Women of Trachis

Sophocles' Women of Trachis is a play that resonates with the complexityof life, expressing happiness entwined with despair and beauty tangledwith violence. The date of the play is uncertain, but it was probablycomposed sometime between 450-425 BCE. The protagonists are Heracles(Hercules), the son of Zeus, and Deianeira, his beautiful wife. The story ismyth, but the theme is timeless. Heracles falls in love with a younger womanwhom he has taken captive, and Deianeira tries to reclaim his love usingmagic from a long-dead centaur's blood. Within the familiar theme of loveand 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