Nessos/Definition

From Greek mythology, he was a Centaur who tried to rape the wife of Heracles whose name was Deianeira. He was shot by Heracles but when dying, Nessos told Deianeira to save Nessos's blood as a possible love charm to use on Heracles if ever the hero lost interest in having sex with her. Years later, she used the "charm" but it didn't have the effect of restoring his flagging interest, but rather burned the flesh of Heracles causing the hero to kill himself. Source: Elizabeth Vandiver, Classics scholar, authority on Greek mythology and Greek tragedy, including the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Homer, and Virgil. This definition is based on her course Classical Mythology for The Teaching Company.