Alastor

Alastor is a chthonic spirit and avenging demon in Greek mythology. He is often seen as the personification of family blood feuds and relentless vengeance, punishing those who break natural or divine laws, especially through acts like parricide or perjury.

Although Alastor is sometimes linked to Zeus in a judicial role, he mainly acts on his own as a vengeful spirit, making sure that a father’s sins are passed down to his children.

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Overview

Attribute	Details
Primary Name	Alastor
Other Names	Alastros, Zeus Alastor, The Unforgetting One, The Avenger
Titles	Avenger of Evil Deeds, The Executioner, Spirit of Vengeance, Punisher of the Wicked, Shadow of the Blood-Feud, The Unresting One, Tormentor of the Guilty, Scourge of the Accursed
Gender	Male
Alignment	Lawful Evil
Role	Avenging spirit, instigator of blood feuds, punisher of familial crimes, personification of the curse
Rank	Chthonic Daimon / Minor Deity
Hierarchy	Subordinate to Pluto and Persephone; occasionally acts as an instrument of Zeus Alastor
Legions / Followers	None specified; often works alongside the Erinyes (Furies)
Appearance	A grim, shadowy humanoid figure, often depicted with a stern countenance or as an invisible pursuing force.
Powers & Abilities	Induces madness, perpetuates generational curses, tracks victims across borders, ensures the failure of the guilty’s endeavors, manipulation of fate
Associated Figures	Zeus, Pluto, Persephone, Nemesis, The Erinyes, Tisiphone, Megaera, Alecto, Hecate, Oedipus, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, Orestes, Medea, Lycaon, Pelops, Atreus, Thyestes
Weaknesses	Ritual purification (katharsis), divine intervention by Apollo or Athena, fulfillment of the blood debt, ending of the family line
Opposing Forces	Apollo (as the Purifier), Athena (as the Judge), The Eumenides (transformed Furies)
Pantheon	Greco-Roman
Region of Origin	Ancient Greece
First Known Appearance	8th–7th century BCE; mentioned in early Greek epic and tragic poetry
Primary Sources	Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Euripides’ Medea, Pausanias’ Description of Greece, Hesychius’ Lexicon

Description

Alastor stands for the idea of an “unforgettable” crime. In Greek belief, he is not just a random demon, but a curse that clings to a family after a terrible act, like killing a guest or relative. His purpose is to keep cosmic justice by making sure every wrong is punished.

Alastor also symbolizes the heavy burden of guilt and the certainty of consequences. He represents the idea of “an eye for an eye,” quietly pushing a family toward ruin when they break the gods’ sacred laws.

Appearance

Alastor’s physical form is rarely described because he is mostly seen as a ghostly, relentless force. When he is shown, he looks grim and strong, with a human-like shape. His skin is usually pale or ashen, showing his ties to the underworld, and his face is rough and merciless.

Unlike the winged Furies, Alastor is usually seen as a stalking entity who stays on the ground. He might carry tools of punishment, like a whip or torch, but people mostly sense him as a cold, heavy shadow hanging over those he targets. His eyes are described as fixed and unblinking, showing that he never forgets human wrongdoing.

History

The Birth of Vengeance

In the earliest days, as the gods’ laws were first shaping the world, Alastor came out of the darkness of Erebus. He was not born from flesh, but from the first cry of a murdered family member.

As the blood of the dead soaked into the ground, the pain and need for justice took shape as a living being. The chthonic powers gave this entity the job of making sure no secret murder stayed hidden. From the start, Alastor was the shadow that followed innocent bloodshed, quietly watching until it was time to act as a fierce executioner.

The Curse of the House of Atreus

One of the best-known stories about Alastor involves the House of Atreus. The horror began when Tantalus served his son, Pelops, as food to the gods. Even though the gods brought Pelops back, the crime brought Alastor to the family. Generations later, his influence showed as Atreus and Thyestes fought bitterly for the throne.

Alastor haunted the halls of Mycenae, pushing Atreus to repeat his grandfather’s crime by serving Thyestes his own children at a feast. The demon stayed in the palace, stirring up the events that led Clytemnestra to kill Agamemnon and later drove Orestes to kill his mother.

In this story, Alastor is called a “heavy guest” in the house, a spirit who would not leave until the blood debt was fully repaid.

The Ruin of Oedipus

In Thebes, Alastor played a part in King Oedipus’s tragic story. Even though Oedipus did not know he was guilty of patricide and incest, the universe’s laws were still broken. Alastor showed up as a plague that ruined crops and made the women infertile. He weighed the city down, demanding the truth come out.

Even after Oedipus blinded himself and left Thebes, Alastor continued to haunt his sons, Eteocles and Polynices. He fueled their hatred, which led to the War of the Seven Against Thebes, where the brothers killed each other at the same time, finally meeting Alastor’s demand for the family’s destruction.

The Wrath of Medea

When Jason betrayed Medea for another woman, Medea called on the chthonic powers to witness his broken promise. Folklore says that Alastor answered her, giving her the cold determination to kill her own children.

The demon became the driving force behind Medea’s revenge, making sure Jason suffered a fate worse than death: living a long life haunted by the loss of his family. In this story, Alastor’s role as a protector of oaths stands out. Since Jason had sworn his love by the gods, Alastor became the tool of his downfall when that promise was broken.

Genealogy

Attribute	Details
Parents	Nyx (Night) or Erebus (Darkness); sometimes cited as a son of Gaia
Siblings	The Erinyes, Nemesis, Eris, Thanatos, Hypnos
Consorts	None
Offspring	None
Other Relationships	Allied with the Furies; servant of Pluto and Persephone

Sources

Source	Quote
Aeschylus, Agamemnon	The ancient, bitter Alastor (avenging spirit) of the feeder [Atreus], taking the shape of this dead man’s wife, has paid out this man, sacrificing a grown man for the young.
Sophocles, Oedipus Rex	May the Alastor (avenger) of the gods and the Furies catch you in a shameful and evil death for your evil deeds.
Euripides, Medea	The Alastor (avenging spirit) sent by the gods for your father’s sake has fallen on me.
Pausanias, Description of Greece	They say that the name Alastor was given to him by the inhabitants because of the unforgetting nature of his vengeance.

Powers

Alastor’s main power is the Generational Taint. Instead of taking over a single body, he attaches himself to a family line. He connects to the family’s blood, pushing later generations to repeat the first crime.

This starts a never-ending cycle of doom. Alastor also uses Psychological Attrition. He does not always kill his victims right away. Instead, he brings them a series of troubles, like failed crops, being shunned by others, and nightmares, until they break down mentally.

Alastor can also control Environmental Miasma. His presence is said to poison the land around a wrongdoer, causing blighted crops and dead animals. He is like a spiritual tracker, with a perfect sense of bloodguilt, so he can find his target no matter how far they run or how much time passes.

His last power is the Clouding of Judgment. This means he makes sure a guilty person makes the very choices that lead to their own capture or death, turning them into their own executioner.

Occult correspondences

Attribute	Details
Planet	Saturn
Zodiac Sign	Scorpio
Element	Earth (Chthonic)
Direction	North (The direction of shadows)
Color	Black, Blood Red
Number	8 (Representing the scales of justice)
Metal	Lead
Crystal / Mineral	Obsidian, Hematite
Herb / Plant	Asphodel, Cypress
Incense	Myrrh, Sulfur
Sacred Animal / Symbol	The Scourge, The Broken Hearth

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