Heracles Lacedaemonius : the political dimensions of Sophocles Trachiniae and Euripides Heracles

Tragedy was a frequent vehicle for the allegorical interpretation of historical events, although the language and situations might be employed allusively rather than directly. The mutability of myth, and in particular of myths relating to Heracles, was exploited by Sophocles and Euripides in composing "Trachiniae" and "Heracles". The negative qualities attributed to the hero in these plays can be put down to Heracles' role as the ancestor of the Spartans, the Athenians' foremost enemies at the time the plays were performed (in 425/4 and 422/1 respectively). "Trachiniae" provides evidence for the alarm that the foundation of Heracles in Trachis caused at Athens ; and the hero's destructive madness in "Heracles" was intended to recall the Spartans' brutal treatment of Plataea.Vickers Michael. Heracles Lacedaemonius : the political dimensions of Sophocles Trachiniae and Euripides Heracles. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 21, n°2, 1995. pp. 41-69