Philoctetes by Sophocles

Poor Philoctetes....all of these Greek plays seem to have someone who has gotten the short end of the stick.  In this play it is Philoctetes who has been dealt a bitter lot by the gods.  He was once a mighty warrior, particularly skilled with bow and arrow, but following a viper bite on his foot which did not heal, he became odious to his comrades.  He was abandoned on a deserted and rarely visited island to fend for himself.  The reason given was that they could not properly make sacrifices and burn incense to the gods with someone in their company who had such a repugnant and putrefying wound.  I suppose the odor of the wound would have risen heavenward with the incense and aroma of the sacrifice, and therefore, made the sacrifice displeasing to the gods.


At least a decade has passed during which time, Philoctetes has lived in a cave and survived by hunting game with his bow and arrow.  But now, things have changed.  A prophet has declared that Troy will not be won without the skills of Philoctetes as an archer.  Odysseus, who was in the party that first abandoned  him, has now come to retrieve him.  Odysseus knows the resentment that Philoctetes will feel toward him and believes that he will only consent if he is tricked into it.


Odysseus enlists the help of Neoptolemus, a man unknown to Philoctetes.  Neoptolemus is a man who has a conscience and believes in telling the truth.  Initially, he does not want to be part of deception, but Odysseus convinces him that it is for the greater good.


When Philoctetes returns to his cave, he encounters Neoptolemus, who spins a convincing tale.  Philoctetes believes that Neoptolemus will take him back to his own country.  He even allows Neoptolemus to hold his bow while he rests.  But, Neoptolemus cannot fight his conscience indefinitely.  When Philoctetes awakens from his rest, Neoptolemus spills out the truth.


Odysseus arrives on the scene and is very angry.  An argument ensues.  In the end Heracles appears in the sky above them with a message from Zeus.  If Philoctetes will go with Odysseus and Neoptolemus to Troy, his horrible wound will be healed, he will help to defeat the Trojans and will be a hero.  Philoctetes consents.


Does the end justify the means?  In this play, the question is not really resolved.  A messenger from the gods swoops in at the crucial moment and tidies up the mess created by the lies.  We don't know whether the deception of Odysseus or the honesty of Neoptolemus would have brought about the best result.


Interesting quotes:
Odysseus: ...our honesty shall be shown forth another time.  But now lend thyself to me for one little knavish day, and then, through all thy days to come, be called the most righteous of mankind.


Neoptolemus:  But my wish, O King, is to do right and miss my aim, rather than succeed by evil ways.


Philoctetes:  ..wherein shall I praise them, when, praising the ways of the gods, I find that the gods are evil?


My thoughts?


I guess Odysseus hasn't figured out that if you ever lie, you have given others a reason to question you forever after.  Once your deceit is known, there is no hope of being thought righteous in the future...unless, there is some life-altering experience, followed by years of rejecting evil.  And even then.......others will be thinking,  "hmmm...I wonder...."


And here we are again with those Greek gods who are no better than the humans they manipulate.  What is the point of having capricious gods who have no moral standard?  The only purpose would be to try to explain the pain and suffering in the world.  But, they offer no genuine healing from it.  There is no Savior and no assurance of a better world after this one.  These gods are useless.