394 RüdigerKunow
ἀπόλω λα,τέκνον,κοὐδυνήσομαικακὸνκρύψαιπαρ' ὑμι̃ ν,
ἀτταται̃:διέρχεταιδιέρχεται.δύστηνος,
ὠ̃τάλαςἐγώ.ἀπόλωλα,τέκνον:βρύκομαι,τέκνον:
παπαι̃,ἀπαππαπαι̃,παπαππαπαππαπαππαπαι̃.
πρὸςθεω̃ν,πρόχειρονεἴτίσοι,τέκνον,
πάραξίφοςχεροι̃ν,πάταξονεἰςἄκρονπόδα:ἀπάμησονὡςτάχιστα:
μὴ φείσῃβίου.
ἴθ' ,ὠ̃παι̃.(Philoctetes735-50)In this scene, the material economy of warfare and the moral
economy of communicative exchange are shown clashing. In a bold
aesthetic move, in this scene, Sophocles repeatedly forecloses the
referential dimension of the language used by Philoctetes to
communicatehissensoryattunementsinfavorofwhatCavellwouldcall
"stammer,...propheticspeech,or...scream"(Conditionsxxvii).More
so than the English translation, the Greek original (which is for this
reason also quoted here) shows the radical character of this
foreclosure.^88 "Words do badly at bodies." Richard Terdiman's remark
(173) is very much to the point here. In the words given to Philoctetes,
intelligibilityrepeatedlybreaksdowntothepulsationofsounds("παπαι̃,
ἀπαππαπαι̃, παπαππαπαππαπαππαπαι̃.)—a stammer of sorts which
nonetheless manages to communicate the urgency of Philoctetes' pain,
more so, by the way, extra-diagetically, to the theatrical audience than,
intra-diagetically,tothewilyOdysseus.
Philoctetes initially refuses to yield up the only valuable objects left
in his possessions, Heracles' bow and poisoned arrows, but is finally so
exhausted by his suffering that he falls asleep. Odysseus and
Neoptolemos make use of his weakness and steal bow and arrow, and,
contrary to their promises, leave Philoctetes behind, once again.
Neoptolemos soon begins to have moral qualms, however: Philoctetes'
pain and suffering have impressed this young warrior so much that he
persuades Odysseus to go back to Lemnos. By the intervention of the
(^88) Critics are divided on this issue. While Leder and Worman share the position
articulated here and speak of a "displacement of language" (Leder 10) or of the
fact that his "wound controls Philoctetes' ability to speak" (Worman 25),
Budelmann points to the formal normativity in which this pain sensation is
articulated:itisa"screamintrimetersandcomplexmeters"(445).