After a foot injury on the way to Troy, Philoctetes is unceremoniously stranded on a deserted island, just so his fellow Greeks don't have to deal with the fetid smell or his pained whining. After consulting a seer, Odysseus admits he did a whoopsie by abandoning his comrade, as they need Philoctetes' bow (gifted by Hercules) to win the Trojan war, so he and Neoptolemus (son of Achilles) sail to the island to steal the bow by any means necessary.For all I bang on about the Greco-Roman God's bein...

I've heard, but never seenhow the man who tried to slip intoZeus' wife's bedwas caught, and bound on a whirling wheelby Zeus himselfbut I'd never seen nor heard ofa man with awfuller fate than this,who conned no one, harmed no one,who lived on good terms with everyone --yet was punished worsethan anyone deserves.I'm stunned at howbeing so desolate herehearing nothing ever but pounding surfhe yetclung to his wretched life.He himself was his only neighbor,unable to walk,with no one near to hear h

This dude's foot is fucking gross. He wounded it on the way to the Trojan War - he's like a low-rent Achilles, right? That guy's one vulnerability was his heel, and he got hit in it and died; Philoktetes gets the same wound but in his case it just gets infected. So here he is all screaming in agony, plus it smells awful and it's oozing pus and the whole thing is just really unpleasant, so here's what ol' wily Odysseus does with him: he just fuckin' dumps him on a deserted island and sails off. S...

I read E.F. Watling's translation.Beautiful play by the greatest ancient greek writer Sophocles.Smart and beautiful dialogues, Well written characters, Interesting "told" events, powerful drama, What else one can wish from a play.The only defeat is Heracles' appearance at the end, it spoils what could be a unique end for a greek play.

Philoctetes is a fantastic play by Sophocles that explores themes of trauma/suffering, and making the morally correct decisions. Philoctetes's situation is immensely pitiable, and Odysseus is certainly in his "pre-trials and tribulations humbling experience" stage. Sophocles is my favorite Greek tragedian, and he is in top form in Philoctetes.

The version I read was translated by David Greene. "Philoctetes" was set during the Trojan war and before the fall of Troy. Philoctetes was a famed war hero who was exiled after suffering from a putrefied wound that rendered him outcast among his brothers at arm and he kept his grudge especially at Odysseus who betrayed him by leaving him behind. Upon which he begrudged Odysseus so much that he refused to help him when Odysseus was sent back to retrieve Philoctetes's magical bow and arrow which

An outcast’s suffering. His hopes (and fears) of return.

A tale of the forgotten wounded soldier23 October 2012 Okay, we only have seven plays by Sophocles, so dividing them up into categories probably does not do much, however I will do that anyway. The three categories that I propose are the Theban plays (namely the ones that deal with Oedipus and the fallout from that rather sticky episode), the war plays (which I will get to shortly) and Electra. Yes, I know, Electra is only one play, but as far as I am concerned, it simply does not fall into eith...

This is perhaps my favorite Sophocles piece because it deals directly with bullying. Odysseus and Neoptolemus show up on this island and Ode tells Neo that Neo's gotta trick Philoctetes into a false story while Ode hides. Neo's a good boy and it takes some coaxing. But finally Neo goes to Phil and says, "I too hate Ode."And Phil's like, "Kay."And Neo's like, "No really, Ode took my dad Achilles's armor. This armor belongs to me and Ode won't give it up. Oh by the way, I'm heading to our mutual h...

Despite most critics' bewilderment at the fact that this play has a happy conclusion, I found it more moving than any other Greek tragedy I've read. The poignancy of the man who's not just rejected and isolated by everyone because of an illness, but who is humbly aware himself of the repugnance of this illness, is hard to put into words. The moment when the men who had betrayed his trust turn around to leave Philoctetes, and his reaction is a simple, penetrating "Friends!", is absolutely heartre...

Soooo compelling. I can see why this inspired Mark Merlis to write a gay modern version. There was definitely something there to work with. Philoctese's character in this play was incredibly human and sympathetic. I felt for him and will review this if I can later...

Odysseus: It is Zeus, I would have you know, Zeus this land's ruler,who has determined. I am only his servant.Philoctetes: Hateful creature,what things you can invent! You plead the Godsto screen your actions and make the Gods out liars.Odysseus: They speak the truth. The road must be traveled.Philoctetes: I say No.Sophocles' Philoctetes dramatizes the return of the Achaeans to the barren island Lemnos to gather Philoctetes ("Phil") and his famous Heracles bow because prophesy mandates they cann...

One of the flagship texts to demonstrate Hegelian theory of tragedy. The Greeks had marooned Philoktetes early on because “his foot / diseased and eaten away with running ulcers” offended them with its malodorous decay, which is of course the dumbest reason ever to shipwreck a guy who was injured in the Trojan War. As it turned out, both P and his heraclean bow were required at Troy (prophecy of Helenus, yo), so Odysseus’ object is to re-kidnap P for the war effort. When O and son of Achilles, N...

"The sacred doesn't diewhen men do. Whether they live or die,holiness endures." Philoktetes (/Philoctetes) has been dumped on an island with a festering wound on his foot—he was abandoned there by the Greeks because his sickness made his presence insufferable. It turns out, however, that they need his bow—the one given to him by Herakles for helping the hero die—in order to finally attain victory in the Trojan War. Odysseus sends the neophyte Neoptolemos, son of Achilles, to trick Philoktetes

It features a surprisingly different type of conflict (perhaps because I am most familiar with the Oresteia and the Theban plays, less so with the war plays), which is played out pretty well. There’s pain, deceit, friendship and piety - all in a fitting environment and an artful translation. The introduction fulfills its purpose of reminding the reader of how Philoctectes fits into the Epic Cycle - once again, the Greek Tragedy in New Translation series doesn’t disappoint.

spoilersPhiloctetes is the last extant play of Sophocles that I have read and for some reason that I cannot put my finger on my least favorite. The play concerns Odysseus and Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, travel to Lemnos to recover the bow of Heracles from Philoctetes without which they cannot win the Trojan war. Philoctetes has been marooned on Lemnos because he was bitten by a snake and his cries of pain and the smell of the festering wound were intolerable to his fellow Greeks. In partic...

A sick and damaged man, Philoctetes, is abandoned on an island for ten years with only a bow, which he used to hunt for food. The "gods" tell Odysseus that unless this man and his bow are recovered, the Greeks can not win their war with Troy. So Odysseus, who was instrumental in the abandonment, tries to find a way to persuade Philoctetes to leave the island and help the Greeks. Now if you had been deserted for ten years, would you want to leave the now familiar island, and go with your enemy? N...

Philoktētēs is, for the most part, a fantastic moral puzzle. There's our wounded titular character left behind by his peers, Neoptólemo who befriends him in order to trick him and Odiseo who devices the plan to trick him, only in order to win the Troyan war. A case could be made for the position of each one of these guys. They are all in the right and from this clash of the right thing to do comes the conflict. That is what makes Philoktētēs such an effective and dynamic play. It is about convin...

My review will be brief, as I am more than ready to move on after reading this for the thousandth time (I wanted to finish the collection I was re-reading and wouldn’t have felt complete without doing so) and have studied the text in the past and taken an exam on it, so I would like to feel I can move on from it. I will say that it is not a great play to study – there are a few themes and moral dilemmas to discuss, but the characters are not particularly complex and the threads of the play (beyo...

I was gonna give it 2 stars but I bumped it up to 3 because of Neoptolemus's absolute banger of a monologue at the end.