Alecto in Greek tradition
Alecto is an avenging Fury and a daughter of Night, associated with vengeance for blood crimes, punishment of kin murderers and oath breakers, madness, destructive rage, war, and civil discord. Gaia conceives her among the Erinyes from blood spilled when Cronus attacks Uranus. Later, Hera sends Alecto to thwart the Trojans’ settlement in Italy, where she drives Amata mad, urges Turnus to resist, and turns a dispute over a wounded deer into war.
The quick answers
Who is Alecto?
Alecto is a Greek being associated with vengeance for blood crimes, punishment of kin-murderers, punishment of oath-breakers, madness and destructive rage, war and civil discord.Source
Source
- Greek Myths & Tales
- mythology
- Classical Mythology a to Z
What is Alecto associated with?
vengeance for blood crimes, punishment of kin-murderers, punishment of oath-breakers, madness and destructive rage, war and civil discordSource
Source
- Greek Myths & Tales
- mythology
What family links are recorded for Alecto?
Father: Uranus, Mother: Gaia.
Alecto’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
The names Alecto answers to
Alecto
The unceasing one or unceasing anger
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Erinys
An avenging Fury
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Furia
A Roman Fury
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
Daughter of Night
A child of Night
SourceClassical Mythology a to Z
The myths of Alecto
2 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
The Birth of Alecto from Uranus’s Blood
Cronus raised a flint sickle against Uranus as he slept. Gaia, the Earth, had persuaded the Titans to attack their father because Uranus cast his rebellious sons, the Cyclopes, into Tartarus. Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, led the attack. He seized Uranus with his left hand and castrated him with the sickle. The left hand became associated with ill omen.
Cronus threw the severed genitals and the flint sickle into the sea by Cape Drepanum. Blood flowed from Uranus’s wound and fell upon Gaia. She conceived from the drops and gave birth to the Three Erinyes, also called the Furies. They were Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera. The Erinyes avenged parricide and perjury.
The same blood also produced the nymphs of the ash tree, who were called the Meliae. Alecto’s birth followed directly after Cronus’s attack on Uranus, and the blood that fell upon the Earth brought her into being. The attack ended Uranus’s rule as the first ruler of the universe. The imprisoned Cyclopes remained in Tartarus, a place of infernal darkness in Hades. Tartarus lay as far from the Earth as the Earth lay from the sky.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1The Greek MythsT1
- 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1
Quote
“When Cronus cut off Uranus’s genitals, the blood that fell upon Gaia produced the Erinyes, Alecto, Tisiphone and Megaera, along with the Meliae.”
Apollodorus, The Library
- 3Greek Mythology August 2018T1
Alecto Kindles the War in Italy
Hera descended into the Underworld after her own gods and goddesses had failed to help her. She sought the Furies, creatures willing to undertake evil tasks, and commanded Allecto, also called Alecto, to oppose the Trojans and the Italians. Hera wanted to prevent the Trojans from gaining Italy through the marriage of Aeneas and Lavinia.
Allecto first drove Amata into frenzy. Amata was involved in the dispute over Lavinia, whose proposed marriage had become the focus of Hera’s opposition. Her madness made the quarrel more dangerous and helped turn the question of Lavinia’s marriage into a wider threat.
Allecto then went to Turnus, Lavinia’s Rutulian fiancé, at his palace. She warned him that Aeneas intended to marry the princess. Unless Turnus drove the Trojans away, she said, he would lose Lavinia. Turnus ignored the warning. Allecto stormed out of the palace in anger.
She continued her work among the people involved in the dispute. While Ascanius was out hunting, Allecto directed one of his arrows towards a pet deer belonging to the Rutulians. The young fawn fell. When Lavinia saw it, she became hysterical and ordered her attendants to find the culprit. The incident increased the hostility between the Trojans and the Italians.
Hera’s command had turned a dispute over Lavinia into open conflict. The Trojans and the Italians were drawn into war, while Turnus resisted Aeneas and the marriage Hera opposed.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Roman MythologyT1
- 2the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“Hera sends Alecto from the Underworld to oppose the Trojans, and she inflames Amata, Turnus and the people of Latium until the quarrel over Lavinia becomes war.”
the ancient sources
- 3Greek Myths & TalesT1
Also appears in
The myths across MythSource where Alecto features, each on that figure’s page.
- Cronus Imprisons the Cyclopes · on Cronus
- Cronus Overthrows Uranus · on Cronus
- The Castration of Uranus · on Cronus
- Demeter, Poseidon, and the Horse Arion · on Demeter
- Gaia's Revolt Against Uranus · on Gaia
- The Birth of the Moirai · on Lachesis
- The Birth of the Meliae · on Meliae
- Poseidon Pursues Demeter · on Poseidon
- The Creation of the Horse · on Poseidon
- The Birth of Tisiphone and the Erinyes · on Tisiphone
- The Overthrow of Uranus · on Uranus
- Uranus Imprisons His Children · on Uranus
3 works catalogued
This is the candidate catalogue for Alecto: candidate reworks first, then references, then names used as atmosphere. Nothing here has been checked against a source yet. Only reviewed myth-to-work links are promoted in Overview.
Showing 3 of 3 works.
Film1
- AlectoName only
Game2
- HadesRework
- God of War: AscensionRework
These are catalogue candidates, not proof that every work retells this figure. Reviewed myth-to-work links appear in Overview.
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
6 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Alecto. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/alecto
"Alecto." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/alecto.
"Alecto." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/alecto.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Alecto embeds here once it publishes.