This thesis offers a new interpretation of Sophocles’ Trachiniae. The play depicts two models of human knowledge, one which holds that “the whole truth” (πᾶν τἀληθές, 453) cannot be reached until its telos is known, and another according to which “the whole truth” consists of unending patterns. The pattern-based model is represented in the tragedy of Deianeira. Her understanding of the world is imbued with a deep pessimism which sustains and is sustained by the constant recurrence of fear in her life. The confrontation of Deianeira’s pessimistic, patternbased understanding of the world with the telos-oriented oracle of Zeus constitutes the central crisis of the play. Ultimately, the telos-based model of knowledge is vindicated in Herakles’ fate. Chapter 1 explores the whole truth motif in the play. Chapter 2 focuses on Deianeira’s pessimism and her pattern-based understanding of the world. Chapter 3 examines the significance of the telos in Herakles’ fate.