playwright's own. Even if it does not, it does reflect a viewpoint of Euripides’ own time that is asking for more from the morality of its religion. Dichotomy: Euripides’ Heracles is a tragedy full of instances of dichotomies, as seen in its characters, events, and themes. Characters in the play stand on opposite ends of one another in terms of ideology and characteristics, creating a dichotomy between them. One example is found in Megara and Amphitryon. When confronted with their deaths and the deaths of Heracles's sons, the two have very different reactions. Megara accepts the fact that she and her children are going to die. Amphitryon, however, continues to hope that his son Heracles will return to save them. Together Megara and Amphitryon form a dichotomy of hope and defeat. Another example of a dichotomy between two characters is between Heracles himself and Lykos. Heracles is known as the most courageous man in Greece; and Lykos accuses him of cowardice. Yet Lykos is attempting to execute Megara and her children out of fear of something they might do. The actions of Heracles and Lykos show that they stand on opposite sides of the spectrum, with Heracles standing with courage and Lykos with cowardice. Furthermore, a dichotomy resides within Heracles. In his returning from the Underworld with Theseus Heracles saves his friend and creates life. In his murdering of his own family after being driven insane, Heracles completes the dichotomy by bringing about death. Finally, there is the theme of the gods’ existence and the dichotomy of belief in the characters in the play. After killing his family, Heracles exclaims that the gods do not exist, while others, especially Theseus, argue the opposite. All of these dichotomies come together to create a play that is used more to ask and generate questions and all reflect the current concerns about the belief systems in play during our playwright's time. Hope (Ἐλπίς): Euripides’ Heracles is a play which is open to many different interpretations. Perhaps the greatest theme within the play is that of hope. Hope plays a central role from the play's start until its end. At the start the family of Heracles is in danger of being killed by Lykos and is without the protection of Heracles who is engaged in serving Eurystheus and completing his labors. The salvation of the family rests upon Heracles coming to rescue them. Megara