Sophocles: Philoktetes Read online

  Is it not possible, then, to apologize?

  PHILOKTETES

  You spoke as smoothly as you do now when you stole my bow,

  trustworthy on the surface, but treacherous below.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  That is not the case now. Are you resolved

  to stay here as before, or will you come with us?

  PHILOKTETES

  Stop. Your words will be wasted on me.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  Are you resolved?

  PHILOKTETES

  More resolved than words can say.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  I wish that I could make you change your mind.

  But if my words are pointless, then I am finished.

  PHILOKTETES

  Your words are useless. You will never win me

  with words to your friendship. You have destroyed me

  with deceitful talk, and then you come to make speeches,

  bastard son of a noble father. A curse on you,

  on the Atreids and Odysseus, but especially on you.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  Curse no more. Take your bow.

  I give it back to you now, Philoktetes.

  PHILOKTETES

  Is this yet another of your tricks?

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  No. I swear it by almighty Zeus.

  PHILOKTETES

  Your words are good, if they are true.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  They are. Reach out, and take the bow.

  ODYSSEUS

  I forbid you, as the gods are my witnesses,

  in the name of the Atreids and all their armies.

  PHILOKTETES

  Boy, whose voice is that? Odysseus's?

  ODYSSEUS

  None other, and very near you now.

  I will bring you to wide Troy myself,

  against your will, whether or not the boy approves.

  PHILOKTETES

  You will suffer for your words

  if this arrow flies true.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  Don't shoot, by the gods!

  PHILOKTETES

  Let go of my hand now, boy.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  No. I will not let go.

  PHILOKTETES

  Why do you keep me from killing my enemy?

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  It would not be a brave act for you or me.

  PHILOKTETES

  The lords of the army, the false heralds of the Greeks,

  are cowards in battle, however brave their words.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  That may well be. You have your bow.

  You have no further cause to be angry with me.

  PHILOKTETES

  No. You have shown your true, nobly bred nature.

  You are the son of Achilles, not Sisyphos.

  Your father, when he lived, was the most famous man of all,

  and now he is most the famous of the dead.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  It pleases me to hear you speak kindly of my father,

  and of me. Now listen to what I want from you.

  The gods' will is given to us mortals, and we

  must bear that will of necessity.

  And those who choose to clutch their miseries

  and not release them deserve no pity.

  You have become a savage through your anger;

  you refuse good advice and hate him who offers it,

  as though he were your enemy.

  I will speak freely. May Zeus, god of vows, be my witness.

  Listen to me; let my words be engraved in your mind:

  you are diseased, and your pain has been sent by the gods

  because you came close to the guardian of Chryse,

  the viper who silently watches over

  her roofless temple to keep invaders out.

  Your pain will have no relief in this place,

  where this sun rises, and this sun sets:

  you must first go willingly with us to Troy

  and there be taken by the Asklepiades,

  who will relieve your disease. And then, beside me,

  you must take your bow and conquer Troy.

  I know that it must be this way.

  A Trojan man was taken prisoner. His name

  is Helenos, and he is a trustworthy prophet.

  He told us of how this year it would pass,

  how it was fated that Troy would fall to the Greeks.

  If he was wrong, he said, then we should kill him.

  You know it all now. Yield, and obey.

  You will get much more than you asked for:

  you will be healed by knowing hands, and then

  you will gain the greatest glory of our people,

  becoming the most famous of us all, conquering

  Troy, the city that has drained us of blood and tears.

  PHILOKTETES

  Hateful life, why should I still live and see?

  Why have I not descended into darkness?

  What will I do? How can I mistrust

  the one who gives me this kindly advice?

  Must I give in? If I do, how shall I go

  into the light? An outcast, mistreated,

  to whom should I talk?

  My eyes, can you bear to see me

  living alongside those who tried to kill me,

  the Atreids and that bastard Odysseus?

  I worry not about the evils they have done,

  but the evils they will do as these things unfold.

  Once men have learned to hatch evil crimes,

  they cannot help but be criminals again.

  I wonder, and I keep on wondering.

  You should not be going off to Troy,

  and you should keep me from going there.

  Those men have wronged you, robbed you

  of your father's weapons. Will you still help them,

  and make me do the same?

  No. Take me home as you have promised,

  and then stay in Skyros.

  Let these men die badly, as they deserve.

  Your father and I will be grateful to you,

  for by helping the wicked

  you become like them.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  Your words have merit. Still, you must trust

  the gods, and my word, and come as my friend.

  PHILOKTETES

  Come to the bitter plains of Troy,

  to the accursed Atreids with my foot like this?

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  No, not to enemies, but to those who can help,

  who can save you and your foot from this savage disease.

  PHILOKTETES

  What you urge is terrible.

  Can I believe what you tell me?

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  It will be to our mutual benefit.

  PHILOKTETES

  Are you not ashamed to talk so, in full sight of the gods?

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  Why should I feel shame to do acts of good?

  PHILOKTETES

  Acts of good for me, or the Atreids?

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  I am your friend. My words are of friendship.

  PHILOKTETES

  How will you betray me to my enemies?

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  You must learn to extract yourself from this anguish.

  PHILOKTETES

  Your words are clear. You intend to destroy me.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  No. You have not understood.

  PHILOKTETES

  Is it not true that the Atreids marooned me here?

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  Once they marooned you. Let us see if they'll save you.

  PHILOKTETES

  Not if salvation means going to Troy.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  What will we do, then, since I cannot convince you?

  It is better, it seems, that I stop talking,

  and you go on living without hope of a cure.

  PHILOKTETES

  Let
me suffer the things I must.

  But what you promised, touching my hand,

  you must do. Take me home without delay.

  Forget Troy.

  I am tired of lamenting here.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  All right. Let us sail.

  PHILOKTETES

  You speak nobly.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  Plant your feet firmly, and arise.

  PHILOKTETES

  I will do so, as firmly as I am able.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  How will I avoid the scorn of the Greeks?

  PHILOKTETES

  Pay it no mind.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  And what if they come in war against my country?

  PHILOKTETES

  I will be with you.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  What kind of help could you give me?

  PHILOKTETES

  The help of Herakles's bow.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  What do you mean?

  PHILOKTETES

  I will drive them out of your fatherland.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  If you will do this, then come

  and kiss this ground, and we will go.

  HERAKLES

  Not yet. Not until you have heard me, Philoktetes.

  Know that I am the voice of Herakles;

  you hear it with your ears and you see my body.

  I have come from the dead to give you my help.

  I come to reveal Zeus's plans to you, and to stop

  the journey which you now intend.

  Listen to me.

  Let me tell you first of my own fate,

  tell you of the hardships and sufferings that were mine,

  and of the undying fame that I later won.

  I gained immortality, as you can see. So will you,

  after all this misery you will have endless glory.

  Go with this child to the plains of Troy.

  There you will have a cure for your disease,

  and win fame as the best of the Greek warriors.

  You will kill Paris Alexander, who started it all;

  you will kill him with your bow, once mine.

  You will conquer Troy.

  You will win the prize of glory from the armies

  and spoils of war that you will take home

  to Poias your father, and Oeta your country.

  Take some of those spoils and make an offering

  on a pyre in commemoration of my bow.

  Son of Achilles, hear me too.

  You alone are not strong enough to conquer Troy,

  not without this man, nor he without you.

  You must act like two lions in a pride,

  guarding each other as you hunt.

  I will send Asklepios to Troy to heal his disease.

  Troy will fall twice before my bow.

  Remember this, though: when you go to sack Troy,

  stay holy. Zeus puts everything else below that.

  Piety does not die with men;

  whether they live or die, piety remains.

  PHILOKTETES

  Voice that moves me, long-gone body,

  I will not disobey you.

  NEOPTOLEMOS

  Nor will I.

  HERAKLES

  Do not delay, then.

  The time is right, and the tides are calling.

  PHILOKTETES

  Hear me, hated Lemnos.

  Farewell, cave that shared my watch,

  nymphs of the water-meadows, farewell,

  thundering beat of waves on the headland,

  that wetted my head with spray on the cliffs,

  and the volcano that groaned in echo to my voice

  when I was tossed by storms.

  Springs and the well of Lykeios, I leave you.

  I had lost all hope of doing so.

  Farewell, Lemnos, bound by waves,

  give me no further cause to mourn, but send me

  off on fair seas to win my glory

  where fate now carries me, to the judgment of friends

  and the all-governing spirit that rules these events.

  CHORUS

  Let us all go now,

  after we have prayed to the nymphs of the sea

  to grant us safe passage over the waters.