Women of Trachis

Sophocles’ Women of Trachis is a play that resonates with the complexity

of life, expressing happiness entwined with despair and beauty tangled

with violence. The date of the play is uncertain, but it was probably

composed sometime between 450-425 BCE. The protagonists are Heracles

(Hercules), the son of Zeus, and Deianeira, his beautiful wife. The story is

myth, but the theme is timeless. Heracles falls in love with a younger woman

whom he has taken captive, and Deianeira tries to reclaim his love using

magic from a long-dead centaur’s blood. Within the familiar theme of love

and heartbreak, Sophocles creates an image of the world with its fragility,

mutability, passion, and tragedy.

Sophocles (born 496 BCE in Colonus, near Athens) is one of the greatest