Prizes for The Writing on the Mind: Deianeira's Trauma in Sophocles' Trachiniae (Article)

Mary White Prize for Best Published Article [link]
Date: 1/1/2020 12:00:00 AM
Organization: Phoenix [link]
Abstract: This article is an original and convincing application of psychological theory to a Sophoclean tragedy. Weiberg’s close readings of Deianeira's speeches shed light on her unusual sense of time and how she sees herself relative to other women in Trachiniae. By foregrounding the trauma of Deineira’s sexual assault and its recurrence as a motif, Weiberg also successfully addresses two major problems that have bedeviled scholarship on the play: Deianeira’s sending the poisoned robe to Heracles, and the relationship between the play’s conclusion and its first two thirds. Clearly-written, and intimately familiar with the text of the play and the extensive scholarship on it, Weiberg’s paper not only provides a new interpretation of the Trachiniae but also sets out a methodological model that can readily be applied to other Greek tragedies.

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