Sull’ἔλεος e sul “politico altro” nel Filottete di Sofocle

These pages aim to consider the dynamics of ἔλεος in Sophocles’ Philoctetes. The Greek word refers to an emotion with a peculiar physiognomy, which intensifies and transcends the meaning of ‘compassion’/’pity’ – conventional and unsatisfactory terms often used to describe the concept. Not only show some passages from Philoctetes that ἔλεος is a strongly relational πάϑος, but also how it activates a process of self-knowledge in the sentient subject. In parallel with this, the survey intends to point out the relationship between the pathetic side of the tragedy – marked particularly by ‘compassion’, pain, and wrath – and a distinctive representation of the ‘political’ conveyed by the characters on stage.

These pages aim to consider the dynamics of ἔλεος in Sophocles’ Philoctetes. The Greek word refers to an emotion with a peculiar physiognomy, which intensifies and transcends the meaning of ‘compassion’/’pity’ – conventional and unsatisfactory terms often used to describe the concept. Some passages from Philoctetes show not only that ἔλεος is a strongly relational πάϑος, but also how it activates a process of self-knowledge in the sentient subject. In parallel with this, the survey intends to point out the relationship between the pathetic side of the tragedy – marked particularly by ‘compassion’, pain, and wrath – and a distinctive representation of the 'political' conveyed by the characters on stage.