The Trachiniae ✨ By Sophocles. FULL Audiobook
The Trachiniae. By Sophocles. Full Audiobook
"The Trachiniae" is a tragedy written by Sophocles, one of the most famous playwrights of ancient Greece. The play was probably written and performed during Sophocles' early period, between about 440 and 430 BCE. The play centers around the Greek hero Heracles and his wife Deianeira. Deianeira is having difficulty adjusting to married life, as Heracles is always off on some adventure and neglects his family. The play's chorus, consisting of a group of young women from the town of Trachis, speak directly to the audience and help to explain the context of the plot. On the advice of her nurse and the chorus, Deianeira sends their son Hyllus off to find Heracles, particularly as she is concerned over a prophecy she has heard about Heracles and the island of Euboea where he is reported to be. However, soon after Hyllus leaves, a messenger arrives with word that the victorious Heracles is already headed home. A herald arrives, bringing in slave girls captured at Heracles' recent siege of Oechalia, among them Iole, the beautiful daughter of King Eurytus. The herald gives Deianeira a false story of why Heracles had laid siege to the city, claiming that Heracles had vowed revenge against Eurytus and his people after having been enslaved by him. However, Deianeira soon learns that in truth Heracles laid siege to the city expressly to obtain the girl Iole as his concubine. Distressed by the thought of her husband falling for this younger woman, she decides to use a love charm on him and creates a robe suffused with the blood of the centaur Nessus, who had once told her as he was dying that his blood would keep Heracles from loving any other woman more than her. When Heracles puts on the robe, he is consumed by a burning agony that will not stop, and he realizes that he is going to die. He sends for his son Hyllus, who is to marry Iole, and asks him to take care of his wife and children. Heracles then climbs onto a pyre and orders it to be lit. As he burns, he is taken up into the heavens by the gods. The play ends with Deianeira's lament for her dead husband.
This is a brief summary of the play. For a more detailed analysis, please refer to the sources below .
More: Sophocles, Trachiniae, Greek tragedy
Deianeira, Heracles, marriage
death, sacrifice, love
jealousy, revenge, gods
mythology, drama, ancient Greece
00:00:00 Dramatis Personae
00:00:37 The Trachiniae