ABSTRACT
Mr. Lessing commences with this comparison and argues that it is no comparison: that Sophocles' Philoctetes does not simply sigh with worry and anxiety but cries aloud and screams with wild curses. Mr. Lessing has devoted a long section to defending Sophocles for bringing physical sufferings on stage and making a hero shriek in this suffering. The whole defence is from the viewpoint of a dramaturgist, and in its manner of exposition betrays the author of Dramaturgy. Mr. Lessing may say that "nothing is more fallacious than to try to give general laws for the emotions". Sophocles knew how to choose something better, a short seizure. He puts it in the middle of the play, for it to stand out. It comes suddenly; the poison is made all the more striking as being a punishment from the gods.
