Note 498 — EUMENIDES
E. H. (Edward Hayes) Plumptre translation
The thought which underlies the obscurity of a corrupt passage seems to be that, as they relieve the Gods from the task of being avengers of blood, all that the Gods on their side can legitimately do against them is to render powerless the prayers for vengeance offered by the kindred of the slain. Their very isolation, as Chthonian deities, from the Gods of Olympos should protect them from open conflict. But an alternative rendering of the second line gives, perhaps, a better meaning—
“And by the prayers men offer unto me
Work freedom for the Gods;”
i.e., by being the appointed receivers of such prayers for vengeance, they leave the Gods free for a higher and serener life.