# The Trachiniae — Character guide

> Key figures in The Trachiniae by Sophocles.

- [Deianira](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters/deianira.md): Heracles' anxious wife, whose long dread of losing him curdles into a desperate act she believes will win his love back.
- [Heracles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters/heracles.md): The legendary hero whose far-flung labors keep him absent for years, returning home only through the ruinous gift his wife sends after him.
- [Hyllus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters/hyllus.md): The dutiful son caught between an absent, glorious father and a frightened mother, sent to find news that will undo them all.
- [Lichas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters/lichas.md): Heracles' loyal herald, who arrives bearing captives and tidings, and whose careful evasions crack open the household's fragile peace.
- [Messenger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters/messenger.md): A blunt informant whose untimely honesty about a captive girl strips away the herald's story and forces Deianira to see the truth.
- [Nurse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters/nurse.md): Deianira's trusted attendant, whose plainspoken counsel—that a slave's words may breathe a free spirit—sets the play's search in motion.
- [Iolè](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters/iole.md): Captive princess whose beauty sparks Deianira's jealousy.
- [Zeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters/zeus.md): Father of Heracles, invoked as a divine figure.
- [Iphitus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters/iphitus.md): Son of Eurytus, killed by Heracles in a fit of madness.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trachiniae_se/characters