Primary sourceBook
Women of Trachis
Sophocles
A LibriVox volunteer audio reading of Sophocles' tragedy Women of Trachis, in the Campbell translation.
Women of Trachis is one of Sophocles' surviving tragedies, central to his body of work on heroism and domestic suffering.
About this source
What it is
This is an audio recording of Women of Trachis (Trachiniai), an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. The reading uses the English verse translation by Lewis Campbell, first published in 1906.
Why it matters
The play tells the story of Deianeira, wife of the hero Heracles, and her distress over his long absences and infidelity. It shows how Sophocles used domestic suffering alongside heroic myth to explore themes of marriage, jealousy, and tragedy.
Look closer
- Why might Sophocles have chosen to center a tragedy on Heracles' wife rather than Heracles himself?
- What does this story suggest about how ancient Athenians viewed marriage and loyalty?
- How might hearing this story aloud, rather than reading it, change how an audience experiences it?
This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sophocles on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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