"Philoctetes" is a testament to tragedy's power. Your portrayal of human suffering and moral conflict is deeply moving. Your characters are not just players; they're vessels of human emotion and ethical complexity. Your work resonates, reflecting the profound intricacies of our existence.

With admiration,

Aristotle:)

Donna takes on Portia in a three-night run of The Merchant of Venice, and she's scared to death considering theater has always been her dream but feels incapable of performing on stage anymore. Louis lends a hand with her lines, drawing on his extensive knowledge of Shakespeare. Their connection deepens as they share their past dreams and fears - Donna feels like an imposter and Luis has terrible stage fright. After Donna's triumphant first night, she persuades Louis to step in as Shylock, lying about a desperate need for the role's replacement, which leads to a nerve-wracking but successful performance. Despite his success, Louis decides to opt out of the final night. Donna reveals to him that the lead wasn't truly injured, but that she orchestrated the whole thing to give Louis a chance to shine. They bond over mutual admiration and support...

Neoptolemus, in a similar light, feels gratitude for Philoctets, who changed him for the better, making him recognize his flaw and choose friendship and loyalty over deceit. He seeks to return the benefits of that act by trying to change Philoctetes and offer him a solution for his pain. The sequence of events are quite different from the episode, as Neoptolemus' lie doesn't come from a pure place, like Donna's does. But were he not to have been deceived by Odysseus, his way of persuasion could have been quite similar. Both Philoctetes and Louis Litt in Suits have an unshakable fear that stems in pain, which might require a courageous act from a friend, sometimes omitting the entire truth...

I junior high, the Iliad and Odyssey were my favorite classes. Not solely because of their engaging nature compared to other subjects, but because of how engaging the professor was. She was one of the most impressive women I have learned from; giving a creative spin to the story, making every character equally captivating and being brutally honest, and sometimes vulgar/aggressive, about her opinion. Professor Ramona reminded me of her...

Close-reading became my favorite thing to do, firstly because I loved using different color pens, but also because there were so many hidden elements behind the stories. I felt like an investigator. And there was no way any interpretation could be wrong, there were just more appropriate and justified ones! I was only competing with myself, while collaborating with others, which placed me in an unexplainable flow! My favorite device was anthropomorphism, which we saw repeatedly in the Odyssey.

Philoctetes reintroduced Odysseus to my life with a completely different tone. Not so heroic and courageous anymore. Nevertheless, I enjoy discovering new sides of people and this was definitely a pleasant surprise.

He awakens my capacity for imagination, empathy...