic lesson that the ancient stories are trying to teach us: that there is such a thing as 'right and wrong' and that those who do wrong face consequences.

In the Old Testament we read that King Saul had an evil spirit from God plaguing him, and he would fly into a rage or throw spears at people. Someone once asked me, "Why would God set an evil spirit on someone?" If the story was in the New Testament King Saul would have a demon plaguing him, but in the Old Testament the word demon didn't exist, it's a Greek word not Hebrew. All the Bible means when it says that Saul had an 'evil spirit from God' is that Saul by his jealousy had opened himself up to the realm where God and spirits dwell, and had in effect said, "Come envy, suspicion and distrust and feed on me", and jealousy began to eat away at him. The Bible also explains that there are spirits who have in fact fallen from the state in which God created them and they are more than willing to make their home those who will allow them to. That seems to be the lesson that ancient story tellers and modern judges want us to heed.