person
Deianira
also: Dejeneira
Wife of Hercules in Greek myth who inadvertently caused his death by giving him the poisoned robe of the centaur Nessus; in Sophocles' Trachiniae her misguided devotion is the central tragic error.
Reading notes
- On Women and Their Vocation §1 Deianira
Wife of Hercules in Greek myth, who inadvertently caused his death by giving him the poisoned robe of Nessus; Madách cites her alongside Clytemnestra as a character whose psychology is irreducibly feminine.
- Studies and Articles §1.1.1 Women of Trachis
Sophocles's Women of Trachis (Trachiniai) dramatizes the death of Heracles: his wife Deianeira, believing she is using a love-charm, sends him a robe soaked in the poisoned blood of the centaur Nessus, which burns Heracles alive.