Deianira
Deianira | |
---|---|
Consort | Heracles |
Offspring |
Deianira, Deïanira, or Deianeira
Family
Deianira was the daughter of
In some accounts, Deianira was the daughter of King Dexamenus of Olenus[10] and thus, sister to Eurypylus,[11] Theronice and Theraephone.[12] Others called this daughter of Dexamenus as Mnesimache[13] or Hippolyte.[14]
Deianira was the mother of Onites,[15] Hyllus, Glenus, Onites, Ctesippus, and Macaria, who saved the Athenians from defeat by Eurystheus.
Mythology and literature
Marriage
In Sophocles' account of Deianira's marriage, she was courted by the river god Achelous, but was saved from having to marry him by Heracles, who defeated Achelous in a wrestling contest for her hand in marriage.[16]
In another version of the tale, where she was described as the daughter of Dexamenus, Heracles raped her and promised to come back and marry her. While he was away, the centaur Eurytion appeared and demanded her as his wife. Her father, being afraid, agreed, but Heracles returned before the marriage and slew the centaur and claimed his bride.[17]
Deianira was associated with combat, and was described as someone who "drove a chariot and practiced the art of war."[18]
Death of Heracles
The central story about Deianira concerns the
Deianira believed his words and kept a little of the potion by her. Heracles fathered illegitimate children all across Greece and then fell in love with Iole. When Deianira thus feared that her husband would leave her forever, she smeared some of the blood on Heracles' famous lionskin shirt. Heracles' servant, Lichas, brought him the shirt and he put it on. The centaur's toxic blood burned Heracles terribly, and eventually, he threw himself into a funeral pyre. In despair, Deianira committed suicide by hanging herself or with a sword.
Preceded by Omphale |
Wives of Heracles | Succeeded by Hebe |
Middle Age tradition
She is remembered in De Mulieribus Claris, a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in 1361–62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.[19]
Calydonian family tree
Notes
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 346.
- ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
- ^ Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 37. .
- ^ P. Walcot, "Greek Attitudes towards Women: The Mythological Evidence" Rome, 2nd Series, 31:1:43 (April 1984); at JSTOR
- ^ Koine. Y. (editor in chief), Kenkyusha's New English-Japanese Dictionary, 5th ed., Kenkyusha, 1980, p.551.
- ^ Antoninus Liberalis, Notes and Commentary on Meleagrides sv. Deianira, p.111
- ISBN 0198691173.
- ^ Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 98 as cited in Berlin Papyri, No. 9777; Antoninus Liberalis, 2
- ^ Antoninus Liberalis, 2 as cited in Nicander's Metamorphoses
- ^ Hyginus, Fabulae 31 & 33
- ^ Pausanias, 7.19.9
- ^ Pausanias, 5.3.3
- ^ Apollodorus, 2.5.5
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, 4.33.1
- ISBN 978-3-506-71783-2.
- S2CID 159697583.
- ^ Hyginus. Fabulae 31
- ^ Apollodorus, 1.8.1
- ISBN 0-674-01130-9.
References
Primary sources
- Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com
- Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fr. 2 5
- Ovid, Heroides 9
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.101-238
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Secondary sources
- Peck, Harry Thurston, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898
- Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths, 1955, 142.ff, 142.2,3,5
- Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition. Penguin Books Limited. 2017. ISBN 978-0-241-98338-6, 024198338X
External links
- Media related to Deianira at Wikimedia Commons