CONTEXT
Philoctetes is one of the lesser-known plays written by the Greek tragedian, Sophocles. Aeschylus and Euripedes each also wrote a Philoctetes, but their versions have not survived. The play was first performed in Athens at the Festival of Dionysus in 409 BCE, where it won first prize. The story takes place on the island of Lemnos toward the end of the Trojan War, after the events recounted in Homer’s Iliad. It describes the attempt by Neoptolemus and Odysseus to trick the disabled Philoctetes into accompanying them to Troy in order to fulfill a prophecy and finally bring the ten-year war to a close.
The play was written during the Peloponnesian War, a conflict between Athens and Sparta that lasted nearly thirty years. When the play was first performed, the Athenians still had the hope of a victorious ending to the Peloponnesian War, but "every intelligent Atheniain knew that victory depended on ranking patriotism above--far above--parties and personal grievances" (Harsh, 1960). The play aimed to incite a sense of duty in the Greeks, much like Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" later did for the Americans in their fight for independence. Because of these intentions, this work is not a tragedy in the same sense as some of Sophocles' better known plays, such as Oedipus Rex or Antigone (Gelin, 1959) but is rather more of an ethical tragedy. It concerns the moral development of Neoptolemus (Hawkins, 1999) and the deterioration of character during the war, emphasizing the idea of the "individual as an element of a larger whole [who] cannot renounce his obligations to his fellow men however grossly mistreated he may have been" (Harsh, 1960, p. 410).
Although the play begins with the arrival of Odysseus and company at Lemnos, the story actually begins many years earlier with the death of Hercules. Wishing to be burned on a funeral pyre while still alive, Hercules could find no one to accept the task of lighting the pyre. Eventually Philoctetes consented, and as a reward he was given Hercules' bow. Unfortunately during the Trojan War, Philoctetes received a snake bite on his foot that caused him to develop a terribly painful infection. The smell of his diseased foot was such an issue with his fellow shipmates that Odysseus was eventually tasked with deserting Philoctetes on the island of Lemnos, where he likely would have stayed for the duration of his life had it not been for the prophecy of the captured oracle Helenus, son of Priam. According to the prophecy, the Greeks will need Philoctetes and the bow of Heracles in order to defeat the Trojans. Desperate to gain the upper hand, Odysseus finds himself returning to Lemnos so that he can retrieve Philoctetes and the bow.
The play was written during the Peloponnesian War, a conflict between Athens and Sparta that lasted nearly thirty years. When the play was first performed, the Athenians still had the hope of a victorious ending to the Peloponnesian War, but "every intelligent Atheniain knew that victory depended on ranking patriotism above--far above--parties and personal grievances" (Harsh, 1960). The play aimed to incite a sense of duty in the Greeks, much like Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" later did for the Americans in their fight for independence. Because of these intentions, this work is not a tragedy in the same sense as some of Sophocles' better known plays, such as Oedipus Rex or Antigone (Gelin, 1959) but is rather more of an ethical tragedy. It concerns the moral development of Neoptolemus (Hawkins, 1999) and the deterioration of character during the war, emphasizing the idea of the "individual as an element of a larger whole [who] cannot renounce his obligations to his fellow men however grossly mistreated he may have been" (Harsh, 1960, p. 410).
Although the play begins with the arrival of Odysseus and company at Lemnos, the story actually begins many years earlier with the death of Hercules. Wishing to be burned on a funeral pyre while still alive, Hercules could find no one to accept the task of lighting the pyre. Eventually Philoctetes consented, and as a reward he was given Hercules' bow. Unfortunately during the Trojan War, Philoctetes received a snake bite on his foot that caused him to develop a terribly painful infection. The smell of his diseased foot was such an issue with his fellow shipmates that Odysseus was eventually tasked with deserting Philoctetes on the island of Lemnos, where he likely would have stayed for the duration of his life had it not been for the prophecy of the captured oracle Helenus, son of Priam. According to the prophecy, the Greeks will need Philoctetes and the bow of Heracles in order to defeat the Trojans. Desperate to gain the upper hand, Odysseus finds himself returning to Lemnos so that he can retrieve Philoctetes and the bow.