Deianira

Heracles, Deianira and Nessus, black-figure hydria, 575-550 BC, Louvre (E 803)

Deianira, Deïanira, or Deianeira (/ˌdeɪ.əˈnaɪərə/; Greek: Δηϊάνειρα, Dēiáneira, or Δῃάνειρα, Dēáneira, [dɛːiáneːra]), also known as Dejanira, is a figure in Greek mythology whose name translates as "man-destroyer" or "destroyer of her husband". The name Deianira refers to two separate characters in Greek mythology.

The better-known Deianira was a wife of Heracles and, in late Classical accounts, his unwitting murderer, killing him with the poisoned Shirt of Nessus. She is the main character in the play Women of Trachis by Sophocles.

Deianira is also the name of an Amazon killed by Heracles during his ninth labour, the quest for the girdle of Hippolyta.

Marriage

Deianira by Evelyn De Morgan

Deianira was the daughter of Dionysus and Althaea with the consent of her husband Oeneus (whose name means "wine-man"), the king of Calydon (after the wine-god gave the king the vine to cultivate), and the half-sister of Meleager. She also was said to have become the mother of Macaria (who saved the Athenians from defeat by Eurystheus).

One version of a late Classical tale relates that she was of such striking beauty that both Heracles and Achelous wanted to marry her and there was a contest to win her hand. Her father had already betrothed her to the fearsome river god Achelous, horned and bull-like. Deianira was not passive, however, and she wanted nothing to do with her suitor, who was able to take the form of a speckled serpent, a bull-headed man, or a bull. Heracles, the greatest hero of the dawning Classical Olympian world of deities and men, had to defeat the river god to win her as his bride.

In another version of her tale, Deianira is instead the daughter of Dexamenus, king of Olenus. Heracles violates her and promises to come back and marry her. While he is away, the centaur Eurytion appears, demanding her as his wife. Her father, being afraid, agrees. Heracles returns before the marriage and slays the centaur, claiming his bride.

Deianira was associated with combat, and is described as someone who "drove a chariot and practiced the art of war" Robert Graves interpreted the association with war as a relationship with the pre-Olympian war goddess, Athene, who was an orgiastic bride in many local sacred marriages to kings who may have been sacrificed.

Death of Heracles

Deïaneira and Nessus by Vlahos Vaggelis

The central story about Deianira concerns the Tunic of Nessus. A wild centaur named Nessus attempted to kidnap or rape Deianira as he was ferrying her across the river Euenos, but she was rescued by Heracles, who shot the centaur with a poisoned arrow. As he lay dying, Nessus persuaded Deianira to take a sample of his blood, telling her that a potion of it mixed with olive oil would ensure that Heracles would never again be unfaithful.

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 (also called Omphale). 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.

References

Primary sources

• Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fr. 25
• Ovid, Heroides 9
• Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.101-238

Secondary sources

• Harry Thurston Peck, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, 1898
• Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths, 1955, 142.ff, 142.2,3,5

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Omphale

Wives of Heracles

Succeeded by Hebe