Women of Trachis

<p>Sophocles' <em>Women of Trachis</em> is a play that resonates with the complexity</p><p>of life expressing happiness entwined with despair and beauty tangled</p><p>with violence. The date of the play is uncertain but it was probably</p><p>composed sometime between 450-425 BCE. The protagonists are Heracles</p><p>(Hercules) the son of Zeus and Deianeira his beautiful wife. The story is</p><p>myth but the theme is timeless. Heracles falls in love with a younger woman</p><p>whom he has taken captive and Deianeira tries to reclaim his love using</p><p>magic from a long-dead centaur's blood. Within the familiar theme of love</p><p>and heartbreak Sophocles creates an image of the world with its fragility</p><p>mutability passion and tragedy.</p><p>Sophocles (born 496 BCE in Colonus near Athens) is one of the greatest</p>