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Deianira, Deïanira, or Deianeira (;
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
: Δηϊάνειρα, ''Dēiáneira'', or , ''Dēáneira'', ), also known as Dejanira, is a
Calydon Calydon (; grc, Καλυδών, ) was a Greek city in ancient Aetolia, situated on the west bank of the river Evenus, 7.5 Roman miles (approx. 11 km) from the sea. Its name is most famous today for the Calydonian boar that had to be o ...
ian princess in
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...
whose name translates as "man-destroyer" or "destroyer of her husband". She was the wife of
Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...
and, in late Classical accounts, his unwitting murderer, killing him with the poisoned Shirt of Nessus. She is the main character in
Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
' play '' Women of Trachis''.


Family

Deianira was the daughter of Althaea and her husband
Oeneus In Greek mythology, Oeneus (; grc , Οἰνεύς , Oineús , Wine-man) was a Calydonian king. He introduced wine-making to Aetolia, which he learned from Dionysus and the first who received a vine-plant from the same god.Apollodorus1.8.1/ref> ...
(whose name means "wine-man"), the king of
Calydon Calydon (; grc, Καλυδών, ) was a Greek city in ancient Aetolia, situated on the west bank of the river Evenus, 7.5 Roman miles (approx. 11 km) from the sea. Its name is most famous today for the Calydonian boar that had to be o ...
(after the wine-god gave the king the vine to cultivate), and the half-sister of Meleager. Her other siblings were Toxeus, Clymenus, Periphas, Agelaus (or Ageleus),
Thyreus ''Thyreus'' is an Old World genus of bees, one of many that are commonly known as cuckoo bees, and are cleptoparasites of other species of bees, mostly in the genus ''Amegilla ''Amegilla'' is a large genus of bees in the tribe Anthophorini. ...
(or Phereus or
Pheres In Greek mythology, Pheres ( grc, Φέρης, ''Phéres'', modern pronunciation ''Féris''; la, Pheres) was the founder of Pherae in Thessaly. Family Pheres was the son of Cretheus, King of Iolcus and Tyro. He was the brother of Aeson and ...
), Gorge, Eurymede and Melanippe. In some accounts, Deianira was the daughter of King
Dexamenus Dexamenus (; Ancient Greek: Δεξάμενος means "hospitable") was a name attributed to at least three characters in Greek mythology. *Dexamenus, son of Oeceus, and a king of Olenus. The Centaur Eurytion forced him to betroth his daughter, ...
of Olenus and thus, sister to Eurypylus,
Theronice In Greek mythology, Theronice ( Ancient Greek: Θηρονίκης) was an Olenian princess as the daughter of King Dexamenus and the twin sister of Theraephone. These maidens were wed to the Molionides, Eurytus and Cteatus. Theronice's son by t ...
and
Theraephone In Greek mythology, Theraephone ( Ancient Greek: Θηραιφόνης) was an Olenian princess as the daughter of King Dexamenus of Olenus and the twin sister of Theronice. These maidens were wed to the Molionides, Cteatus and Eurytus. Theraeph ...
. Others called this daughter of Dexamenus as Mnesimache or Hippolyte. Deianira was the mother of Onites, Hyllus, Glenus, Onites,
Ctesippus :''The name Ctesippus may also refer to a character in Plato's Euthydemus and Lysis, and to a historical figure, see Leptines and Against Leptines.'' In Greek mythology, the name Ctesippus (; Ancient Greek: Κτήσιππος means 'possessing ...
, and Macaria, who saved the
Athenians Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
from defeat by Eurystheus.


Mythology and Literature


Marriage

In Sophocles' account of Deianira's marriage, she was courted by the river god Achelous but saved from having to marry him by Heracles, who defeated Achelous in a wrestling contest for her hand in marriage. 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. Deianira was associated with combat, and was described as someone who "drove a chariot and practiced the art of war."Apollodorus, 1.8.1


Death of Heracles

The central story about Deianira concerns the Shirt 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. 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.


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 136162. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.


Calydonian family tree


Notes


References


Primary sources

* Antoninus Liberalis, ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992)
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*
Apollodorus Apollodorus (Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A f ...
, ''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 Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Gramma ...
, ''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 Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, ''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 Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, '' Catalogue of Women'' fr. 2 5 *
Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...
, ''
Heroides The ''Heroides'' (''The Heroines''), or ''Epistulae Heroidum'' (''Letters of Heroines''), is a collection of fifteen epistolary poems composed by Ovid in Latin elegiac couplets and presented as though written by a selection of aggrieved heroi ...
9'' * Ovid, ''
Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his '' magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...
'' 9.101-238 * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*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.


External links

* {{Authority control Princesses in Greek mythology Family of Calyce Women of Heracles Children of Dionysus Demigods in classical mythology Metamorphoses characters Aetolian characters in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology Suicides in Greek mythology Greek feminine given names