Women of Trachis

Dying Wishes In the royal court of law, the dying declaration is the only form of testimony that a calculate will not rule out as hearsay. The logic being, that a man at the very edge of his life has nothing to lose, so therefore would incur no resolve to lie. In Sophocles tragedy, Women of Trachis, several reference books counterbalance dying declarations, more or less of them, in fact, lies These deathbed declarations, allow us to see into the take heeds of these characters. When the tosh opens, Deineira has been getting worried that something terrible has happened to him.She sends her son, Hyllus off to Eurytus to look for the lost warrior. Heracles herald, Lichas makes up a story about how Heracles was enslaved due to King Eurytus, and got his revenge by destroying the land and taking their women. However, a messenger points out that the whole reason Hercules ransacked the city was so that he could have the beautiful Iole for himself, for whom he was hot with desire. I nstead of being furious with Heracles for being unfaithful, she eschews the blame to the gods of love, who temped him.It is thence that she recalls the death wish of Nessus the centaur. As Nessus laid impaled with Heracles poison arrow, he mouth to Deineira that if she kept his clotted blood, she could use it later to Charm on the mind of Heraclues so he will never see a char he loves more than you. (87) While it is generally uncommon for people to ordain a lie on their death bed, this case was certainly an exception. Deineria was super naive to believe that a beast who had just been killed by her sustain husband would do her a favor.It seems perfectly clear that the centaur would want to revenge his own death by killing Heracles, which he ended up doing posthumously, because Dieneria took his word for it. She doesnt realize until after her husbands death what the beasts true intentions were. Had Dieneria not put all her blaspheme in the centaur, and assigned Heracles more bl ame for his ownshortcomings, the story might have had a happier ending. Once Dieneria hears that her attempt to charm Heracles has ended up causation Heracles a long, painful death, she kills herself in anguish.As Heracles is dying, throbbing with pain, he makes two leaden requests of his son Hyllus. First, he asks Hyllus to take him to the screen of the mountain, chop down some trees, and set him on fire, to take him out of his misery, a task a son should never have to do to his own father. On top of that, Heracles insists that Hyllus marry Iole, the very woman who was the catalyst for the death of both of Hyllus parents. This is the get through imaginable scenario for Hyllus. By asking his son do this Heracles demonstrates his eke out wishing of sensitivity or compassion.Not only does he have no self-reproach whatsoever for deserting his wife for another woman, he wants his son to carry on this legacy of adultery for the rest of his life by wedding her. This shows complete lack of respect to his wife, and lack of compassion for his son. These dying declarations demonstrate the character flaws that end up killing Deineria and Heracles. Deinerias naiviety and and overtrust get her into trouble, while Heracles declension is his lack of compassion. Together, these character flaws are enough to cause great tragedy.