A writing tip from Sophocles

 Someone said that the first Greek philosophers were not the philosophers but the tragedians.

I think that might be true in the same way that some people see Existentialists as philosophers, while others don’t. Some would say we’re talking about a point of view, rather than philosophy.

If you’re an Existentialist, the human condition is absurd, meaningless until someone makes it meaningful. If you were a tragedian, the human condition is tragic, not absurd. Human beings simply don’t know about themselves and their position in the cosmos to avoid hurting themselves and others.

If that orientation makes sense to you, this writing tip from Sophocles might also make sense: That tragic conception is the razor with which you cut a drama out of your culture’s mythic material.

Sophocles left interesting details about the mythic characters on the cutting floor. He resisted the temptation to develop characters solely because they were interesting.

If a delicious detail did not contribute to his tragic conception, he cut it. He was ruthless.

• Source: H.D.F. Kitto, Greek Tragedy; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1954.