The End of Sophocles’ Philoctetes and the Significance of ΓΝΩΜΗ

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The End of Sophocles’ Philoctetes and the Significance of ΓΝΩΜΗ
Xian, Ruobing

From the journal Hermes Hermes, Volume 151, March 2023, issue 1

Published by Franz Steiner Verlag

article, 9118 Words
Original language: English
Hermes 2023, pp 23-39
https://doi.org/10.25162/hermes-2023-0002

Abstract Related content References

Abstract

In this article, I argue for Sophocles’ dramatic use of γνώμη-language at the end of his Philoctetes. Through a thorough analysis of the phrase γνώμη … φίλων at l. 1467, I demonstrate how Sophocles drew on the contemporary resonances of γνώμη in Athenian legal contexts to make the play’s final scene rich and complex. In addition, the tension between the mortal and divine worlds, which is a recurrent theme in the play, is mirrored in the expression γνώμη … φίλων, which is sandwiched between Μοῖρα and πανδαμάτωρ δαίμων at ll. 1466-1468. Both points add to our understanding of how the sense of closure is achieved at the end of the play.

Author information

Ruobing Xian

Keywords

Sophocles | Philoctetes | ΓΝΩΜΗ | closure

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