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Philoctetes' Pity: Commentary on Moravcsik

Philoctetes' Pity: Commentary on Moravcsik Julius Moravcsik's stimulating and profound discussion of friendship in Sophocles' Philoctetes covers a wide variety of issues, to which it is impossible to do justice in the brief space allotted for this response. Instead of addressing each of the topics he has raised, therefore, I have elected to examine the same play from a slightly different angle, in the hope that the two points of view may serve to triangulate some of the questions that Sophocles' text poses about Greek values and emotions. * Typically, there are three ways to induce another person to submit to your own wishes: force, persuasion, and deceit. The alternatives are neatly set out in the exchange between Odysseus and Neoptolemus, near the beginning of Sophocles' Philoctetes: Od.: I bid you take Philoctetes by treachery [8o�os). Ne.: Why by treachery, necessarily, rather than persuade [7Td9CJJ] and lead him? Od.: He can't be persuaded; nor could you take him by force [7rp6?j8t0[�]. ( 101-03) For the son of Achilles, violence and argument are legitimate means of prevailing over another, while deception seems shameful. Odysseus says nothing to gloss over the behavior to which he exhorts Neoptolemus: he refers to it as verbal theft (o/vX1]v http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy Online Brill

Philoctetes' Pity: Commentary on Moravcsik

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References (8)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright 1999 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1059-986X
eISSN
2213-4417
DOI
10.1163/2213441797X00181
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Julius Moravcsik's stimulating and profound discussion of friendship in Sophocles' Philoctetes covers a wide variety of issues, to which it is impossible to do justice in the brief space allotted for this response. Instead of addressing each of the topics he has raised, therefore, I have elected to examine the same play from a slightly different angle, in the hope that the two points of view may serve to triangulate some of the questions that Sophocles' text poses about Greek values and emotions. * Typically, there are three ways to induce another person to submit to your own wishes: force, persuasion, and deceit. The alternatives are neatly set out in the exchange between Odysseus and Neoptolemus, near the beginning of Sophocles' Philoctetes: Od.: I bid you take Philoctetes by treachery [8o�os). Ne.: Why by treachery, necessarily, rather than persuade [7Td9CJJ] and lead him? Od.: He can't be persuaded; nor could you take him by force [7rp6?j8t0[�]. ( 101-03) For the son of Achilles, violence and argument are legitimate means of prevailing over another, while deception seems shameful. Odysseus says nothing to gloss over the behavior to which he exhorts Neoptolemus: he refers to it as verbal theft (o/vX1]v

Journal

Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy Online – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 1997

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