Sophocles Philoctetes Essay -- Sophocles Philoctetes Essays

Sophocles PhiloctetesNo word. Then I am nothing (950)Who will say word of recognize to me? (1354)In his chew the fat Oedipus at the Crossroads, Simon Goldhill addresses the idea that the incest between mother and son results in the fall flat not only of the characters, but of spoken communication itself or rather, of the language the characters expenditure to express their despair. The fact that Oedipus stumbles on the words Daughter, sister reflects this breakdown of language. In Sophocles Philoctetes, t here(predicate) is a similar sense of shattered language, but here it is more a case of universe abandoned by language, of language and civilisation being so intrinsic to each other that being left tin by one implies being left behind by both. The Choruss description of what they imagine Philoctetess solitudinarian existence to be like reflects this He cries out in his wretchedness/there is only a blabbering echo,/that comes from the distance speeding/from his bitter flagran t(187), using lack of dialogue to represent his solitude. Similarly, it is signifi foundationt that it is not distinct words that announce Philoctetess approach the first time he comes on stage, but rather the voice of a man weakened and a bitter cry (209,210). And it is no coincidence that upon meeting Neoptolemus, Philoctetes greeting becomes an insistent, repetitive cry Take pity on me intercommunicate to me speak/ speak if you come as friends. / Noanswer me/ If this is all/ that we can select from one another, speech, this, at least, we should have (230). Just as, when Odysseus plan has been revealed and the men are preparing to leave, Philoctetes supplication is Your voice has no word for me, son of Achilles? / go out you go away in silence?(1065). Speech is equated with pity, di... ...sation. The Chicago interpreting of this passage reads Farewell the deep male growl of the sea-lashed headland where galore(postnominal) a time in answer to my crying in the pressure of my sorrow the Hermes mountain sent its echo (1460) while in the Francklin mutant he states, perhaps more aptly (as his passiveness is felt some(prenominal) more), Farewell the noise of beating waves, which I so oft have heard from the rough sea Oft th Hermaean mount Echoed my plaintive voice. In both cases there is a keen sense of release, of breaking free, of the recess of knowing that ones words will bear harvest-tide to something other than a dim reflection of themselves, that ones attempts at dialogue will not be met with a wall of silence. It is an termination that resounds with possibility and potential the world Philoctetes is about to re-enter is a certain blank page. A great destiny awaits him.