Produced in 409 BC. Won first prize. Sometimes described as Sophocles' cleverest play. The plot is part of the Trojan War cycle.
Philoctetes was a famous bowman in the time of heroes. He is mentioned in Book II of the Iliad, which provides part of the back story. It tells us that Philoctetes was the commander of seven ships in Agamemnon's fleet and army on their way to Troy, but who had contracted a snake bite in one of his feet which gave him a wound that did not heal. That wound began to fester and stink, so much so that his troops found him unbearable to be with. By orders of the commanders of the Achaean [Greek] army [Agamemnon and Menelaus], he was left marooned, abandoned alone, stranded on the uninhabited magical island of Lemnos.
Iliad Book II [The Iliad (Murray) Book_II]
...
[716] And they that dwelt in Methone and Thaumacia, and that held Meliboea and rugged Olizon, these with their seven ships were led by Philoctetes, well-skilled in archery, and on each ship embarked fifty oarsmen well skilled to fight amain with the bow. But Philoctetes lay suffering grievous pains in an island, even in sacred Lemnos, where the sons of the Achaeans had left him in anguish with an evil wound from a deadly water-snake. There he lay suffering; yet full soon were the Argives beside their ships to bethink them of king Philoctetes. Howbeit neither were these men leaderless, though they longed for their leader; but Medon marshalled them, the bastard son of Oileus, whom Rhene bare to Oileus, sacker of cities.
...
Heracles, when he was near to death, he was carried to his home at Trachis; there he commanded that he should be carried to the top of Mount Oeta, sacred to Zeus, and burnt alive. But Heracles' son, Hyllus, refused to light the pyre. Instead, the young Philoctetes did it, son of Poeas, king of Malis. In token of gratitude, Heracles bequeathed to Philoctetes the magical and invincible bow and arrows which he himself had received from Apollo.Philoctetes, son of Pœas, king of the Malians, of Œta, in Thessaly, wooed Helena, the daughter of Tyndareus; and her father having bound him and the other suitors by an oath, to defend her in case of wrong, he joined the great expedition of the Hellenes against Troïa. And as he landed at Chryse, treading rashly on the sacred ground of the nymph from whom the island took its name, he was bitten in the foot by a snake; and the wound became so noisome, and the cries of his agony so sharp, that the host could not endure his presence, and sent him in charge of Odysseus to Lemnos, and there he was left. And nine years passed away, and Achilles had died, and Hector, and Aias, and yet Troïa was not taken. But the Greeks took prisoner Helenos, a son of Priam, who had the gift of prophecy, and they learnt from him that it was decreed that it should never be taken but by the son of Achilles, and with the bow of Heracles. Now, this bow was in the hands of Philoctetes, for Heracles loved him, because he found him faithful; and when he died on Œta, it was Philoctetes who climbed up the hill with him, and prepared the funeral pyre, and kindled it: therefore Heracles gave him his arrows and his bow. The Hellenes, then, first sent to Skyros to fetch Neoptolemos, the son of Achilles, and then, when he had arrived, they despatched him with Odysseus to bring Philoctetes from Lemnos.
Hypothesis
It was fated that Troy should be taken by Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, assisted by the bow of Heracles in the hands of Philoctetes. Now Philoctetes had been rejected by the army because of a trouble in his foots which made his presence with them insufferable; and had been cast away by Odysseus on the island of Lemnos. But when the decree of fate was revealed by prophecy, Odysseus undertook to brmg Philoctetes back, and took with him Neoptolemus, whose ambition could only be gratified through the return of Philoctetes with the bow.
Dramatis Personae:
Odysseus [king of Ithaca, general in the Achaean army]
Neoptolemus [son of Achilles]
Philoctetes [son of Poeas and companion of Hercules]
Merchant/Trader [Odysseus' spy in disguise]
Hercules
Chorus [of Sailors from Neoptolemus' ship]
Setting:
The Skene is Philoctetes' cave on the cliffs of the island of Lemnos overlooking the sea. It has two entrances.
Summary
Prologue [Lines 1-134]
Odysseus and Neoptolemus have just disembarked from their ships and are on the shore of Lemnos.
Odysseus describes how he had long since previously set the lame and crippled Philoctetes ashore alone on the island of Lemnos by order of the commanders of the Achaean [Greek] army [Agamemnon and Menelaus]; how P. after having had his foot bitten by a snake, the wound had festered giving P. such agony that he would scream and shout; how P. by his shrieking had become unbearable to his companions. How Odysseus and Neoptolemus had now been sent to find him, and bring back his bow, a magical and invincible weapon with which to fight the Trojans. Odysseus tells Neoptolemus that they must use trickery and deceit to obtain the bow from Philoctetes.
Neoptolemus says he is not happy to do this. Odysseus tells him that it is not shameful to lie if they lead to success. To capture Troy they need the bow and arrows in Philoctetes’ possession, and it is he, Neoptolemus, who will then sack the city. If he does this, this will make him a hero. Neoptolemus agrees and Odysseus exits.
Parodos [Lines 135-218]
Neoptolemus is now outside Philoctetes' cave.
The Chorus of Sailors enter. They ask Neoptolemus what they must do.
1st Episode [Lines 219-675]
Philoctetes enters. He begs to know who the strangers are. Neoptolemus tells him they are Greeks and that he is Achilles' son. P. tells N. who he is and how his wound has worsened; he describes how he had been bitten by a snake.
P. tells N. no one sensible comes to Lemnos, describing how for 9 years he has been alone, and how he has managed to survive winter and summer for all that time. N. tells P. how his father's [Achilles'] weapons had been taken from him after the latter's death and given to Odysseus, Neoptolemus describes his hatred for the Atridae [Agamemnon and Menelaus]. and how Ajax had allowed this happen, but that Ajax is also now dead.
P. enquires from N. whether the villain, Thersites, is alive.
Neoptolemus promises P. never again to keep such company, where women have more power than men, where cowards rule. He tells P. that he is going back to his ship to sail away.
Yes, I’ll allow you to hold this precious bow - and now to give it me back, and proudly boast that because of your goodness you were the only person who ever touched it. I won it myself by kindness.
As they exit the cave, Philoctetes with the pain in his foot increasing hands Neoptolemus the bow:
1st Stasimon [Lines 676 -729]
The Chorus sing an ode about the sufferings of Philoctetes with no one to care for him, and how now a good man [Neoptolemus] has promised to take him away off the island back to his home.
2nd Episode [Lines 730-826]
Neoptelemus and Philoctetes exit the cave onto the stage. Philoctetes compains of feeling lost and eaten up. He begs N. to cut his bad foot off. He pleads N. to take his bow and keep it safe. Philoctetes seems to be dying, however he has just fallen asleep.
Kommos [Lines 827-864]
Whilst P. is asleep, the Chorus urge N. to take hold of the bow and sail away. N. refuses, saying that the prophecy also demanded Philoctetes’ presence in person in Troy as well.
3rd Episode [Lines 865-1080]
Philoctetes wakes up. He tells N. that he is an honourable and noble man, to help him up and get ready to set sail. However, N. begins to reveal the plot against P.; how he must take P. to Troy with the bow to lay waste to it. N tells P. that he is bound to be obedient to those in authority over him. P. complains how he has been undone by a ruthless mischief and treachery. P. tells N. that he is not bad in himself but has been led by bad people, and that he wants his bow back. P. must have his bow back. P. calls N. "an utter monster, a hateful masterpiece of subtle villainy", a wretch, complaining how he has been undone and deceived by ruthless mischief and treachery.
Odysseus enters: "Don't do it, Neoptolemus! Give me that bow!"
Philoctetes says he has been cheated and robbed of his weapon. Odysseus threatens him saying that the sailors will use force if necessary. P. describes O. as a hateful man. Odysseus orders P. to come to Troy. P. refuses, saying he would rather commit suicuide by throwing himself off the cliff. O. tells the sailors to bind him. P. curses O. saying "May death visit him!". O. orders his men to leave P. be, that they have Philoctetes's bow now, and no longer need him.
Exeunt Odysseus and Neoptolemus.
Kommos [Lines 1081-1217]
As Philoctetes bewails his misery together with the Chorus. The Chorus tells him that he has only himself to blame because of his unreasonable refusal to join in the war against Troy.
Exodos [Lines 1219-1471]
Enter Neoptolemus, followed by Odysseus.
Neoptolemus hands the bow and arrows back to Philoctetes.
At this exact moment Odysseus says: "But I forbid it!"
Philoctetes bends his bow preparing to kill Odysseus. Neoptolemus tries to stop him saying this would not be the honourable thing to do. When Philoctetes continues to refuse, Neoptolemus agrees to take him home, as he had promised.
Heracles appears above them, Deus ex Machina. The situation is resolved by him addressing Philoctetes directly, commanding P. to go with the Achaeans [Greeks] Troy to fight the Trojans.
Philoctetes - Wikipedia
Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World Philoktetes David Sacks - Internet Archive
Homerica: The Little Iliad (Fragments)
Philoctetes - Greek Mythology
Philoctetes_(Sophocles_play) - Wikipedia
Philoctetes - Ancient History Encyclopedia
Philoctetes - Sophocles - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature
Chryse (island) - Wikipedia
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Jacques Jouanna (14 August 2018). Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context. Princeton University Press. pp. 1–. ISBN 978-0-691-17207-1.
(PDF) Sounds and Suffering in Sophocles’ Philoctetes and Gide’s Philoctète
Sophocles' Philoctetes and the homeric epics - Persée
[An anthropological approach]
Ioannis Perysinakis
Mètis. Anthropologie des mondes grecs anciens Année 1994 9-10 pp. 377-389
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Sophocles’ Philoctetes: The Encounter Of The Generations
Greek Versions
Philoktetes - The plays and fragments. With critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose : Sophocles - Internet Archive
Sophocles, Philoctetes - Perseus Digital Library
The Philoctetes: With Explanatory Notes : Sophocles - Internet Archive
Sophocles philoctetes 1 - Cambridge University Press
Philoctetes = Philoktētēs : Sophocles - Internet Archive
Sophocles: Philoctetes : Seth L. Schein - Book2look Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics
Translations
Sophocles, Philoctetes Perseus Digital Library
The Internet Classics Archive - Philoctetes by Sophocles
Tragedies of Sophocles (Jebb 1917)/Philoctetes - Wikisource
Philoktetes by Sophocles - Project Gutenberg
Philoctetes (Sophocles) - Wikisource
Sophocles (19 April 2001). Sophocles: Philoctetes. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64480-8.
Sophocles (c.496–c.406 BC) - Philoctetes: Translated by George Theodoridis
Philoctetes : Sophocles - Internet Archive
Philoctetes - Sophocles by Webster - Google Books
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