Source edition
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Tragoediae. Peiper, Rudolf; Richter, Gustav, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1921.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA (per Perseus's terms)
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This tragedy depicts the agonizing death and ultimate deification of the great mythological hero Hercules. The drama begins as Hercules, proud of having cleared the earth of monsters, returns home with a beautiful captive princess, Iole. Consumed by intense jealousy, his wife Deianira sends him a robe treated with the blood of the centaur Nessus, believing it to be a love charm, but it is actually a deadly poison. Upon donning the robe, Hercules is plunged into unbearable torment, which drives the guilt-stricken Deianira to commit suicide. Hercules then orders a funeral pyre to be built on Mount Oeta and resolutely throws himself into the flames. As his mother Alcmene and others mourn his agonizing end, Hercules appears from the heavens as a newly instated god, concluding the play with a celebration of his immortal virtue.