According to Hesiod 's Theogony , when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus , and threw his genitalia into the sea, the Erinyes along with the Giants and the Meliae emerged from the drops of blood which fell on the earth Gaia , while Aphrodite was born from the crests of sea foam. This mixture of bribes and veiled threats satisfies the Erinyes, who are then led by Athena in a procession to their new abode. Their son, Orestes, learns what his mother has done and murders her. In Athens, Athena arranges for Orestes to be tried by a jury of Athenian citizens, with her presiding.