Philoctetes: Scene 2 (Lines 219 – 675) Summary & Analysis

 Philoctetes approaches his cave and the strange sailors, and he immediately asks the chorus and Neoptolemus who they are and why they are there. Lemnos doesn’t have a harbor, he says, nor does anyone live there—other than Philoctetes, that is. He thinks the men are Greeks, and he hopes that they are so he can listen to their language. He tells them not to be scared by his “wild appearance.” He is but a “miserable wretch,” Philoctetes says, without anyone to help him.

Neoptolemus confirms that he and the chorus are indeed Greeks, and Philoctetes, excited to hear this, asks them why they have come to Lemnos. Neoptolemus tells Philoctetes that he is the son of Achilles. Neoptolemus and his men have just left Troy, he says, and are headed home to the island of Scyros. Philoctetes is confused; Neoptolemus wasn’t with the initial expedition to Troy. Neoptolemus feigns surprise and asks Philoctetes if he, too, was involved in the Trojan War.

Philoctetes is distraught. The gods must despise him, Philoctetes says to Neoptolemus and the chorus, if no word or rumors of him have reached the Greeks. Philoctetes tells the men that he has been “cast out” by the same people who have silenced his story “in delight,” all while his wound is worsening. He tells them that he is Philoctetes, the son of Poeas, and the one who owns Heracles’s bow and arrows. He was marooned on Lemnos by Odysseus after he was bitten by a poisonous snake on the island Chryse while en route to Troy. Odysseus and his men left Philoctetes “to rot” on the very next island, which was Lemnos. As Philoctetes slept, the men carried him to the cave and left him with “a few beggarly rags” and a little food.   

 When Philoctetes woke and found himself alone on Lemnos, he tells Neoptolemus and the chorus, he was devastated. He had cried when he saw the Greek ship sailing away toward Troy because he knew that the island was deserted. There would be no one to comfort or care for him and his wound. Philoctetes’s life is only “pain and distress” on Lemnos. The cave offers him shelter and his bow and arrows ensure food; however, Philoctetes is merely surviving, and there is no “cure for [his] sickness.”

No one comes to Lemnos because they want to, Philoctetes tells Neoptolemus and the chorus. Only if they are “forced,” he says. There have been a few people over the years, and they always “say” they feel badly for Philoctetes (they even give him food and clothing), but no one will bring him home to Greece. He has “been rotting away” on Lemnos for nine years now, all because of Atreus’s sons and Odysseus.

Neoptolemus tells Philoctetes that he knows all about how terrible Atreus’s sons and Odysseus are, as they have offended him, too. Odysseus had come to Scyros and told Neoptolemus that it had been prophesized that the city of Troy could not be captured without Neoptolemus. Neoptolemus immediately agreed to sail for Troy, but when he got there, Atreus’s sons refused to give him Achilles’s arms. Achilles’s armor belongs to Odysseus now, Atreus’s sons said.

Philoctetes tells Neoptolemus that their shared anger with Atreus’s sons and Odysseus must mean that he can trust him. Philoctetes knows that Odysseus will do or say anything to serve his selfish means, so he isn’t surprised to hear he treated Neoptolemus so badly. He is, however, surprised to hear that Ajax allowed such an atrocity. Neoptolemus claims that Ajax died in battle beforehand and was not there to protest. “I’m sorry,” Philoctetes says of Ajax’s death. “But Diomedes and Sisyphus’ / Spawn, whom Laertes bought, will never / Die. They should not have been born!”   

Philoctetes begs Neoptolemus not to leave him on Lemnos all alone and asks if he might find passage on their ship. He only needs a small corner of the ship, Philoctetes says. He knows that it will be difficult to travel with him, but he begs Neoptolemus to agree to take him anyway. Even if Neoptolemus only agrees to bring Philoctetes to Scyros, he will surely be able to get word to Poeas, if he is still alive, to come get him. Philoctetes has already sent word to Poeas through others who have come to Lemnos, but Poeas has not come. He may be dead, Philoctetes says, “or else my messengers couldn’t / Be bothered with me.”

The chorus implores Neoptolemus to agree to take Philoctetes and not leave him alone on Lemnos. Neoptolemus tells the men that they are eager to help now, but when they are forced to live with Philoctetes onboard the ship they may “change [their] tune.” The chorus wants to help Philoctetes anyway and Neoptolemus agrees. Philoctetes is overjoyed. He has waited for this day for so long, but he would first like to tell the island goodbye. Suddenly, they are approached by two Greek sailors, and one is disguised as a merchant. 

The merchant tells Neoptolemus that he is a trader of wine headed from Troy to his home, the island of Peparethos, and when he discovered Neoptolemus’s ship nearby, he knew he had to stop and warn him. The Greeks have a new plan that concerns Neoptolemus, the merchant says, and it is already in motion. A ship has sailed from Troy to find Neoptolemus and bring him back, and Odysseus and Diomedes have left on anther ship to find someone else. Neoptolemus asks who this other person is, but instead of answering, the merchant points to Philoctetes and asks who he is.

Neoptolemus tells the merchant that the man is Philoctetes, the famous archer, and the merchant tells Neoptolemus he must leave Lemnos immediately. Odysseus and Diomedes are en route to retrieve Philoctetes at this very moment, the merchant says, and have vowed to bring him to Troy by either force or persuasion. Neoptolemus asks the merchant what Atreus’s sons could possibly want with Philoctetes now, since they ordered him marooned here so many years ago.

The merchant tells Neoptolemus and Philoctetes that the Greeks had recently captured Helenus, the prophet and son of Priam, and he claimed that Troy would never be conquered without Philoctetes. Upon hearing this, Odysseus immediately left for Lemnos. Philoctetes claims he will never return to Troy with Odysseus, saying that Odysseus would have an easier time persuading Philoctetes to abandon the underworld and return to life like Odysseus’s “cheat of a father.” Philoctetes would rather obey the snake that bit him, he maintains, and there is nothing Odysseus can do or say to make him return to Troy. The merchant exits, wishing both men luck.

Neoptolemus tells Philoctetes and the chorus that they must sail at once, and Philoctetes goes to his cave to fetch his extra arrows and the herb he uses to quell the pain of his wound. Neoptolemus asks Philoctetes if the bow in his hands is the famous bow of Heracles, and Philoctetes confirms it is. Neoptolemus asks if he may hold the bow, and Philoctetes agrees. He now considers Neoptolemus a friend, and therefore trusts him with the bow. Philoctetes invites Neoptolemus into his cave. With his wound still so painful, he wants Neoptolemus close by.