The slaughter of the Centaur by Hercules signifies the dissipation of
vapors by the sun. Dejanira, “the destroying spouse,” is daylight,
Iola the beautiful twilight, and the bloody robe a sun cloud, now
concealing, now revealing, the mangled body of the sun. Hercules ends
his career in one grand flame, the emblem of the sun setting in a
framework of blazing crimson clouds.