Deianira
Deianeira
Daughter of King Oeneus of Calydon (or by the older tradition of Dionysus — Apollodorus 1.8.1 preserves both versions), sister of Meleager the killer of the Calydonian Boar, second wife of Heracles. He won her by wrestling the river-god Achelous for her (Soph. *Trach.* 1–48); on their way home across the Evenus the centaur Nessus tried to rape her as he ferried her across, and Heracles shot him with a Hydra-poisoned arrow from the far bank. Dying, Nessus told Deianira to keep his bloodstained tunic as a love-charm: if Heracles ever turned to another woman, the cloth would recall him (Soph. *Trach.* 555–577). Years later when Heracles took Iole as a captive concubine, Deianira sent him the tunic; the Hydra venom burned him alive, and he climbed onto the pyre of Mount Oeta to end the pain and become a god (Soph. *Trach.* 749–820 + 1191–1278). Understanding her mistake, Deianira killed herself before the news of his death reached her (*Trach.* 879–946). She is the mother of Hyllus and Macaria and the tragic centre of the whole Heraclid cycle.
Origin
Daughter of Oeneus of Calydon in the Sophoclean tradition (Soph. *Trach.*), of Dionysus in the older tradition (Apollod. 1.8.1). Second wife of Heracles; mother of Hyllus and Macaria; unwitting poisoner of her husband through the tunic of Nessus.
