Abstract

ESLAVA-BEJARANO, Santiago. The Boundaries of Hatred: Odysseus’ Pity in Sophocles’ Ajax. Nova tellus [online]. 2019, vol.37, n.1, pp.25-48. ISSN 0185-3058.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.nt.2019.37.1.804.

In the prologue of Ajax, Odysseus pities his enemy in misfortune. This article focuses on the ethical dimension of this emotion and the role that it plays in the tragedy. A study of the cognitive conditions that make possible this pity enables us to understand its relationship with a particular conception of justice and, additionally, it sheds light on the often-doubted unity of the play. Finally, it is possible to recognize that Sophocles presents a worldview in which hatred has limits, and so the extent of suffering that one is entitled to inflict on another human being.

Keywords : Pity; Desert; Belief; Justice; Emotion.

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