Tragic hero, the waving sea, and insularity The article analyzes the character of the tragic hero as a metaphor for the Athenian citizen before the decision problem. It first studies the conditions of theatrical performance and its capacity to produce a concept of democracy. Second, using the notions of subjectivation and desubjectivation, the figures of Aeschylus’ s Pelasgos and Sophocles’ s Philoctetes are examined to understand how tragedy interprets the situation of the agent facing decision. Finally, the possible relations with the context of enunciation of each tragedy and why these heroic figures appear to be perfectly opposite each other on the issue of a decision-making process are considered.Le héros tragique, la mer ondulante et ...