Philoktetes | Page 4

intellect and sensibility." The Philoktetes stands as a splendid application of that ultimate courtesy, addressing timeless problems with a depth of emotion and tragic beauty that is unrivalled in the literature of the stage. (In particular, Sophokles's use of the chorus as the tormented inner voice of conscience is without peer.) It stands as one of the great accomplishments of the Greek mind, a striking depiction of the human soul's rising above seemingly insurmountable hardships to manifest its nobility. One of the fundamental documents in the history of the imagination, Philoktetes is alive, and it speaks to all of us.
GREGORY McNAMEE Tucson, Arizona October 1986
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This translation is based principally upon the Greek text and notes established by T.B.L. Webster in his edition of the Philoktetes (Cambridge University Press, 1970), a model of classical scholarship in every detail. I am indebted to many friends for their help in the course of preparing this version. Jean Stallings first introduced me to the play in the original Greek; with her, Timothy Winters and Richard Jensen helped guide me through the intricacies of the text. Melissa McCormick and my family, as always, offered indispensable encouragement. I am especially grateful to Scott Mahler, Stephen Cox, and above all Thomas D. Worthen for their critical readings of the manuscript in various drafts. Last, I am grateful to Sam Hamill and Tree Swenson, vortices of imagination, without whose efforts this book would not be.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Odysseus Chorus Trader (Spy) Neoptolemos Philoktetes Herakles
PHILOKTETES

ODYSSEUS
This is the shore of jagged Lemnos, a land bound by waves, untrodden, lonely. Here I abandoned Poias's son, Philoktetes of Melos, years ago. Neoptolemos, child of Lord Achilles, the greatest by far of our Greek fighters, I had to cast him away here: our masters, the princes, commanded me to, for disease had conquered him, and his foot was eaten away by festering sores. We had no recourse. At our holy feasts, we could not reach for meat and wine. He would not let us sleep; he howled all night, wilder than a wolf. He blanketed our camp with evil cries, moaning, screaming.
But there is no time to talk of such things: no time for long speeches and explanations. He might hear us coming and foil my scheme to take him back.
Your orders are to serve me, to spy out the cave I found for him here--- a two-mouthed cave, exposed to the sun for warmth in the cold months, admitting cool breezes in summer's heat; to the left, nearby it, a sweet-running spring, if it is still sweet. If he still lives in this cave or another place, then I'll reveal more of my plan. Listen: both of us have been charged with this.
NEOPTOLEMOS
Lord Odysseus, what you speak of is indeed nearby. This is his place.
ODYSSEUS
Where? Above or below us? I cannot tell.
NEOPTOLEMOS
Above, and with no sound of footsteps or talking.
ODYSSEUS
Go and see if he's sleeping inside.
NEOPTOLEMOS
I see an empty dwelling. There is no one within.
ODYSSEUS
And none of the things that distinguish a house?
NEOPTOLEMOS
A pallet of trampled leaves, as if for a bed.
ODYSSEUS
And what else? Is there nothing more inside the cave?
NEOPTOLEMOS
A wooden mug, carelessly made, and a few sticks of kindling.
ODYSSEUS
So this is the man's empty treasure-vault.
NEOPTOLEMOS
Look here. Rags lie drying in the sun, full of pieces of skin and pus from his sores.
ODYSSEUS
Then clearly he still lives here. He can't be far off. Weakened as he is by long years of disease, he can't stray far from home. He is probably out scratching up a meal or an herb he knows will relieve his pain. Send a guard to keep close watch on this place so he doesn't take me by surprise-- for he'd rather have me than any other Greek.
NEOPTOLEMOS
The path will be guarded. Now tell me the rest.
ODYSSEUS
Son of Achilles, we are here for a reason. You must be like your father, and not in strength alone. If any of this sounds strange to you, no matter. You must still serve those who are over you.
NEOPTOLEMOS
What must I do?
ODYSSEUS
Entangle Philoktetes with clever words. In order to trick him, say, when he asks you, "I am Achilles's son"--there's no lie in that-- say you're on your way back home, that you have abandoned the Greeks and all their ships, you hate them so. Speaking to him piously, as though to the gods of Olympos, tell him they convinced you to leave your home, by swearing that you alone could storm Troy. And when you claimed your dead father's weapons, as is your birthright, say they scorned you, called you unworthy of them, and gave them to me, although you had been demanding them. Say whatever you want to against me. Say the worst that comes to mind. None of it will insult me. If you do not match this task, you will