View source for Deianira

{{Short description|Ancient Greek mythical character}}
{{Other uses|Deianira (mythology)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Deianira
| deity_of = Princess of [[Calydon]]
| member_of = the Calydonian Royal House
| image = Deianera.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = ''Deianira'' by [[Evelyn De Morgan]]
| other_names = Deïanira, Deianeira, Diyeneira, Deyanire, or Dejanira
| cult_center = 
| abode = [[Calydon]]
| planet = 
| consort = [[Heracles]]
| parents = [[Althaea (mythology)|Althaea]] and [[Oeneus]] or [[Dionysus]] or [[Dexamenus]]
| siblings = [[Meleager]], [[Toxeus]], [[Clymenus]], [[Periphas]], [[Agelaus]], [[Thyreus]], [[Gorge]], [[Eurymede]], [[Mothone]], [[Perimede]], [[Melanippe]], and [[Tydeus]] (if Oeneus was her father)
[[Eurypylus]], Theronice and Theraephone (if Dexamenus was her father)
| offspring = {{hlist|[[Hyllus]]|[[Ctesippus]]|Glenus|[[Onites (myth)|Onites]]|[[Macaria (daughter of Heracles)|Macaria]]}}
| predecessor = 
| successor = 
| Roman_equivalent = 
}}

'''Deianira''', '''Deïanira''', or '''Deianeira'''<ref name=eb11>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Hercules|volume=13|page=346}}</ref> ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|d|iː|ə|ˈ|n|aɪ|r|ə}} {{respell|DEE|ə|NY|rə}};<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wells |first1=John C. |author-link1=John C. Wells |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |chapter=Deianira |publisher=Pearson Longman |year=2009 |location=London |isbn=978-1-4058-8118-0}}</ref> {{langx|grc|Δηϊάνειρα|Dēiáneira}}, or {{langx|grc|Δῃάνειρα|Dēáneira|label=none}}, {{IPA|grc|dɛːiáneːra|IPA}}), also known as '''Dejanira''',<ref>{{Cite EB9|wstitle=Dejanira|volume=7|page=37}}</ref> is a [[Calydon]]ian princess in [[Greek mythology]] whose name translates as "man-destroyer"<ref>P. Walcot, "Greek Attitudes towards Women: The Mythological Evidence" ''Rome'', 2nd Series, '''31''':1:43 (April 1984); [https://www.jstor.org/stable/642368 at JSTOR]</ref> or "destroyer of her husband".<ref>Koine. Y. (editor in chief), ''Kenkyusha's New English-Japanese Dictionary'', 5th ed., Kenkyusha, 1980, p.551.</ref><ref>[[Antoninus Liberalis]], Notes and Commentary on Meleagrides sv. Deianira, p.111</ref> She was the wife of [[Heracles]] and, in late [[Classical Greece|Classical]] accounts, his unwitting murderer, killing him with the poisoned [[Shirt of Nessus]]. She is the main character in [[Sophocles]]' play ''[[Women of Trachis]]''.

== Family ==
Deianira was the daughter of [[Althaea (Greek mythology)|Althaea]] and her husband [[Oeneus]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary|date=1970|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=0198691173|editor1-last=Hammond|editor1-first=N. G. L.|edition=2d|location=Oxford [Eng.]|page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordclassicald00hamm/page/319 319]|editor2-last=Scullard|editor2-first=H. H.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordclassicald00hamm/page/319}}</ref> (whose name means "wine-man"), the king of [[Calydon]] (after the wine-god gave the king the vine to cultivate), and the sister of [[Meleager]]. Her other siblings were [[Toxeus]], [[Clymenus]], [[Periphas]], [[Agelaus]] (or [[Ageleus]]), [[Thyreus (mythology)|Thyreus]] (or Phereus or [[Pheres]]), [[Gorge (mythology)|Gorge]], [[Eurymede]] and [[Melanippe]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Catalogue of Women|Ehoiai]]'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html fr. 98] as cited in ''Berlin Papyri, No. 9777;'' Antoninus Liberalis, [https://topostext.org/work/216#2 2]</ref><ref>Antoninus Liberalis, [https://topostext.org/work/216#2 2] as cited in [[Nicander|Nicander's]] ''Metamorphoses''</ref>

In some accounts, Deianira was the daughter of King [[Dexamenus]] of [[Olenus (Achaea)|Olenus]]<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#31 31] & [https://topostext.org/work/206#33 33]</ref> and thus, sister to [[Eurypylus]],<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 7.19.9</ref> [[Theronice]] and [[Theraephone]].<ref>Pausanias, 5.3.3</ref> Others called this daughter of Dexamenus as [[Mnesimache]]<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus2.html 2.5.5]</ref> or [[Hippolyte (mythology)|Hippolyte]].<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], [http://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4B.html 4.33.1]</ref>

Deianira was the mother of [[Onites (myth)|Onites]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Statius |first1=Publius Papinius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54liAAAAMAAJ&q=onites+son+of+heracles |title=Statius, Thebaid 12: Introduction, Text and Commentary |last2=Pollmann |first2=Karla |date=2004 |publisher=Schöningh |isbn=978-3-506-71783-2 |pages=210 |language=en}}</ref> [[Hyllus]], [[Glenus]], [[Onites (mythology)|Onites]], [[Ctesippus]], and [[Macaria (daughter of Heracles)|Macaria]], who saved the [[Athens|Athenians]] from defeat by [[Eurystheus]].

== Mythology and literature ==
[[File:Herakles Nessos Louvre E803.jpg|thumb|[[Heracles]], Deianira and [[Nessus (centaur)|Nessus]], black-figure [[hydria]], 575-550 BCE, [[Louvre]] (E 803)|left]]
[[File:Hercules and Deianira, Pompeii.jpg|thumb|Heracles and Deianira, antique fresco in [[Pompeii]]]]
[[File:Simonet - Neso y Deyanira.jpg|thumb|Nessus and Deianira, [[Enrique Simonet]], 1888.]]

=== 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wohl |first=Victoria |title=A Tragic Case of Poisoning: Intention Between Tragedy and the Law |journal=Transactions of the American Philological Association |volume=140 |issue=1 |year=2010 |page=53|doi=10.1353/apa.0.0046 |s2cid=159697583 }}</ref>

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.<ref>Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#31 31]</ref>[[File:Deianeira_and_the_dying_centaur_Nessus_1888.jpg|thumb|Deianira and the dying centaur Nessus telling her of the "love charm" /
"love potion" (his own poisonous blood).
|left]]

Deianira was associated with combat, and was described as someone who "drove a chariot and practiced the art of war."<ref>Apollodorus, 1.8.1</ref>

=== Death of Heracles ===
The most famous story containing Deianira concerns the [[Shirt of Nessus]]. A wild centaur named [[Nessus (centaur)|Nessus]] attempted to kidnap or rape Deianira as he was ferrying her across the river [[Evinos|Euenos]], but she was rescued by Heracles, who shot the centaur with an arrow laced with the venom of the [[Lernaean Hydra|Hydra]]. As he lay dying, Nessus persuaded Deianira to take a sample of his blood, claiming that, when mixed with his semen, it would create a love potion that would ensure Heracles would never again be unfaithful.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Apollodorus |title=Library |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D7%3Asection%3D7 |access-date= |website= |page=2.7.7 |no-pp=y}}</ref>

When Heracles fell in love with the younger and more beautiful [[Iole]], Deianira, fearing that she would lose her husband, decided to use the potion. She soaked a tunic or shirt (perhaps Heracles' famous [[Nemean lion|lionskin shirt]]) in the potion. When Heracles put on the shirt, the venom from the very arrow he had used to kill Nessus began to burn and eat away at his skin. When he tried to remove the shirt, he tore off chunks of his own flesh. Eventually, unable to bear the pain any longer, Heracles built a funeral pyre and immolated himself. When Deianira realized what she had done, she committed suicide, either by hanging or by a sword.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-11-21 |title=Ovid's Heroides IX: Notes and Resources |url=http://english.edgewood.edu/heroides/hero09n.htm#Deianira |access-date=2024-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121092126/http://english.edgewood.edu/heroides/hero09n.htm#Deianira |archive-date=2008-11-21 }}</ref> {{sequence|prev=[[Omphale]]|list= Wives of [[Heracles]] |next=[[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]]}}

=== Middle Age tradition ===
She is remembered in ''[[De Mulieribus Claris]]'', a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the [[Florence|Florentine]] author [[Giovanni Boccaccio]], composed in 1361{{endash}}62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.<ref name="Brown_xi">{{cite book |last=Boccaccio |first=Giovanni |author-link=Giovanni Boccaccio |year=2003 |translator=Virginia Brown |title=Famous Women |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, MA |series=I Tatti Renaissance Library |volume=1 |isbn=0-674-01130-9 |page=xi}}</ref>

== Calydonian family tree ==
{{Calydonian dynasty}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

=== Primary sources ===
* [[Antoninus Liberalis]], ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis'' translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). [https://topostext.org/work/216 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
*[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|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. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 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. [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html 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. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 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. [https://topostext.org/work/206 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. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html Online version at theio.com]
*[[Hesiod]], ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' fr. 2 5
* [[Ovid]], ''[[Heroides]] 9''
* Ovid, ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 9.101-238
*[[Pausanias (geographer)|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. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 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
* [[Robert Graves|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==
*{{Commons-inline}}
{{Hercules media}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Princesses in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Family of Calyce (mythology)]]
[[Category:Women of Heracles]]
[[Category:Children of Dionysus]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Mythological Aetolians]]
[[Category:Suicides in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Greek feminine given names]]
[[Category:Feminine given names]]
[[Category:Mariticides]]