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The preface reviews competing scholarly interpretations, then proposes reading the play straightforwardly by following Heracles’ presentation through Deianira’s perspective and later 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is the play titled The Wife of Heracles in this translation?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"Murray argues that “Women of Trachis” suggests nothing about the subject, so he adopts a different title that better captures the drama’s focus.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What is the main reason critics have found the play difficult or puzzling?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Most critics cite dissatisfaction connected with the character of Heracles, who is portrayed as unusually un-sympathetic in the Trachiniae.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"Which scholarly explanations does the preface discuss for the play’s theme?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It mentions Hermann’s view that Deianira becomes more interesting than the hero, and Jacobs’ argument that the true theme is the disastrous influence of Erôs; it also notes agreement and related commentary from 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EDUCATION   |\n| --- |\n\nTHE WIFE OF HERACLES  \nUniform with this volume  \n# EURIPIDES\n\nALCESTIS(24th Thousand)BACCHAE(3Ist Thousand)ELECTRA(5oth Thousand)HIPPOLYTUs(38th Thousand)IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS  \n(32nd Thousand)MEDEA(33rd Thousand)RHESUs(9th Thousand)THE TROJAN WoMEN(39th Thousand)  \n# ARISTOPHANES\n\nTHE FRoGs(24th Thousand)  \n# SOPHOCLES\n\nOEDIPUs,KING oF THEBES(24th Thousand)THE ANTIGONE(4th Thousand)  \n# AESCHYLUS\n\nAGAMEMNON(I2th Thousand)THE CHOEPHOROE(5th Thousand)THE EuMENIDES(4th Thousand)THE SuPPLIANT WoMEN(SuPPLICEs)(4th Thousand)PROMETHEUS BoUND  \n(4th Thousand)THE SEVEN AGAINST THEBES(3d Thousand)THE PERSIANS(4th Thousand)THE ORESTEIA(collected edition)  \nTHE WIFE OF HERACLES  \nbeing Sophocles'Play  \n# THE TRACHINIAN WOMEN\n\nTranslated into English Versewith explanatory notes  \nby  \nGILBERT MURRAY  \n0.M.  \nFormerly Regius Professor of Greekin theUniversity of Oxford  \n\n| CLASS  \u003Cbr>ACCESSION   |\n| --- |\n| NOVD86  \u003Cbr>S.Kent Collose   T⁴cnology  \u003Cbr>ASHCRD     CH  \u003Cbr>LIBRARY  \u003Cbr>24345  \u003Cbr>8821009   |\n\nFIRST PUBLI8HED IN I947  \nALL RIGHTS RESERVED  \nPRINTED IN GREAT BRITAINin Ir-Point Caslon Old Face  \nBY UNWIN BROTHERS LIMITED  \nWOKING  \n# PREFA CE\n\nTHE Trachiniae,or Women of Trachis,is one of theplays which takes its name from the chorus,like theTrojan Women or the Suppliant Women.But whereasthose names give some idea of the subject of the play,the title Women of Trachis suggests nothing.For thatreason among others I have adopted in this translationa different title,“The Wife of Heracles.”  \nIt is in many ways a dificult play,though a veryfine one.All critics speak with admiration both of thedramatic poignancy of its central scenes and the singularbeauty and delicacy of its character drawing.Yet it hascaused in most of them a sort of bewilderment or dis-satisfaction,a feeling that there is something wrongsomewhere.The cause of this dissatisfaction is withoutdoubt the character of the hero.Heracles is one of themost fuid and variable of all great figures of Greeklegendary tradition,but nowhere is he quite as un-sympathetic as in the Trachiniae.This observation isnot a new twentieth-century eccentricity.Some 150years ago,Hermann explained that,while the poet'sreal subject was obviously the death of Heracles,hehad by inadvertence made Deianira much more in-teresting than his hero,and thus confused his drama.Even before Hermann,Jacobs had argued that thetrue theme of the play was the disastrous influence ofErôs,as illustrated by its effect on Heracles.Jebb onthe whole agrees with Hermann.He describes the  \nTHE WIFE OF HERACLES  \naction of Heracles as \"brutal”and“inhuman,\"and atone cardinal moment regrets that Sophocles “misses anopportunity of removing a great impediment to sym-pathy.”Professor Webster similarly in his chapter onCharacter Contrasts makes Heracles the champion of“prejudice”and “faithlessness.”  \nWas Sophocles so inexperienced or so unskilful adramatist as to make his hero “brutal,”\"faithless,\"andcomparatively uninteresting,by mere inadvertence orthe missing of dramatic opportunities?I cannot believeit.If he had meant to make his Heracles a typicallyheroic or sympathetic character,I am fairly sure hecould have done so.If he has presented Heracles in thisrepellent light he did so intentionally and had gooddramatic reasons for doing so.Let us read the playstraightforwardly and see what its actual effect is.  \nWe hear of Heracles first as he appears in Deianira'seyes.He is her deliverer from a stillmore awful suitor,and she adores him.He is \"the best of men,\"the “ever-victorious.”If he is always away from home and hardlyknows his own children,if he treacherously murdersan unsuspecting guest and thus forces her and herfamily into exile,she never thinks of criticizing him.Next we have the news of his conquest of Oechalia,histriumphant return,and a general paean of joy at hisvictory interrupted by the entrance of a terrible pro-cession of captive wome","cbCaiqXNc8vwszwC","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqXNc8vwszwC","pdf",3755722,96,"English","# Preface\n## Title choice and translation framing\n## Criticism and reasons for dissatisfaction\n## Scholarly interpretations of the play’s theme\n## Reading the play straightforwardly and character impact","[{\"question\":\"Why is the play titled The Wife of Heracles in this translation?\",\"answer\":\"Murray argues that “Women of Trachis” suggests nothing about the subject, so he adopts a different title that better captures the drama’s focus.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the main reason critics have found the play difficult or puzzling?\",\"answer\":\"Most critics cite dissatisfaction connected with the character of Heracles, who is portrayed as unusually un-sympathetic in the Trachiniae.\"},{\"question\":\"Which scholarly explanations does the preface discuss for the play’s theme?\",\"answer\":\"It mentions Hermann’s view that Deianira becomes more interesting than the hero, and Jacobs’ argument that the true theme is the disastrous influence of Erôs; it also notes agreement and related commentary from others.\"}]","The Wife of Heracles - Translated into English Verse | PDF",1791878488,148]