The Trachinian Maidens: aka The Women of Trachis "Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life"
By Sophocles .
()
About this ebook
The village of Colonus, near Athens, was, in the year 495 BC, the birthplace of Sophocles. Sophocles place in Greek Tragedy is assured. His birth places him between the two other giants of Greek tragedy; Æschylus and Euripides. He was 30 years younger than Æschylus, the reigning master of drama and was fifteen years older than Euripides, who would, in turn, usurp Sophocles. Sophocles was a handsome and agile youth and selected, at the age of sixteen, to lead with dance and lyre the chorus which celebrated the triumph of Athens and its Allies over Persia at the battle at Salamis. Sophocles career as a dramatist was marked by a victory in competition with Æschylus, under exceptional circumstances. At the time the remains of the hero Theseus were being removed by Cimon from the isle of Scyros to Athens and, at the same time, a contest involving the two dramatists was being held. Æschylus was lauded at the time as the supreme dramatist but Sophocles was popular if inexperienced. The first prize was awarded to Sophocles, greatly to the disgust of the veteran Æschylus, who taking umbrage, soon afterward departed for Sicily. By all accounts Sophocles would now write and exhibit tragedies and satyric dramas for the next sixty years. The canon of his work varies to between 120 and 180 plays, naturally a number were fillers and not of his highest standard but the prodigious output is extraordinary. In the annual Dionysia, the number of first prizes he won is put at between eighteen and twenty-four, with many more second prizes. On this basis alone Æschylus and Euripides were left a long way behind. So far from being dulled with age and toil, his powers seem only to have assumed a mellower tone, a more touching pathos, a sweeter and gentler mode of thought and expression. Sophocles was spared the misery of witnessing the final overthrow of his country, dying, at the age or around 90 after a long life full of triumphs and honours, a few months before the defeat of Aegospotami brought the downfall of his beloved Athens. This naval Battle of Aegospotami took place in 405 BC and decisively determined the outcome of the Peloponnesian War. In the battle, a Spartan fleet under Lysander destroyed the Athenian navy. This effectively ended the war, since Athens could not import grain or communicate with its empire without control of the sea. There are only seven dramas of Sophocles that have survived. It can be argued that Sophocles and his works were the high-water mark of Athenian excellence. He is rightly lauded and we can only wonder at the splendours he wrote that are now lost to us.
Read more from Sophocles .
Aias: "A human being is only breath and shadow" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing Œdipus: "Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsŒdipus At Colonos: "There is a point at which even justice does injury" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAntigone: "One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life. That word is love" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElectra: "Trust dies but mistrust blossoms" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhiloctetes: "I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Trachinian Maidens
Related ebooks
The Trachinian Maidens (The Trachiniae) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElectra: "Trust dies but mistrust blossoms" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing Œdipus: "Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Trachinian Maidens: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAgamemnon: from The Oresteia Trilogy. Translaton by E.D.A. Morshead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eumenides: Translaton by E.D.A. Morshead Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Trachinian Maidens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsŒdipus At Colonos: "There is a point at which even justice does injury" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAndromache: "The wavering mind is but a base possession" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeracles: "The greatest pleasure of life is love" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus Rex, & Antigone Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Trachiniae Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOedipus Trilogy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey of Homer: 'Knowledge is proud that it knows so much; wisdom is humble that it knows no more'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHelen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oedipus at Colonus Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Helen: "To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Libation Bearers: from The Oresteia Trilogy. "Of all the gods only death does not desire gifts" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIphigenia in Aulis: "Love makes the time pass. Time makes love pass" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Iphigenia in Tauris Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bacchae Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Seven Against Thebes: "When a man's willing and eager the god's join in" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing Oedipus: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hippolytus; The Bacchae Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing Oedipus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hypnerotomachia: The Strife of Loue in a Dreame Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heraclidæ: "Nothing has more strength than dire necessity" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIphigenia Among the Taurians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Suppliants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOedipus: 'Now night has fled; and with a wavering gleam Returns the sun'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Performing Arts For You
For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Robin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Macbeth (new classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sisters Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wuthering Heights Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Romeo and Juliet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsheltered: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Agatha Christie Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Diamond Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hamlet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Count Of Monte Cristo (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Town: A Play in Three Acts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Star Wars: Book of Lists Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey through the Art and Craft of Humor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSlave Play Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dolls House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Trachinian Maidens
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Trachinian Maidens - Sophocles .
The Trachinian Maidens by Sophocles
The village of Colonus, near Athens, was, in the year 495 BC, the birthplace of Sophocles.
Sophocles place in Greek Tragedy is assured. His birth places him between the two other giants of Greek tragedy; Æschylus and Euripides. He was 30 years younger than Æschylus, the reigning master of drama and was fifteen years older than Euripides, who would, in turn, usurp Sophocles.
Sophocles was a handsome and agile youth and selected, at the age of sixteen, to lead with dance and lyre the chorus which celebrated the triumph of Athens and its Allies over Persia at the battle at Salamis.
Sophocles career as a dramatist was marked by a victory in competition with Æschylus, under exceptional circumstances. At the time the remains of the hero Theseus were being removed by Cimon from the isle of Scyros to Athens and, at the same time, a contest involving the two dramatists was being held. Æschylus was lauded at the time as the supreme dramatist but Sophocles was popular if inexperienced.
The first prize was awarded to Sophocles, greatly to the disgust of the veteran Æschylus, who taking umbrage, soon afterward departed for Sicily.
By all accounts Sophocles would now write and exhibit tragedies and satyric dramas for the next sixty years.
The canon of his work varies to between 120 and 180 plays, naturally a number were fillers and not of his highest standard but the prodigious output is extraordinary. In the annual Dionysia, the number of first prizes he won is put at between eighteen and twenty-four, with many more second prizes. On this basis alone Æschylus and Euripides were left a long way behind. So far from being dulled with age and toil, his powers seem only to have assumed a mellower tone, a more touching pathos, a sweeter and gentler mode of thought and expression.
Sophocles was spared the misery of witnessing the final overthrow of his country, dying, at the age or around 90 after a long life full of triumphs and honours, a few months before the defeat of Aegospotami brought the downfall of his beloved Athens. This naval Battle of Aegospotami took place in 405 BC and decisively determined the outcome of the Peloponnesian War. In the battle, a Spartan fleet under Lysander destroyed the Athenian navy. This effectively ended the war, since Athens could not import grain or communicate with its empire without control of the sea.
There are only seven dramas of Sophocles that have survived.
It can be argued that Sophocles and his works were the high-water mark of Athenian excellence. He is rightly lauded and we can only wonder at the splendours he wrote that are now lost to us.
Index of Contents
The Persons
Scene
Introduction
THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS aka The Women of Trachis
Sophocles – A Short Biography
Sophocles – A Concise Bibliography
THE PERSONS
DÊANIRA, wife of Heracles.
An Attendant.
HYLLUS, son of Heracles and Dêanira.
CHORUS of Trachinian Maidens.
A Messenger.
LICHAS, the Herald.
A Nurse.
An Old Man.
HERACLES.
IOLE, who does not speak.
SCENE
Before the temporary abode of Heracles in Trachis.
INTRODUCTION
This tragedy is named from the Chorus. From the subject it might have been called 'Deanira or the Death of Heracles'.
The Centaur Nessus, in dying by the arrow of Heracles, which had been dipped in the venom of the Hydra, persuaded the bride Deanira, whose beauty was the cause of his death, to keep some of the blood from the wound as a love-charm for her husband. Many years afterwards, when Heracles was returning from his last exploit of sacking Oechalia, in Euboea, he sent before him, by his herald Lichas, Iole, the king's daughter, whom he had espoused. Deanira, when she had discovered this, commissioned Lichas when he returned to present his master with a robe, which she had anointed with the charm,―hoping by this means to regain her lord's affection. But the poison of the Hydra did its work, and Heracles died in agony, Deanira having already