Women of Trachis

What it is

Women of Trachis, also called the Trachiniae, is a tragedy by Sophocles, with scholars disagreeing about its exact date, generally placed sometime in the mid-5th century BCE. It is considered less developed in dramatic form than some of his other surviving plays.

Why it matters

The play centers on Deianeira, wife of Heracles, who unknowingly poisons her husband while trying to win back his love, and then takes her own life in shame. It shows Sophocles' interest in female suffering, tragic irony, and the gap between intention and consequence, themes that recur across his work. A 1933 Italian stage production shown in surviving photographs demonstrates how the play continued to be performed long after antiquity.

Look closer

• Why might Sophocles have chosen to center this tragedy on Deianeira rather than Heracles?
• What does the play suggest about the dangers of acting on incomplete information?
• How does the 1933 photograph of a later production differ from how the play would have looked in ancient Athens?