The master thesis threats the motive of Heracles'/Hercules’ death and the theme of the tragic knowledge in Sophocles’ Trachiniae and in Hercules on Oeta which was, most probably, mistakenly attributed to Seneca. The death of Heracles on Mount Oeta is the chief motive of the two dramas, binding together entire dramatic material of both plays. Analysis of the tragic recognition in both dramas reveals deeper reasons for the differences in the depiction of the same motive. Because of changed dramaturgical and conceptual context is the role of the tragic knowledge in these two dramas significantly different. The master thesis describes the tragic knowledge of Deianeira and Heracles/Hercules in both dramas. It can be affirmed that the tragic knowldge means above all the recognition of one’s own limits and the embedding in the mysterious reality, which exceeds the tragic hero. The largest difference certainly concerns the depiction of the Hercules' tragic knowledge in Hercules on Oeta, which is at the end transcended through the victory over the death due to his virtus.
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