Philoctetes

Sophocles’ Philoctetes was a good play. The titular character was the man who burned Heracles when he was in great agony, for which he was given the great hero’s legendary bow. However, he was later bitten by a snake in a temple and cursed to suffer great agony but never die. Because the wound wept noisome pus and Philoctetes was crying out in such pain, the Greeks abandoned him, only to discover a decade later that they needed Heracles’ bow in order to win the war against Troy.

The great machintator Odysseus goes to find him, bringing along young Neoptolemos, Achilles’ son, to help with his plot. Neoptolemos is to win Philoctetes’ trust by saying he hates Odysseus (one on the ones who abandoned Philoctetes) and will take the stranded cripple home. Hugely grateful, Philoctetes trusts Neoptolemos and lets him hold the bow.

However, Achilles’ son is an honourable and honest young man, and hates having to lie, so finally admits his part in the deception. Odysseus storms on to intervene, but when Philoctetes gets his bow back, he runs off with his tail between his legs. The new companions decide to set off home, but then Heracles (now a god) appears ex machina to tell them to go to Troy and fight after all. Pure, virtuous Neoptolemos, whose conscience prevents him from following disseminating Odysseus’ advice, is a great character, and seeing him struggle with the dilemma obedience set against morality is both satisfying in its outcome and impressively modern.