Philoctetes and the Good Companion Story

Authors

  • Arthur W. Frank

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13130/2037-2426/7472

Keywords:

Socio-narratology, companion story, Mattingly, Philoctetes, narrative therapy, chronic pain

Abstract

The idea of a companion story is developed through an analysis of Sophocles’ play Philoctetes, about living in chronic pain. That story is anchored by an ethnographic report of a boy living with pain, and his companion story. The good companion story is distinguished by three qualities: it consoles its companion, it complicates lives that it enters, and it promises a form of hope. The article thus seeks to demonstrate the therapeutic capacity of stories to effect healing.

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References

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Published

2016-12-29

How to Cite

Frank, A. W. (2016). Philoctetes and the Good Companion Story. ENTHYMEMA, (16), 119–127. https://doi.org/10.13130/2037-2426/7472

Issue

Section

Narrative and Medicine
Received 2016-08-12
Accepted 2016-12-22
Published 2016-12-29