Back To School Replay: Deianeira, Iole, & the Violence of Heracles’ Love (Hercules & Sophocles’ Trachiniae Part 2)

This episode originally aired in March 2022. Continuing on with Sophocles' Women of Trachis, Deianeira learns the truth of where Heracles has been all this time, and what he's been doing. Spoilers: it's not good. AVAILABLE NOW! The Odyssey: a Modern Retelling. https://geni.us/TheOdysseyBook Submit your question for the next Q&A via email http://mythsbaby.com/questions or a voice note https://www.speakpipe.com/LTAMB. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patreon.com/mythsbaby http://patreon.com/mythsbaby. Enter ourpodcast guest https://www.mythsbaby.com/contact form if you'd like to be on the show as a conversation guest! CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. I try to provide direct warnings when there is reference to anything with overtly traumatic themes but be aware that Greek mythology regularly features assault, death, and many other potentially triggering events. Sources: Theoi.com; Sophocles' Women of Trachis/The Trachiniae, translations by Robert Torrance, George Theodoridis, and Peter Meineck. Quote from the Meineck unless otherwise noted in the episode. Thanks to Ash Strain https://twitter.com/ashstrain_?s=21 for researching the play, as always! Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here:mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions http://mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions. Learn more about Liv's next group trips https://travelbugxlivalbert.my.canva.site/ to GREECE! Application deadline is November 30 (Subject to change due to demand). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Liv Albert?

  Hey nerds, really quick note from me. I want to tell you that we now have the applications open for the next set of listener group trips. This is us going back to the original, the trips that we have held in the past that have been so much fun, so successful, and pretty affordable in terms of wandering around Greece with a bunch of nerds. So check out the details and get your applications in at mythsbaby.com/grouptrip.

• 0:42Speaker 01

  Most women have been there. Something feels off. You don't feel like yourself, yet your doctor says everything looks fine. Spoiler: it's your hormones. Midi is a virtual care platform built for women by women and offers specialized hormone care from trained clinicians. Plus, it's covered by most major insurances. Getting started is easy. You can book your first visit with a clinician right away. It's not you, it's your hormones. Visit joinmidi.com to book your first visit. That's joinmidi.com. Insurance coverage varies. Check with your plan for coverage.

• 1:13Speaker 02

  Hi everyone, it's Katie Couric. And on my podcast, Next Question, we love stories about how women are taking control of their lives. They are increasingly leading financial decisions in their households, yet many say they don't feel fully prepared for the long-term financial choices ahead. Real confidence comes from knowing your financial future is protected, whatever happens. Pacific Life has helped generations protect what matters today and prepare for tomorrow with life insurance and lifetime income solutions. It's a promise Pacific Life has kept for nearly 160 years, so its customers can keep theirs. Ask a financial

• 1:56Speaker 02

  professional about how Pacific Life can help you create a more confident financial future. Pacific Life Insurance Company, Omaha, Nebraska, and in New York, Pacific Life and Annuity, Phoenix, Arizona.

• 2:38Liv Albert?

  Oh, hi, hello, welcome. This is Let's Talk About Myths, baby! And I'm your host, she who researches every imaginable source so that you don't have to live. Well, well, well, here we are again, deep in Sophocles's tragedy, the Trachiniai, the Women of Trachis. The thing about Greek tragedy is, well, they're amazing. That's basically the whole thing. The plays are so complex and beautiful. They tell such incredibly universal stories, even these 2,500-plus years later. I usually harp on Euripides because he's the best,

• 3:19Liv Albert?

  and I will take no other opinions on the matter. But this play by Sophocles is really getting me. I mean, don't I say that every time? The plays, they're all incredible. And we're not stopping with this one because my man Euripides also wrote a story featuring Heracles, but that's for next month. Once again, I'm writing this episode in advance of when it's supposed to air, when the war in Ukraine is still going. I don't know what next week will look like when this episode airs, so I want to explain that context. Also, another additional trigger warning, given the state of the world. This episode deals

• 4:00Liv Albert?

  with the after effects of ancient warfare, an invasion and destruction of a city for no good reason at all. Truly, I couldn't have picked a worse time to introduce this story, and yet, here we fucking are. Still, again, I don't go into the details. We just hear of what Heracles has already done and look at the effects of ancient war. But be mindful if you're particularly affected by the world's events.

• 4:29Liv Albert?

  Now, now we're heading back into the story of Deianeira, the tragedy of her marriage to Heracles, and the ways in which he makes her life much more difficult than it has to be. Seriously, why are the heroes so utterly ridiculous? We've got major Agamemnon vibes where we're at now. The herald for Heracles, Lycaus, has returned to Trachis with news of Heracles's defeat over Eurytus and his city of Ikalia. And with him, he's got Heracles's prisoners of war, women from Ikalia, including Iole, though Deianeira doesn't know that yet.

• 5:11Liv Albert?

  Where we last left Deianeira, she had detailed her life up to that point, the horror she's had as she was meant to marry Acholus, the river, the reminder that Heracles defeated not only the river but the centaur Nessus, though his bit of her story will be revisited before long. We hear that Deianeira has basically spent the entire rest of her life worrying, just constantly worrying. Must be exhausting. Worrying for herself, for her son, for her husband, Heracles. And he gives her reason to worry, or he certainly did before he most recently left. He'd been gone before, performing his labors, doing whatever it is that a man

• 5:56Liv Albert?

  like Heracles does all over the Greek world. But this time, when he'd last left her, he'd left her with a prophecy, a vague and confusing prophecy, but one that foretold either his death or his long life. It's not clear how either is supposed to go. It's just ominous. Last time he left her with instructions, for if he died, what she should keep, what land is hers. Last time he left her was a year before we're reaching her now. She hasn't heard from him since, until this moment. Now, suddenly, she's told he's on his way

• 6:41Liv Albert?

  back and he's defeated Ikalia, but as Lycaus, the herald, has just told her, he wasn't in Ikalia the entire time that he was gone from her. No, there's much more to the story than Deianeira understands.

• 7:14Liv Albert?

  This is episode 158, Deianeira, Iole, and the Violence of Heracles's Love.

• 7:37Liv Albert?

  Where we last left Deianeira, she had asked the herald Lycaus a question that little did she know would completely blow up her already anxious existence. Did he spend all that time besieging this city? All those unexpected delays, days beyond counting? No, says Lycaus. No, he wasn't there the entire time. Most of his time away from you, he spent with a woman in Lydia. Lycaus goes on to explain the story of Heracles's time with Omphale, the Lydian queen to whom Heracles had been enslaved. He says that Heracles did this,

• 8:17Liv Albert?

  lived enslaved to this woman for the year that he was meant to. And when that was over, when he'd been purified, that's when he moved on to Ikalia. He had sworn to himself that after, when he'd been freed, he would punish the man most directly responsible for his imprisonment, Eurytus. And here we get a whole other version of the story of Heracles's encounter with Eurytus in Ikalia and his enslavement to Omphale. One made for this play, one made to dramatize the story in the most intense of ways. But first, timeline

• 9:00Liv Albert?

  check. According to Sophocles's version of this bit of Heracles's story, we can understand that all of Heracles's encounters with Eurytus, the princess Iole, and obviously, his enslavement to Omphale took place after he'd been married to Deianeira, on one of his trips away. He sounds like a fun and reliable husband, doesn't he?

• 9:23Liv Albert?

  So Lycaus continues, he explains to Deianeira in a lengthy monologue, how it all began, how Heracles found himself enslaved to Ampholae and blaming Eurytus. He says that Heracles visited Eurytus’s kingdom of Echalia as a guest friend, you know, the vitally important ancient Greek relationship of Xenia. Heracles had visited Eurytus, and there, Lycaus says, Eurytus had started shit. He says that even though they were old friends, Eurytus began badgering Heracles, saying, quote, “Yes, Heracles’s arrows are pretty hard to dodge, but my own sons are better at archery, and Heracles is a free man’s broken slave.”

• 10:07Liv Albert?

  He’s taunting the hero, suggesting he isn’t as good at archery as Eurytus’s sons, that he’s a freed man’s broken slave, to reference to Heracles’s time completing his famous labors for Eurystheus. There are a lot of references to enslavement in this play, so far at least, just little things like Deianeira laughing about the enslaved woman having a good idea, ugh, or this mention by Eurytus through Lycaus’s voice. It’s just a not-so-subtle reminder that the ancient Greeks absolutely had enslavement. It was a huge part of their world and their economy, and we should never forget that in our love of these ancient people. We should always keep that in mind when we’re admiring them.

• 10:49Liv Albert?

  A reminder that they employed an enslaved class, and what that says about their culture and their accomplishments. Still, this is about Heracles’s time with Eurytus. Lycaus continues, saying that Eurytus got drunk at a banquet and kicked Heracles out of his house. So later, when Eurytus’s son Iphitus was passing through Tiryns, where Heracles happened to be, and Iphicles was, quote, “tracking his wandering horses on the hillside, while he was looking the other way and his mind was on other things,” Heracles threw him off the top of the citadel.

• 11:32Liv Albert?

  This version is interesting because you would think it’s trying to make Heracles sound better, but does it? It means there’s no archery contest in Echalia, just this boasting by Eurytus. There’s no refusal of Iole marrying Heracles after he’s won. Nothing really wronging Heracles, besides Eurytus being a bit of a dick. And then, when it comes to the death of Iphitus, it’s much more intentional here than in the myth I told you recently. It’s so on purpose that Heracles kills him. It’s violent and premeditated. It’s an actual, real murder. Not to say that this death wasn’t important in the other version,

• 12:15Liv Albert?

  but it was presented as much more of like an accidental killing on the part of Heracles. He flew into a murderous rage, unintentionally, versus this, like, plotting and throwing Iphitus off a tower when he wasn’t looking. It’s dark.

• 12:31Liv Albert?

  And this, Lycaus says, caused Zeus to fly into a rage and punish Heracles, force him to be enslaved to Ampholae in Lydia for a full year. And now, Lycaus says, all of these men involved are down in Hades. He’s referring to Eurytus and anyone who sided with him, I suppose. And these women of Echalia have been taken away from their cushy, prosperous life to be brought here and enslaved themselves. It is not a good story. It does not make Heracles look good. I can’t tell if it’s meant to make him look good in the play. Like, does this sound like a noble experience to the ancient audience?

• 13:16Liv Albert?

  I honestly wish I could answer that, but it is just, it’s so dark. I mean, I know war was noble in some contexts then, and spoils of war were normal, but still, everything about Heracles’s actions and the consequences he forces on Eurytus seems so deeply, darkly, over the top.

• 13:35Liv Albert?

  Ironically, Lycaus ends his story to Deianeira by stating that Heracles had him bring these enslaved women back with the news, and that he’ll be home very soon himself. Lycaus’s last line is, quote, “Nothing could be sweeter than this news.”

• 14:12Liv Albert?

  With this news of Heracles’s victory and his imminent return, the chorus turns to Deianeira, noting how happy she must be. “Must I?”, she counters. She says that she knows she should be in a good mood at this news, that her manner should match the news, but she can’t bring herself not to still worry that there is more to come, that tragedy still awaits them. From here, she turns to the enslaved women brought by Lycaus, and she pities them. She recognizes their plight and the horror they must be experiencing. It’s refreshing, particularly in light of what I mentioned earlier about the references to enslavement.

• 14:58Liv Albert?

  Can you tell I’m reading this play as I write the script? It is my way. She turns to the women and speaks of their experiences, that she feels sad for them, that they must have been born free, and now they’ve seen their homes destroyed, they’ve been exiled, they’re now, quote, “wedded to a life of slavery.” Then she turns, she speaks directly to them. She speaks directly to Iole. She says, quote, “You look especially miserable. Who are you? Were you unmarried, or a young mother?

• 15:40Liv Albert?

  Surely you were not born to know all this suffering. You’re upper class.”

• 15:47Liv Albert?

  But of course, she doesn’t allow Iole to answer, or Iole doesn’t answer. Either way, Deianeira turns to Lycaus and asks him of this woman before her. “Who is she?”, she asks him. “Who were her parents?”, She notes that she pities this woman more than the others, that, quote, “She’s the only one who really understands.”

• 16:14Liv Albert?

  Lycaus, though, knows nothing about this woman he’s brought with him, and doesn’t remotely care to know. He explains simply that the woman hasn’t spoken a word. He doesn’t know anything. So with this, Deianeira tells Lycaus to be on his way to bring the women inside the house. She moves to follow them, but the messenger from earlier, he stops her. “Stay here”, he tells her. “I need to speak with you, away from these women being brought into your home. You haven’t been told everything”, he explains. “There’s many things you need to know.” The messenger will only share this information with Deianeira and her chorus of women.

• 16:57Liv Albert?

  The others, Lycaus and the enslaved women, must remain inside and away from this news that the messenger is about to share. The moment they’re out of sight and he knows his words won’t be overheard, he begins his news with a bang. “Everything Lycaus told you is a lie.” He says that either Lycaus is lying outright, or he was lying earlier when he told an entirely different version of this story to a group of people. Either way, one version is all fucking bullshit.

• 17:34Liv Albert?

  Deianeira is confused by this. She tells the messenger to make himself known. Like, literally, dude, what are you talking about? It’s like you’re speaking in riddles. So the messenger continues and explains himself. “I heard Lycaus speak earlier”, he says, “earlier amongst many other witnesses. Lycaus told an entirely different version of events. In that story”, he says, “Heracles waged the war against Echalia, not because he was angry at Eurytus for his enslavement to Ampholae, but because he had fallen in love with a woman, and he wanted her for his concubine, his lover, his wife.

• 18:18Liv Albert?

  He literally tried to convince Eurytus that he should have her to, quote, “share his bed.” The implication here is clear. Heracles is knowingly married, wants this woman, whose name we haven’t heard but we do know, to have on the side, and basically, he said as much to Eurytus. Surprise, surprise, though, Eurytus wouldn’t go for it. The messenger says, quote, “Love was the god all by himself, who cast a spell on him and drove him to put his spear to this.”

• 18:56Liv Albert?

  And this, “this is why he waged war against Echalia”, the messenger says. “This is why he invented the pretext, the anger at Eurytus over his time with Ampholae, to invade the city, to wage war against it, to kill fucking everyone, and to take all these women home as hostages.” But Ioli, meanwhile, he’s brought out of love. Apparently. Sounds like true love to me. The messenger tells Dionera bluntly, quote, “Now he’s sending her to this home. He has some plan in doing this, my lady, and it’s not to use her as a slave.

• 19:40Liv Albert?

  Don’t expect that. It’s not likely, seeing as how he is so hot with desire.”

• 20:00Liv Albert?

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• 20:44Liv Albert?

  Like, they have really great things that you can wear with so many other things. Just the options are endless. And as the weather gets colder, like all the sweaters in my closet, Quince has everything you need to round out your wardrobe, from warm, responsibly sourced down jackets and cozy cashmere scarves and gloves, to beautiful 14 karat gold jewelry that adds the perfect finishing touch. And of course, everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen, so you're paying for quality, not brand markup. And if we haven't learned anything in the last 10 years, isn't it just getting rid of the middlemen, you know? Making things more affordable?

• 21:27Liv Albert?

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• 21:52Speaker 01

  Most women have been there. Something feels off. You don't feel like yourself, yet your doctor says everything looks fine. Spoiler: It's your hormones. Midi is a virtual care platform built for women by women, and offers specialized hormone care from trained clinicians. Plus, it's covered by most major insurances. Getting started is easy. You can book your first visit with a clinician right away. It's not you, it's your hormones. Visit joinmidi.com to book your first visit. That's join m-i-d-i dot com. Insurance coverage varies. Check with your plan for coverage.

• 22:23Speaker 02

  Hi, everyone. It's Katie Couric. And on my podcast, Next Question, we love stories about how women are taking control of their lives. They are increasingly leading financial decisions in their households, yet many say they don't feel fully prepared for the long-term financial choices ahead. Real confidence comes from knowing your financial future is protected, whatever happens. Pacific Life has helped generations protect what matters today and prepare for tomorrow with life insurance and lifetime income solutions. It's a promise Pacific Life has kept for nearly 160 years, so its customers can keep theirs.

• 23:05Speaker 02

  Ask a financial professional about how Pacific Life can help you create a more confident financial future. Pacific Life Insurance Company, Omaha, Nebraska. And in New York, Pacific Life and Annuity, Phoenix, Arizona.

• 23:37Liv Albert?

  The messenger finishes giving this news to Deianeira, that not only was Heracles and Ocalia out of a love and desire for another woman, the woman she'd just moments ago said she'd pitied and welcomed into her home, but Heracles waged an entire war and destroyed an entire city and killed so many because he wanted this woman. Not to marry, he's already married to Deianeira. No, he just wants her. For sex, for love, for who knows what the fuck, especially because we have absolutely zero indication how Iole feels about Heracles. And I'm willing to bet that considering he's just taken out her entire family and city,

• 24:19Liv Albert?

  she's not that sexually attracted to him, let alone in love. But hey, Heracles is the son of Zeus, and this is ancient Greek mythology that Sophocles is working off of.

• 24:32Liv Albert?

  Regardless, Deianeira is fucking distraught. And do we blame her? Fuck no. The messenger tells her that he's sorry if she doesn't like this news, but it's the truth of what he heard. Deianeira? Well, Deianeira behaves as one might imagine. She's fucked up by it all. But still, she doesn't yet know who this woman is. This woman has no name? She asks the messenger. She says, "Lycas told me he didn't know her name, that she hasn't spoken, but I've just welcomed her into my home. This woman who my husband did all of this for? Who is she?"

• 25:13Liv Albert?

  Deianeira is unsurprisingly blaming Iole for much of this, or rather, not blaming her, but hating her for it. It's wrong, sure, but it's also pretty human. But still, the key for Deianeira is, who the fuck is this woman? Well, the messenger is about to tell her. "She is the daughter of Eurytus," he explains. "She is the princess. Her name is Iole." So finally, Deianeira can put a name to the face, to the news she's just been given, even if it's a name we all know well: Iole.

• 25:53Liv Albert?

  At this, the chorus pipes up with a well-timed and passionate statement, quote, "Death and destruction to all liars, and to anyone who secretly harms those who trust him."

• 26:06Liv Albert?

  Death and destruction to all liars, presumably Lycas and Heracles among them.

• 26:12Liv Albert?

  "What should I do?" Deianeira asks her chorus of women, and she asks the messenger when they don't answer anyone really. She needs help. She can't take in everything she's just learned, let alone decide what to do next. She's advised to speak with Lycas again, to press him for real answers, and maybe he'll relent and tell her the truth. His words are more officially Heracles', as he's his herald, and he's seen this with his own eyes, rather than the messenger, who's just overheard these two very different versions of the story. Fortunately, Deianeira didn't need to follow him, because Lycas exits the house at that

• 26:57Liv Albert?

  moment, asking her what message she wants him to pass along to her husband, Heracles, who he's gonna head out and return to.

• 27:07Liv Albert?

  "Why rush away?" Deianeira asks him. "You arrived with this news so late, you need to give me time to ask you more, to celebrate it." "Ask away," he replies. "But will you tell me the truth?" Deianeira presses. "Of course," he says, as though he's been telling the truth the whole time. Lycas is nearly as skeezy as Heracles himself. "So," Deianeira asks him again, "who was the woman I pointed out?" "Aubian women," he replies. "I can't say anything more about her." But Deianeira doesn't even get the chance to press him at this response. The messenger is there to jump in and defend her. He's a cool guy, I like him so far.

• 27:50Liv Albert?

  He really wants Deianeira to get the truth, and he's willing to be a dick to Lycas in order to get it out of him. "Hey, do you know who you're talking to?" he tells Lycas. Lycas is petulant in return, but finally, he answers the question. "I'm speaking with the ruler of this place, Deianeira, daughter of Aeneas and wife of Heracles," he concedes. Then the pair shift into one of Greek tragedy's beautiful and classic moments of back-and-forth dialogue, called Stichomysia, as I've told you before, where it's just this quick back-and-forth between characters that reveals so much. The messenger has Lycas confirm that Deianeira is his master when Heracles is not there.

• 28:32Liv Albert?

  She is his wife, and so he has a responsibility to tell her the truth. It's a really great back-and-forth, very confrontational, very much an interrogation of Lycas by the messenger. He trips him up, has him confirm he's required to tell Deianeira the truth, has him say once again that he doesn't know anything about Iole, only to then reveal that, no dude, he overheard you specifically telling others that not only does he know who she was, but that she is Iole, the princess and daughter of Eurytus, now beloved by Heracles. Oh, it's so good. I wish I could just quote it all. Lycas is a real skeeze. He is absolutely just playing the part that Heracles asked him to. Lie through his teeth in order to make Heracles look good, to convince Deianeira that this

• 29:17Liv Albert?

  woman isn't now in her home because Heracles, quote-unquote, "loves her" slash generally just wants to have sex with her. Ugh, he's so good at lying. It's gross and fascinating, and I love Greek tragedy so fucking much. Let's look at just some of this beautiful interrogation. Direct quotes incoming between the two of them, the messenger and Lycas. Basically, it starts with the messenger calling him out, like, "No. I heard you say, in front of a whole marketplace, that this woman was Iole, daughter of Eurytus, and is the reason Heracles sacked the city and brought her home." Then Lycas says, "Yes, I did say that I had heard some of this, but it's not the same to report some opinion as it is to tell the story that's been proved."

• 30:02Liv Albert?

  The messenger replies, "What do you mean, opinion? Didn't you declare under oath that you were bringing the girl here to be Heracles's wife?" "I said wife? By God, tell me, lady, who in the world is this person? He's not one of us." "I was one of those who were there and heard you say that the whole city was conquered because of a passion for her, that the Lydian woman did not cause its downfall, it was love for her."

• 30:47Liv Albert?

  Things are not looking good for Lycaus, or Heracles. But Lycaus isn't done lying through his teeth on behalf of his super gross boss, Heracles. He follows this by still trying to get the two of them out of this mess. He tries to make the messenger sound crazy. “Send this man away,” he tells Deianeira, who is he anyway? Just here babbling away about nonsense. But Deianeira isn't stupid. Why would the messenger lie about something so specific? Something that clearly had an answer that Lycaus was hiding? This woman was clearly important, royal even, and Lycaus had lied about it. Still, she appeals to him, begs him to tell her the truth.

• 31:32Liv Albert?

  She says that she's not stupid. She knows what love is like, and can't blame Heracles or Iole for falling into it. “It's human nature. It's normal for men to stray,” she says. Which, I mean, I'm so sorry, you think that way, Deianeira? You deserve better than Heracles? But then, who doesn't? Her speech is touching and heartbreaking. She just wants to know the truth of it all. She doesn't sound surprised or shocked. “Again, it's human nature,” she says. “Love is a tricky thing.” Still, again, please do blame Heracles, Deianeira, because as much as humanity can't control who they love, they can absolutely control whose city they attack and sack in

• 32:16Liv Albert?

  the name of love. Heracles definitely had control of that. He definitely could have not destroyed a city and carried off a woman just because he thinks he loves her. That was well within his power. In fact, Deianeira here implies that Heracles has taken on other women before, calling them other wives. That this is not surprising for him. No, it's the how when it comes to Iole. That's what concerns Deianeira. She pities her more than any others. Deianeira adds about Iole, quote, “Her beauty has destroyed her life, ruined her fatherland, enslaved her people.”

• 33:00Liv Albert?

  The exact same phrase she used to describe her own fear at the beginning of the play in last week's episode. She worried that her own beauty would destroy her life. And now here is evidence of that happening. It really, it says something about the lives of Greek women, but it isn't surprising. When the story of Helen is one of your most ancient and important myths, it would be so easy to convince yourself that your own beauty had the ability to cause death and destruction. What a weight to bear.

• 33:39Liv Albert?

  And so, finally, finally, Lycaus decides to tell Deianeira the truth. “It's all as this messenger has told you,” he admits. “It was Heracles's love for this woman that caused him to bring destruction upon Echalia. It was in her name, and that is why she's here now. But,” he says, “in Heracles's defense, it wasn't actually him who told me to lie.” Lycaus says he only meant to protect Deianeira. What an empty consolation. Deianeira takes this in. It's only confirmation of what she already knew to be true. It had been easy to believe the messenger when he told her it.

• 34:22Liv Albert?

  It just made so much sense. “Let me go inside,” she tells Lycaus. “I have letters to write that you will bring with you when you go back to Bya. And, quote, “gifts also. I must match gift for gift, and you'll carry those. It wouldn't be fair for you to return empty-handed after bringing me such a procession.”

• 35:04Liv Albert?

  While Deianeira is inside readying the things for Lycaus to bring to Heracles, the chorus sings of her. They sing of her as this young woman, the men who sought to marry her. They sing of the way the men fought over Deianeira, her beauty, her love. On the one side, a river god, a bull of a man, and on the other, the son of a god, a man and his club, Heracles. They sing of their fight, of how it went down, of how Deianeira stood at the sidelines just waiting to see who would prevail, and thus, who she would marry.

• 35:45Liv Albert?

  They sing, in essence, of the complete lack of control she has had in her own life, in her own fate, since day one. And then, then Deianeira comes out of the house, and she's holding a box. She's alone with the chorus, and she calls them together. She tells them what she's been thinking of, what her life looks like now. She knows what Heracles intends. His gift to her for having taken care of his home for all these years, for having born him children, for having had a life with him.

• 36:24Liv Albert?

  His gift is another woman in their home, in their bed, in their marriage. Heracles has had other women on the side, that much Deianeira is clear about, and it never bothered her. It was one thing to visit other women, to sleep with other women, to have children by other women. It's an entirely different thing to bring another woman into their home and expect her to be a part of their marriage. Deianeira is so reasoned, so calm, so clear in what she's saying and how she feels. She's pragmatic. She knows that as she's married to a man like Heracles, there was always going to be other women.

• 37:09Liv Albert?

  But another woman in their home can't be tolerated. She knows she's getting older, that Iole is young. She knows that Heracles will grow to prefer Iole, and she will be set aside. And that, she can't deal with. She can't handle it. She is, though, so kind to Iole as a person. She seems to recognize that this likely isn't what Iole imagined for her life either. That they are both just pawns in Heracles's attempts to have whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. They're just caught up in his world, his lies, his narcissism.

• 37:51Liv Albert?

  Because if Heracles is anything, it's a narcissist. At this point in her speech, Deianeira explains what she holds within this box. Quote, “I have had a gift for a very long time. An old monster gave it to me, and I have kept it well hidden in a bronze urn.” Then she tells the women of her experience with Nessos. “I was just a girl then,” she says, “and my father had just given me in marriage to Heracles. As we were leaving my homeland, we came upon the river, Evinus, where the centaur Nessos brought me across.

• 38:32Liv Albert?

  But,” she tells them, “halfway across the river, she felt his hands touch her where they shouldn't, and she let out a scream. In an instant, Heracles heard her cry and shot Nessos through with an arrow. As he was dying,” she explains, “he told her that as his last crossing, he would bestow upon her a gift. If she gathered his blood from around the wound, the wound from the arrow poisoned with the hydra's blood, and, quote, “use this as a charm on the mind of Heracles, so he will never see a woman he loves more than you.” I really want to give Deianeira the benefit of the doubt here, but it also seems like

• 39:15Liv Albert?

  Nessos made it pretty clear what this actually was? I mean, sure, he said to use it as a charm, but he also reminded her that he'd just been killed by one of Heracles's arrows, and Heracles's arrows are very specifically poisoned with the blood of the hydra? Still, Deianeira knows this to be a love charm. And she says, “She did as Nessos said, and then she tucked away Nessos's blood, keeping it safe all this time.” And with this, she opens the box that she holds, and she shows the chorus a robe, which,

• 39:53Liv Albert?

  she says, “has been smeared with the centaur's blood, just as he'd advised her.” Finally, she says, quote, “If charms and gentle love spells will win Heracles, and somehow let me overcome that girl, then the work is ready to be done. But only if you don't believe it's wrong. If so, I'll stop.” Oh, Deianeira, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into. Or honestly, maybe she does? She gives the chorus this moment to stop her, to tell her this is a bad idea. But they don't. They tell her, they trust her judgment.

• 40:36Liv Albert?

  She says, “Yes, I'm sure in my decision. But all the same, I've never actually tested this charm.” But the chorus replies that, “Well, you never know until you try. This is you testing the love charm.” And so finally, Lycaus returns to Deianeira, asking if she's got everything ready for him to bring to Heracles. She does. And with that, she hands him the box and tells him that Heracles, and only Heracles, is to wear the clothing contained within that box.

• 41:24Liv Albert?

  Oh nerds, nerds, nerds. I love this play. I'm sold on Sophocles. It's so good and interesting and beautiful. And flaws aside, I love Dionara. And gods, there's so much more of her to come. So much more complexity and just, oh, oh, she's so interesting. She's so tragic. She's so unique in this world of women of tragedy. She's no Medea and she's no Clytemnestra. Her role is something so much more tragic. She's as much a part of this tragedy as, well, I won't spoil it. Next week, the conclusion of Sophocles's Trachiniae. Gods know that love charm robe is coming back to haunt us. Oh, Dionara, what have you done? As always, truly thank you so much for listening. I love that I still have so many plays that I haven't

• 42:09Liv Albert?

  covered on the show, let alone myths themselves, or myths that deserve more complete and detailed retellings. There's so much more content. There's so much more to say, to look at, to theorize about. Oh, it's so fun. A reminder to please, if you haven't already, leave me a five star review on Apple Podcasts and Podchaser. Both are very helpful and mean a lot. I get emails with every Apple review. I read them all. It's such a thrill. And now you can rate the show on Spotify too. So go ahead and give me five stars over there, would you? Let's continue to build this weird and wonderful world of Greek myth. And speaking of, ages ago, I decided to start reading reviews and then, well, I forgot because that's ADHD, you know? Anyway,

• 42:52Liv Albert?

  here's one that made me smile this week. This five star review is by Sociable Sam on Apple Podcasts and his title is, "Well, it's none other than our perfect alternative name to Ophir's Arzamatoria, as coined by Dr. Jeremy Swist. Gatekeep Gaslight Girl Boss." And the review reads, "This podcast is constantly evolving and always serves exactly what needs to be said, giving a new look to classic mythology and bringing it into the 2020s. Never miss an episode." That was really nice. Thank you. This is exactly what I'm trying to do is like evolve and change and, and be bringing you more and more in depth and better research and everything better every time. And it's a thrill. And again, all the love

• 43:36Liv Albert?

  and support to my Ukrainian listeners, both in the country and now more likely outside of it. Your love for your country is very admirable. A reminder, I did record this a week early. Gods know it's changed, but my sentiments remain the same, I'm sure. And to the Russians protesting and speaking out, your bravery is also being noticed by the world. Let's talk about myths, baby. It's written and produced by me, Liv Albert. Michaela Smith runs my YouTube account where episodes are being uploaded and captions are being added. Michaela also handles promotional images and so, so, so much more. Michaela is a lifesaver. The podcast is hosted and monetized by Acast. I am Liv and I love this shit.

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