In Philoctetes, the author Sophocles deals with his characters in many ways. The one I will use and explore through his characters is peithos, which is persuasion. Philoctetes persuades his characters to do things through power. His power holds up throughout the play until he who, the sickened Philoctetes, finally comes around and realizes what game has been played. There are two ways that considerations of shame come up. First, Odysseus has to suppress Neoptolemus' normal reactions of shame in order to get him to trick Philoctetes. Second, Neoptolemus is brought to see what he has done as shameful. Lastly, this is were persuasion and also pathos and logos play roles.
             The most interesting passage in the play is when Odysseus states, " I know, young man, it is not your natural bent to say such things nor to constrive such mischief. But the prize of victory is pleasant to win. Bear up: another time we shall prove honest. For one brief shameless portion of a day give me yourself, and then for all the rest you may be called the most scrupulous of men (lines 79-85, pg. 198)." Odysseus convines Neoptolemus that he can be an honest person even if he does this one dishonest thing. The ploy is to get Neoptolemus to make an exception of this episode out of his assessment of himself. Both Odysseus and Neoptolemus have different understandings of shame as we finally realize. Unlike Neoptolemus, Odysseus seems to have no tendency to feel shame over tricking Philoctetes. Why? It's not because he thinks that tricking and or persuading Philoctetes is an unquestionably honorable thing to do. Basically, he thinks that it will only be in "another time" that they will "prove honest". But this doesn't bother him in the way that it bothers Neoptolemus. Odysseus doesn't care about Sophocles, he can care less. The reason, logos, was that Odysseus thinks the goodness of getting the bow outw
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