HERENUS, HERYNES. The Erinyes or the Furies, daughters of the Night, lived in the Underworld. They had snakes for hair and wore snakes around their waists, and their clothes dripped blood (Met IV.451-454, 481-484; Aeneid VI.554-557, 570-573). They guarded the infernal city of Dis and were the handmaidens of Proserpina, the queen of eternal lamentation (Inf IX.36-48). In Greek mythology they were given the propitiatory title, the Eumenides, "the kindly." Their names are Alecto, Megaera, and Ti-siphone.

The three Furies weep for pity when Orpheus plays in the Underworld, Bo III, Metr 12.33-37. The poet invokes the Herynes, "Nyghtes doughtren thre," who complain endlessly in pain, Tr IV.22-24. Herenus, in The Complaint of Pity, has baffled commentators. The line, "Have mercy on me, thou Herenus quene," Pity 92, seems to suggest that Pity is the queen of the Erinyes; but the queen is Proserpina. Skeat (I: 461) suggests that only Pity can control the vindictiveness of vengeance, without proposing that Pity is Proserpina. John L. Lowes, on the other hand, suggests that Pity and Proserpina are the same person. Interpretation of Herenus in this line remains a problem. Juno and Imeneus do not attend the wedding of Tereus and Proigne, but the Furies, boding ill, do, LGW 2251-2252. [Alete: Megera: Proserpina: Thesiphone]

Herenus is a scribal variant of Herynes, the inversion of Erinyes. Latin initial h was not pronounced. Herenus appears in medial position, Pity 92. Herynes appears in medial position, Tr IV.22. Other variants are Heremus, Herenius, Vertuous, Serenous.