Sophokleisches Spiel im Spiel als Reflexionsmedium des Mitleidsaffekts

Abstract Since at least Aristotle’s Poetics, the evocation of pity (ἔλεος / οἶκτος) has been regarded as a central function of tragedy. Scholarship has demonstrated that already the ancient playwrights engaged deeply with the structure and function of the emotion of pity in their works. This article focuses on an aspect that has so far received insufficient scholarly attention in this context: the internal dramatic device of the play-within-the-play in Sophoclean tragedy as a medium of reflection. The analysis aims to show that Sophocles, through this mode of reflection, formulates considerations not only intrinsic to the individual play, but also extending far beyond it – regarding the conditions under which pity can arise, as well as the structure and function of the emotion of pity itself.