Philoktetes | Page 8

newcomer. You have been at home, out of harm's way. You judge me too harshly. You cannot keep a civil tongue. For all that, you will not take his weapons home." You see, I took abuse from both sides. I lost the things that were mine, and I sailed home. Odysseus, the bastard son of bastards, robbed me. But I blame him less than the generals. They rule whole cities and a mighty army. Bad men become so by watching bad teachers. I have told you all. May he who hates the Atreids be as dear to the gods as he is to me.
CHORUS
O mountainous, all-nourishing Mother Earth, Mother of Zeus, our lord, himself, you who range the golden Paktolos, Mother of pain and sorrow, I begged you, Blessed Mother, borne by bull-slaying lions, on that day when the arrogant Atreids insulted him, when they gave away his weapons to the son of Laertes. Hail, goddess, the highest object of our awe.
PHILOKTETES
You have sailed here, clearly, with a just cause of pain. Your share of grief almost matches mine. What you say harmonizes with what I know of them--- the evil doings of the Atreids and Odysseus. I know that Odysseus spins out lies with his evil tongue, which he uses to create all manner of injustice; he brings no good to pass, I know. Still, it amazes me to learn that Ajax, seeing these things, should permit them.
NEOPTOLEMOS
He is dead now, friend. If he lived, they would never have stolen the weapons from me.
PHILOKTETES
So Ajax, too, is dead.
NEOPTOLEMOS
Dead. Think of it.
PHILOKTETES
It saddens me. But the son of Tydeus, and Odysseus, whom Sisyphos, I have heard, sold to Laertes, they who merited death are still alive.
NEOPTOLEMOS
You are right, of course. They are flourishing. They live in high glory among the Greeks.
PHILOKTETES
And my old friend, that honest man, Nestor of Pylos? Does he still live? He used to contain their evil with his wise counsel.
NEOPTOLEMOS
Nestor has fallen on evil times. His son, Antilochos, who was with him, is dead.
PHILOKTETES
O! You have told me of two deaths that hurt me most. What can I hope for, now that Ajax and Antilochos are dead and in the ground, while Odysseus walks, while he should be the one who is dead?
NEOPTOLEMOS
That one is a clever wrestler. Still, even the clever stumble.
PHILOKTETES
Tell me, by the gods, how was it with Patroklos, your father's most beloved friend?
NEOPTOLEMOS
He was dead, too. I will tell you in a word what happened: War never takes a bad man on purpose, but good men always.
PHILOKTETES
You are right. Let me ask you, then, of one who is worthless, but cunning and clever with the words he uses.
NEOPTOLEMOS
You can mean only Odysseus.
PHILOKTETES
No, not him. I mean Thersites, who was never content to speak just once, although no one allowed him to speak at all. Is he alive?
NEOPTOLEMOS
I do not know him, but I have heard that he lives.
PHILOKTETES
He would be. No evil man has died. The gods, it seems, must care for them well. It pleases them to keep villains and traitors out of death's hands; but they always send good men out of the living world. How can I make sense of what goes on, when, praising the gods, I discover that they're evil?
NEOPTOLEMOS
For my part, Philoktetes, I will be more cautious. I'll keep watch on the Atreids and on Troy from afar. I will have no part of their company, where the worse is stronger than the better, where noble men die while cowards rule. I shall not acquiesce to the will of such men. Rocky Skyros will do very well for the future. I'll be content to stay at home.
Now I'll go to my ship. Philoktetes, may the gods keep you. Farewell, then, and may the gods lift this illness from you as you have long wished. Let us be off, men, to make ready for sailing when the gods permit it.
PHILOKTETES
Are you leaving already?
NEOPTOLEMOS
The weather is clearing. Opportunity knocks but once, you know. We must be provisioned and ready when it does.
PHILOKTETES
I beg you by your father, by your dear mother, by all you have ever loved at home: do not leave me here to live on in suffering, now that you have seen me, and heard what others have said about me. I am not important to you. Think of me anyway. I know that I will be a troublesome cargo for you, but accept that. To you and your noble kind, to be cruel is shameful; to be decent, honorable. If you leave me, it will make for an awful story. But if you take me, you'll have the best of men's praise, that is, if I live to see Oeta's fields. Come. Your trouble will last scarcely a day. You can manage that. Take me