Snake oil salesmen : snake imagery and the sophistic movement in Sophocles' Trachiniae

Abstract

"In the Trachiniae, Sophocles plays on the audience's expectations of a murderous Deianeira to demonstrate the dangers of misinformation. He subverts the traditional role of the centaur Cheiron as a healer and teacher in his treatment of Nessus. One could argue that in placing the emphasis on Deianeira's reckless decisions on Nessus' role as a teacher of pharmaka, Sophocles turns a skeptical eye towards the early Sophistic movement. Sophocles' use of Nessus as a proxy opens his audience to the possibility that the sophists may not have taught for the best interest of their pupils. Deianeira's desire to preserve the established order within the oikos draws parallels between the Oresteia and the Trachiniae. The use of serpent imagery in the Trachiniae echoes the dual associations with serpents in Aeschylus' Oresteia."-- Introduction