Rhetorical Discourse and the Constitution of the Subject: Prodicus\u27 \u27The Choice of Heracles\u27

The author begins with a critical dilemma: as a major figure in the sophistic movement, Prodicus is generally considered one of the proponents of a rhetoric that challenged the traditional morality of his time; however, the lengthiest composition attributed to him, The Choice of Heracles, has mostly been read as an affirmation of mainstream ethics. The author argues that Prodicus\u27 text challenges traditional morality by reshaping the narrative form characterizing the epic tradition and by articulating a notion of human subjectivity appreciably different from the one specified by the epic tradition. The author concludes that despite its similarities to myths preceding it The Choice of Heracles registers a resistance to pre-sophistic morality