Chloe Flynn

February 12, 2002

C. Hardy

Sophocles’s The Women of Tarchis tells the story of the desires that killed Heracles and Deianira, his wife. Heracles desires another woman, Iole, and, off stage, destroys her father’s kingdom so that he can have her and then sends Iole to his home. In response to this, Deianira, desiring Heracles to love her, and not keep another woman in their house, uses a deadly poison, which she believed was a love potion, hoping to make him love only her. Because of this, he dies, and she kills herself out of remorse. Both of them desire, both of them act on their desires, and both of them die because of desire. However, the way these desires are discussed and understood by the characters and, presumably, the audience are very different. Heracles desire is very direct. He desires people and acts on that desire. In other words, he sees what he wants and he goes and gets it, destroying anything that stands in his way. Deianira, on the other hand, is not the active agent. She desires to be desired by Heracles. Even the grammar used to talk about her situation is passive. When she does act on her desires, it is not straightforward, but through trickery and love potions. Later, when the potion’s true form is revealed, her actions are attributed to Nessus, the centaur that tricked her into believing the poison was a love potion. These descriptions reveal assumptions about desire, and what form it takes for men and for women. Heracles and Deianira, in Sophocles’s The Women of Tarchis, exemplify desire’s gender difference.

An important aspect of desire in ancient Grease is that a deity represents this set of feelings. Eros, the young son of Aphrodite, it the imp the rules everyone’s hearts. Deianira describes his control over mortals when she publicly responds to the news that Heracles has fallen in love and literally taken a new wife: "How foolish one would be to climb into the ring with [desire] and try to trade blows with him, like a boxer. For he rules even the Gods as he pleases, and he rules me…You see that I would be altogether mad to blame my husband, because he suffers from this sickness" (441-446). She explains that it is foolish to fight with desire, but that desire will rule everyone at some point, including herself and Heracles. Because of this, desire is something people cannot control feeling. However, this does not detract from the idea that each gender feels and expresses their desire in different and specific ways.

In many ways, Heracles is the answer to the question "What would humans be like if they were as essentalized as the gods?" He is strong, tough, and heroic. In myth, he moves rivers, stops volcanoes, strangles lions and three headed dogs. He is the embodiment of all things masculine. Because of this, his character informs us of ancient Grecian ideals of masculine characteristics. His actions, emotions, and desires are exemplifies; by examining them, we can gain understanding of what men where expected to be like. One aspect of Heracles’s desire is that profuse. Deianera states that "Heracles has had other women before." (460) He has a wife, but he also has many affairs. His masculine desire is plentiful.

Other features of his desire become apparent by examining his actions. In The Women of Tarchis, Heracles desires and acquires Iola, the daughter of a king. Though this conquest happens off stage, it is described to the audience: "A terrible longing ran through Heracles — and it was for this girl. Because of her, Oechalia, the land of her fathers, was overthrown by his spear with great destruction" (475-478). Heracles found a woman he greatly desired, and destroyed everything that stood between the two of them in order to have her. This seen is described twice more in very similar terms. (352-365, 431-433) In every rendition, he wants, he takes, he has. This story also mentions the battle that led to their marriage: "To my joy there came the famous Heracles, son of Alcamena and Zeus. In close combat with Acheloüs, [a river, who she was to marry] he won the contest and set me free" (18-21). Once again, he wanted a woman and battled the forces that came between them. His example creates a gender role that portrays masculine desire is direct, forceful, and all consuming.

At the same time, Heracles’s desire is also dangerous. He destroys a kingdom when the ruler does not willingly give his daughter to him, a married man. He kills a river to take his faience. Furthermore, he is dangerous for himself as well. There are consequences to his actions. In this play, he is destroyed by painful poison; his wife kills herself; he and his family are torn apart. Masculine desire is aggressive, assertive, plentiful, and destructive.

Deianira, on the other hand, is the feminine counterpart to Heracles’s extreme masculinity. Where he is the hero, she is the normal girl. While he is on the edge of society, she is at home, participating in her societal roll and raising the children. She also balances Heracles’s strength with her own. She her own opinions and she makes up her own mind. In particular, she takes care of her home. Her actions and wishes reveal the female gender role.

While the beginning of Heracles and Deianira’s relationship reveals the aggressive and forceful nature of masculine desire, it also reveals aspects of feminine desire. In Deianira’s description of the event, she reveals that she desires Heracles: "To my joy there came the famous Heracles…[Ultimately,] Zeus of the contests made the end good" (18-19, 25-26). She wanted Heracles to win and become her husband. While this desire was partially because his success meant Acheloüs’ failure, it was also because he brought her joy. Despite this desire, she is not an active agent in her fate. During the battle, she did not actively do anything to effect her situation, she simply weighted for it to end: "The tender girl with the lovely eyes sat far from them on a hillside, waiting for the one who would be her husband. So the Struggle raged, as I have told it; but the bride over whom they fought awaited the end pitiably" (523-528). Despite the fact that the fight determined her future, all Deianira did was weight. This example shows the feminine desire, while it exists, does not spur action.

On the other hand, Deianera does take action on her desire when Heracles brings another women into their home. However, this action is not based solely on her desire:

Deianera desires Heracles, moreover, she desires that he desire her. She is worried that a younger woman would usurp her place with her husband and destroy their marriage. While she does not feel threatened by his desire for Iole, she does feel threatened by her presence in her home. For all these reasons, Deianera decided to us a potion she believes will make him "never look at another woman and love her more than [her.]" (576-577) While she has multiple motives for casting a love charm on Heracles, others attribute her actions only to wanting to protect her home: "She, poor woman, knew nothing of this but, seeing great injury for her home from a new marriage swiftly approaching, applied her remedy" (841-845). Deianera’s example shows desire as part of a woman’s life, but not the sole reason for any action. It is a passive emotion.

In Sophocles’s The Women of Tarchis, the characters words and actions reveal aspects of ancient Greek desire. Desire was personified as the deity Eros, and, therefore seen as something with divine strength. It manifested in males as aggressive, assertive, plentiful and dangerous. In women, it was passive, oriented towards being the object of desire, and not the sole reason for action.