Philoctetes, 3

Odysseus arrives, and Philoctetes is enraged: he recognizes that Odysseus has been manipulating Neoptolemus the whole time.  Odysseus binds Philoctetes to bring him back to Troy, all the while claiming innocence, as he is only following the will of Zeus in taking the bow.  Philoctetes proclaims that he could defy the gods if he wants-- man is free, after all!  No dice.  In desperation, he threatens to throw himself from the cliff rather than return with Odysseus-- a final defiant free act.  Odysseus holds him back.  Philoctetes throws all of Odysseus's actions back in his face: Philoctetes was brave in joining the war in the first place, while Odysseus was shifty and two-faced about it.  Also, Odysseus had marooned Philoctetes due to his horrible foot wound-- an issue that has not gotten any better, yet he now wants to drag Philoctetes back against his will.  Well, the hell with that.

Odysseus decides to leave Philoctetes on the island, since he now has the bow anyway.  [This is more trickery.  He knows he needs Philoctetes himself, but is trying to play reverse psychology with the threat of abandonment.  He'll be back later.]  He takes Neoptolemus away and leaves the Chorus soldiers to watch Philoctetes and see if he at last changes his mind.

Philoctetes is despondent again, as he has no hope of surviving alone on the island.  He tries to work the Chorus to his side, as they try to convince him to come to Troy.  But finally, he resolves to kill himself if they will leave him a weapon.  He will join his father and ancestors in the afterlife.

Back at the boat, Neoptolemus demands the bow from Odysseus, as he has resolved to undo his own unjust actions:

N: I go to undo the wrong that I have done.

O: A strange thing to say! What wrong was that?

N: I did wrong when I obeyed you and the Greeks.

O: What did we make you do that was unworthy?

N: I practiced craft and treachery with success.

O: On whom? Would you do some rash thing now?

N: Nothing rash. I am going to give something back.

O: What? I am afraid to hear what you will say.

N: Back to the man I took it from, this bow.

O: You cannot mean you are going to give it back.

N: Just that. To my shame, unjustly, I obtained it.

...

N: It was a sin, a shameful sin, which I shall try to retrieve.

O: Have you no fear of the Greeks if you do this?

N: I have no fear of anything you can do,
when I act with justice; nor shall I yield to force

Neoptolemus returns the bow to Philoctetes (if only to give him a chance of survival) after much prodding for him to take it-- there's a bit of a trust issue here.  Odysseus tries to forbid it, and Philoctetes attempts to strike him down, but Neoptolemus puts a stop to it.  Having finally earned his trust, though, Neoptolemus tries once more to convince Philoctetes to come to Troy.  First, he explains that Philoctetes' agonizing pain is due to his intrusion on sacred ground, and he does not deserve relief.  Then he explains that relief can come only one way, by telling whole prophecy through which the two of them will together finally win the war.  Philoctetes won't have it.  They argue back and forth, but in the end Neoptolemus agrees to bring Philoctetes back to Greece, as originally promised.  Philoctetes promises to protect Neoptolemus there from any revenge the Greeks seek against him.  Penance complete.  Yippee!

Heracles shows up (?!) and explains the true necessity of them both returning to Troy to finish the war together.  Philoctetes will be cured, will kill Paris, and will be honored as a hero.  Neoptolemus will be by his side, and will survive and flourish as long as he stays holy in the sight of Zeus.  Philoctetes finally agrees to fulfill his fate, and leaves for the war.

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Closest thing to a happy ending I'm likely to see, probably.

The introduction mentioned the Deus ex machina ending.  Sophocles was a hack, apparently.

I like the moral development apparent in the play.  Sophocles seems to have concluded that morality is not simply the following of the gods' commands, but is following what is right, whether the gods command it or not.  There are objectively good and bad actions regardless of special circumstances, and Neoptolemus ultimately chose to do the right thing.  Meanwhile, Odysseus was kind of a sociopath.

On the other hand, in the end the command of the proper kind of authority was enough to get Philoctetes to do what he vowed he would not do.  Heracles does command the respect and obedience of Philoctetes, no matter what the command is.  But that must only be because Heracles is himself such a moral figure, perhaps worthy of an honor and station even greater than the capricious and untrustworthy Zeus.

Philoctetes, 2

A sailor arrives to pass on Odysseus's cover story.  Pretending that Neoptolemus had fled from Troy, he says he has been sent by Menelaus and Agamemnon to bring him back to battle.  Odysseus would be fetching him himself, execpt that he is in the middle of a different search: to find Philoctetes.  Neoptolemus isn't happy with this story, as he is losing his nerve to do what he had been ready to do.  After dropping the news, the sailor heads back.

Philoctetes is pleased at his opportunity to revenge.  His attitude: "Screw 'em all, let's hop on the boat and head home for Greece!"  But Neoptolemus is hesitant, and tries to delay because of the weather.  But he steels himself and is ready to go.  Philoctetes gathers up his few possessions-- including the bow of Heracles, now much admired by Neoptolemus.

The Chorus again laments the horrible fate that has befallen Philoctetes.  They point out [and this is new] that he never did anything to deserve the terrible physical pain and abandonment he has experienced.  [This might be unique among the Greek tragedy characters up to this point.]

Suddenly, a wave of pain shoots through Philoctetes-- an intermittent additional suffering he must occasionally put up with, he explains.  He is more afraid, though, that the spectacle will cause Neoptolemus to leave him, so he downplays it as best he can.  In the meantime, he hands over the bow for safekeeping.  As the pain grows, though, he asks for Neoptolemus to end it all: to burn his body in the same way Philoctetes burned Heracles's body when he was in similar pain from the poisoned shirt-- the very act that won him the bow in the first place.  Neoptolemus promises to stay with him, and the pain gradually subsides, dropping Philoctetes into an exhausted sleep.

Now it is decision time for Neoptolemus and his crew.  They have the bow, and the Chorus is urging that they run off with it.  Neoptolemus feels the obligation to rescue Philoctetes from his abandonment.  For the moment, though, they're more worried that Philoctetes will hear them discussing it.

He awakes, and is ready to go-- and Neoptolemus is ready to take him!  But at the very last minute, he hesitates again: "Now is the moment.  What shall I do from now on?"  Philoctetes is begging him again, but sees the betrayal coming.  Neoptolemus explains that it's not even as simple as that.  The real problem is that, if he rescues Philoctetes, he won't be taking him home to Greece at all, but will head right back to the war with Troy and the hated Odysseus, Agamemnon, and Menelaus.  To Philoctetes, this is far worse than before-- and now Neoptolemus refuses to return the bow, condemning Philoctetes to a lonely, hungry death on the island.

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This is horrible.

The tragic figure here turns out to be Neoptolemus, pulled by conflicting duties in at least three directions: to the war, to his promises to Philoctetes, to making sure Odysseus gets what is really coming to him.  There's no way out.

I'm glad Sophocles mentioned that Philoctetes hadn't done anything to deserve his fate.  It's a good reminder to an audience who sees most characters as bringing their burdens onto themselves.  And it may have been a necessary reminder, too, if they weren't paying attention.

There's a clearer indication here of the problems inherent in Odysseus's "cleverness"-- called strategem throughout this translation.  Philoctetes laments most of all that he was betrayed in this way.  That's the problem.  He is OK with perishing through the searing pain-- that is the natural way of things.  He would be OK with being bested in battle-- that is one man using natural gifts toward their natural end.  But the use of cleverness and guile in such a twisted way is despicable.  It is a perversion of the natural goodness of man's gift of intelligence.  Nothing could be worse.

One other neat little thing: the conversation between Neoptolemus and the sailor sent by Odysseus is a great example of dramatic irony.  They're both using cover stories, keeping Philoctetes in the dark, while Neoptolemus is simultaneously expressing his disgust over the whole charade.  Now where have I seen that before?

Thesis: George Costanza is a modern day Odysseus. "It's not a lie, if you believe it."

Philoctetes, 1

Odysseus arrives with Neoptolemus, son of slain Achilles, on the island where Philoctetes has been marooned for nine years.  He had been hurt on is foot, bitten by a poisonous serpant.  The pain was so great, putting him in such great agony, that his wailing was becoming a drag on the Greek parties outside of Troy.  Menelaus and Agamemnon instructed Odysseus to maroon him.

Now, Odysseus is back to try to win Philoctetes prized possession, a bow that once belonged to Heracles.  The bow is necessary to win the siege of Troy.  Odysseus instructs Neoptolemus to win the bow away from Philoctetes by tact and by cunning.  Neoptolemus balks at the trickery, but Odysseus explains that he cannot win it back himself, that the bow is needed for Neoptolemus himself to win the final battle, and that Neoptolemus will be doubly revered back at the camp if he succeeds.  The sweet-talking works.  Odyssues also sets up a back-up plan: if too much time passes, he will send another sailor in disguise to try another tack.  Odysseus returns to the boat.

With additional soldiers in support (playing the Chorus), Neoptolemus waits for Philoctetes to appear.  They here a cripple coming back to the cave-dwelling, and are shocked by the wretched life he must lead.  Philoctetes arrives and questions the strangers.  Neoptolemus introduces himself-- they've never met before, he coming late to the war.  Philoctetes expounds on his own circumstances and curses Agaememnon, Menelaus, and Odysseus as he tells of his marooning and his subsequent terrible life.  He tells of visitors who take pity on him and leave food and supplies, but none will take him home.  The Chorus is moved to pity.

Neoptolemus explains further his own situation.  He tells of his anger at Odysseus, which is the story Odysseus instructed him to tell-- though it is not at all clear that the anger isn't genuine.  After Achilles' death, he expected to receive his father's armor, but it was given to Odysseus instead.  He, too, [says he] hates Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Odysseus with a burning passion.

Philoctetes is confused by the power-play, but Neoptolemus explains that Ajax was not around to stop it-- he's dead.  Along with Antilochus and Patroclus.  The group laments that war seems to take the best and brightest, while letting the devious like Odysseus to live.  Philoctetes also asks of the fate of Thersites [?], who seems to be still alive.

Neoptolemus is ready to go, but Philoctetes begs him for passage off the island.  Literally begs.  The Chorus, moved once again, assents to his request.  Neoptolemus is moved as well, and agrees.  Philoctetes is overjoyed.

But one of the sailors from back on the boat arrives in disguise, presumably sent by Odysseus.

---------------------------

I'm not doing justice to the emotional impact of the conversations so far.  Philoctetes horrible fate is genuinely moving, and as the play progresses we can see the effect he has on the other characters.  Neoptolemus and the Chorus were not planning at all to rescue Philoctetes from the island, but in meeting him they felt they had no choice.  It was the only decent thing to do.  And we can sense Neoptolemus is turning on Odysseus little by little.

Speaking of, Odysseus's cleverness is far more pronouned in this play than it has been in his other appearances, it seems to me.  I never got the sense in the Iliad that it was all that impressive, except that Homer kept saying that it was.  In the Odyssey, I just looked at him as playing the hero.  But here, his deviousness has taken on a much more sinister quality.  So far, it looks like Odysseus is the villain.

This is a consequence, I think, of Sophocles vastly different attitude toward war than that of Homer.  Where Homer praised war-making qualities, Sophocles is much more focused on the tragic consequences of war-- the experience of the Greeks in the previous century would probably do that to a guy.  Therefore, those who excel at war so successfully can't actually be all that great.  And so we see Odysseus about to royally screw what appears to be a noble gesture.

Sophocles

A bit of research shows that only seven of Sophocles' 123 plays have survived.  Somehow, I managed to collect the whole set.  Huzzah!

The first book contains Ajax, The Women of Trachis, Electra, and Philoctetes.  Translations are by John Moore, Michael Jameson, and David Greene-- all unknown to me, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  I'm pretty sure I originally bought this for my freshman seminar, but it's possible that I got it for my Ancient Philosophy course at the University of Chicago, along with the Iliad.  In either case, I can't remember actually reading anything out of it.  Shame on me.

The second book contains the Theban plays: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone.  I picked this up at Half Price Books when I bought my Aeschylus.  Translations are by Paul Roche again.  Solid.

The overall chronology of authorship, it seems, is Ajax - Antigone - Women of Trachis - Oedipus the King - Electra - Philoctetes - Oedipus at Colonus, so that's the order I'm going in.  That means I'm reading the book with the Theban plays out of order, but they weren't written together anyway, so what's the dif?  We'll see what Roche's introduction has to say about it, though.

Incidentally, what I do remember from freshman seminar is watching a bizarre video  in the library on a crummy VHS and old tube TV starring Morgan Freeman in some sort of retelling of the Oedipus saga in a church or something.  (Which would seem to imply that I got the first Sophocles book there-- but that book doesn't have the Oedipus plays in it.  So now I don't know what happened.)  Anyway, I finally managed to track down what in the hell that was all about.  Feast your eyes on "The Gospel at Colonus" starring, indeed, Morgan Freeman.