by Sophocles
The very thought of it frightens me.
PHILOKTETES
The things you do now are not ignoble.
The words you speak, though, give me pause.
NEOPTOLEMOS
Zeus, what will I do? Will I twice be proven evil,
hiding what I should not, saying the worst?
PHILOKTETES
If I am not a poor judge, it seems to me
that this man will abandon me, and sail away.
NEOPTOLEMOS
I will not abandon you. It's the trip you'll be making
that will be ample cause for grief.
PHILOKTETES
I do not follow you. What are you saying?
NEOPTOLEMOS
I won't keep it from you any longer. You must sail to Troy,
to the Achaeans, to the armies of the Atreids.
PHILOKTETES
Ah! What are you saying?
NEOPTOLEMOS
Do not groan until you learn.
PHILOKTETES
What must I learn?
What are you planning to do with me?
NEOPTOLEMOS
First, to cure you of this misery. Then
you and I will destroy the Trojan nation.
PHILOKTETES
Is this the truth? Is this what you wanted?
NEOPTOLEMOS
A great need forces these things upon us.
Quell your anger.
PHILOKTETES
I am destroyed. I am betrayed.
Why, stranger, have you done these things?
Give me back my bow.
NEOPTOLEMOS
I cannot. Duty and my own ambition
force me to obey those men who command me.
PHILOKTETES
O fire, o utter terror, o terrible craftsman
of all wickedness, the things you have done to me!
How you have betrayed me! Are you not ashamed
to look down on me, who have kneeled to you,
the suppliant, you bitter ones?
You have taken away my life with my bow.
Return it. I beg you, boy, return it now.
By your ancestral gods, do not take my life.
He does not speak. He merely turns away,
as though he will never give it back.
Caves, promontories, hordes of wild beasts,
rocky headlands, I speak to you now,
for there is no one else to whom I can speak.
You have always been at my side and heard me.
Hear what Achilles's son has done!
He promised to take me home. Instead
he will take me to Troy. He gave me his hand
and then robbed me of my holy bow,
Herakles's bow, the son of Zeus's,
to hold it up to the Greeks and boast
that he had taken it from a strong opponent,
that he had taken it from his prisoner.
He is killing someone who is already dead,
a corpse, a smoky shadow, a ghost. Were I strong
he would not have won. Even so,
he had to trick me to get it away.
I have been tricked, and I am destroyed.
What is left for me to do?
Return my bow. Recall your nature. No?
You are silent, and I am nothing.
Double-doored rock, I come back to you
unarmed, unable to capture my sustenance.
Within that cave I will wither, unable
to bring down birds or beasts from the mountains
with my bow. Now I will be the food of those who fed me.
Those I hunted once will hunt me now.
I will repay with my life the lives I took
because of the hypocrite I took into my trust,
a boy who seemed to know no evil.
A curse upon you. No, not until I know
if you'll change your mind.
If you will not, may you die in all misery.
CHORUS
What will we do now? Shall we sail away,
or do what he asks us? It is in your hands.
NEOPTOLEMOS
A terrible pity comes over me.
I have felt it all along.
PHILOKTETES
By the gods, do take pity.
Do not put on the mantle of infamy
for having deceived me.
NEOPTOLEMOS
What will I do? I wish I had never left Skyros.
I hate the things that are happening here.
PHILOKTETES
You are not a bad man. By watching others
who are bad you have learned these terrible tricks.
Leave evil to them. Let us sail away.
Return my weapons to me, boy.
NEOPTOLEMOS
What will we do now?
ODYSSEUS
You coward, what are you thinking of doing?
Are you not going to give me the bow?
PHILOKTETES
Who is that? Is that Odysseus's voice I hear?
ODYSSEUS
Odysseus's, yes. Now you can see me clearly.
PHILOKTETES
I am truly betrayed, truly destroyed.
It is all becoming clear to me:
It was he who tricked me and robbed me of my weapons.
ODYSSEUS
None other. I proclaim it to you now.
PHILOKTETES
Give me my bow. Give it to me now, boy.
ODYSSEUS
He could not do that even if he wanted to.
You must come with the bow, too, or these men will take you.
PHILOKTETES
Your evil nature is beyond belief.
Will they take me off against my will?
ODYSSEUS
If you don't crawl along on your own, they will.
PHILOKTETES
O land of Lemnos and the all-powerful fire,
created by Hephaistos in the great volcano,
must I submit to this?
Must I let him force me to go with them?
ODYSSEUS
Zeus rules this island. Zeus has ordered this.
I am his servant. I obey his commands.
PHILOKTETES
O despicable man, the lies you spin! You call on the gods
and you make the gods liars.
ODYSSEUS
The gods speak truly. This course must be followed.
PHILOKTETES
I say no.
ODYSSEUS
And I say yes. You must obey.
PHILOKTETES
Clearly we are slaves, and not freeborn men.
This is what our fathers brought us up to be.
ODYSSEUS
No, as equals of the noblest men, with whom
you must storm Troy's walls
and demolish the city, as destiny proclaims.
PHILOKTETES
No, I'll do anything but that, Odysseus.
I still have my seacliff.
ODYSSEUS
What did you have in mind?
PHILOKTETES
To throw myself from the rocks above
and break myself on the rocks below.
ODYSSEUS
Take him! Keep him from jumping!
PHILOKTETES
O hands, what you suffer for lack of a bowstring,
the prey of that man!
You whose thoughts are sick and slavelike,
how you have hunted me!
How you tricked me, how you stole up
with this boy as a shield, unknown to me.
He deserved a better master than you.
He is at a loss to do anything but what he's told,
and he suffers now for his mischief
and the things he has brought upon my head.
Your evil, harmful soul has taught him
to be a wily criminal,
unwilling and unsuited though he was for that.
Now you have bound me and plan to take me
&n
bsp; off from this place where you had cast me away,
friendless, homeless, a living corpse.
I curse you. I have cursed you many times before,
but the gods have granted me nothing I want,
and so you live happily, while I live in this pain,
and you and the Atreids mock my anguish,
those two generals, for whom you perform this deed.
You were yoked to the cause by deceit and force,
while I willingly went with my seven ships,
willingly to dishonor and my own destruction,
to being cast away on this lonely shore.
You say they did it, and they blame you.
Why must you take me?
I am nothing. For you, I've been dead for years.
Blasphemous man, could it be I don't stink now;
am I no longer a cripple? If I sail with you,
how can you offer burnt sacrifices?
How can you pour your libations to the gods?
That was your reason for abandoning me.
May a horrible death overtake you.
It will for your crimes against me, if the gods
still care for justice. I know they do,
for you would not have come for my sake alone;
the gods' urging must have brought you here.
Ancestral land and you gods who look on mortal crimes,
take vengeance on these men when the time is right,
take vengeance on them all, if you pity me.
If I could see them die, then I could also dream
that the sickness within me has fled my body.
CHORUS
He is bitter, this stranger; his words are, too,
for they do not bend to suffering.
ODYSSEUS
There is no time to say the things I should,
and there are many things I could say to him.
Just this: I am a man who responds to occasion
and adapts himself to the situation.
In times of crisis among good and just men,
I can be the noblest-minded of all.
To win is my overarching wish---
except against you. For you I will stand aside.
Let him go. We don't need him.
Let him stay in this place. We have his bow.
Teuker is with us, and he is skillful,
and I can master those weapons too.
I aim straight as well. Why would we need you?
Goodbye. Goodbye to Lemnos.
Let's go. Perhaps soon I'll win
the prize and fame that belong to you.
PHILOKTETES
Oh, what will I do? Will you stand before the Greeks
cloaked in the glory of my weapons?
ODYSSEUS
Don't speak to me. We are leaving now.
PHILOKTETES
You have nothing to say to me, son of Achilles?
Will you leave without a word?
ODYSSEUS
Come along now, boy. Don't look at him,
even though your spirit prompts you to.
That may destroy the advantage we have won.
PHILOKTETES
You sailors, will you leave me?
Do you have no pity?
CHORUS
The young lord is our master. His words are ours.
NEOPTOLEMOS
Odysseus will chide me for pitying him.
You men stay here until the other sailors make ready
and we have prayed to the gods of this place.
Philoktetes may think better of us.
Let us go, Odysseus. You men, come quickly
as soon as we call for you.
PHILOKTETES
Rock hollow, cave, sunny, icy,
It is true that I was not meant to leave you.
You will be a witness to my life and death.
Rock walls, filled with my cries of anguish,
what will my daily ration be now?
What hope have I of dealing with my fate,
now that the birds that fled from me above
will come down through the winds to destroy me?
I have no strength left.
CHORUS
You brought this on yourself, unbending man.
You could have found a way out
when it was possible to make a sensible choice,
but you took the worse over the better fate.
PHILOKTETES
Sorrow and sadness are mine. I am broken
by suffering, and now I must live alone;
I will live and die in this place.
I cannot feed myself by my winged arrows
or my strong hands. Unexpectedly,
his tricky words overtook my judgment.
I wish the one who set this trap
were given pains to match my own.
CHORUS
The gods' will brought you down, not guile,
not tricks in which I have had a hand.
Let loose your hatred, set aside your curses.
I have only the fear that you'll refuse my friendship.
PHILOKTETES
He sits laughing on the shores of the wine-dark sea.
He holds in his hands the bow that sustained me,
which no mortal but I had ever touched.
Beloved bow, made by caring hands,
the prize of Herakles, who'll never use you again,
if you could see, you would pity me.
You have a new master, a guileful man.
He will bend you now.
You will know treachery, know my hated enemy,
and know countless evils rising from his deceit.
CHORUS
One should take care to say what is just,
and having said it, keep his tongue from ire.
Odysseus follows the orders of many,
and he has done this in obedience to his friends.
PHILOKTETES
O birds, o beasts that feed upon the hills,
you no longer need run away from my cave.
I no longer have my killing weapons.
Come down. The time is right for you to feed
on my ravaged, quivering body;
I will soon die. How can I keep myself alive?
Who can live on breezes and not earthly food?
CHORUS
By the gods, if you still hold the gods in respect,
come to a stranger who approaches with good heart.
Think closely of what you are doing.
It is up to you to flee your destruction.
To feed fate with your flesh is pitiful.
Your body will never learn to endure the pains,
the ten thousand pains of the sickness possessing you.
PHILOKTETES
You pour salt on old wounds. Still, you are better
than any of those who came to me before.
Why have you also wounded me?
CHORUS
What do you mean?
PHILOKTETES
You wanted to take me to hateful Troy.
CHORUS
I think that is best.
PHILOKTETES
Then leave me, and now.
CHORUS
That is good news indeed.
I'll willingly obey your command.
Let us go, men, back to our stations.
PHILOKTETES
No, strangers, by the gods, stay here!
I beg you!
CHORUS
Be still.
PHILOKTETES
I beg you, stay with me.
CHORUS
Why do you beseech us now?
PHILOKTETES
I am destroyed.
My foot, what will I do with you
for what remains of my life?
Come back to me, friends.
CHORUS
Come back to do what? Have you changed your mind?
PHILOKTETES
It is not just to b
e angry
when a man driven mad by stormy anguish
speaks thoughtlessly.
CHORUS
Come with us, poor man, as we have asked.
PHILOKTETES
Never. Not even if the lord of lightning
devours me in thunderous fire!
Let Troy be ruined and all those before its walls
who cast me away here in my lameness!
Friends, grant me one last request.
CHORUS
What is it?
PHILOKTETES
If you have a sword, or an axe, or a knife,
then bring it to me.
CHORUS
What will you do with it?
PHILOKTETES
I will cut off my head, cut off my foot,
cut myself apart with my own hand.
My mind wants nothing but death.
CHORUS
Why?
PHILOKTETES
I want to find my father.
CHORUS
Where?
PHILOKTETES
In Hades. Surely he no longer stands in light.
Ancestral city, I wish I could see you,
I who deserted your holy waters
to help the Greeks, my enemies.
I am nothing now.
CHORUS
I should have been back to the ship by now.
Here comes Odysseus
with the son of Achilles.
ODYSSEUS
Why are you returning so quickly, boy?
NEOPTOLEMOS
I hurry to undo the evil I have done.
ODYSSEUS
You speak strangely. What evil is that?
NEOPTOLEMOS
I was wrong to obey you and the generals.
ODYSSEUS
What did we order you to do that was wrong?
NEOPTOLEMOS
I worked guile and deceit, and successfully.
ODYSSEUS
What more do you want now?
NEOPTOLEMOS
Nothing new. I have Philoktetes's bow.
ODYSSEUS
And what will you do with it? I am afraid to ask.
NEOPTOLEMOS
I am giving it back to its rightful owner.
ODYSSEUS
You mean you'll return it?
NEOPTOLEMOS
Yes. I got it by shameful tricks.
ODYSSEUS
Do you really mean it?
NEOPTOLEMOS
I am telling the truth.
ODYSSEUS
What are you saying, son of Achilles?
NEOPTOLEMOS
Must we go over the same ground twice?
ODYSSEUS
I wish we had not gone over it the first time.
NEOPTOLEMOS
You have heard everything now.
ODYSSEUS
Someone will keep you from doing it.
NEOPTOLEMOS
Who?
ODYSSEUS
The whole Greek army, and I among them.
NEOPTOLEMOS
You are clever, Odysseus, but what you say is not.
ODYSSEUS
Neither your words nor your acts are clever.
NEOPTOLEMOS
But they are just. That is better.
ODYSSEUS
How can it be just to give away
what you have won with my counsel?
NEOPTOLEMOS
I have committed injustice and strayed off course.
I must undo all that.
ODYSSEUS
And you have no fear of what the Greeks will do?
NEOPTOLEMOS
I am not afraid of any of you, since I act
with justice. You will not force me.
ODYSSEUS
Then we will fight not Troy, but you.
NEOPTOLEMOS
So be it.
ODYSSEUS
Do you see my hand drawing out this sword?
NEOPTOLEMOS
You'll see me do the same, and right away.
ODYSSEUS
I will leave you to it, then.
I'll return to Troy and tell the Greeks,
and they will come here to punish you.
NEOPTOLEMOS
It is a cautious thing you do. Remain as cautious,
and perhaps you'll keep clear of future danger.
Philoktetes, son of Poias,
come out of your cave. I call on you.
PHILOKTETES
What do you want? Why do you call me?
It bodes ill. Some new trouble is at hand,
some new grief to heap on my miseries.
NEOPTOLEMOS
Be calm. I simply ask that you listen.
PHILOKTETES
I listened to you once, and you spoke well then.
My troubles came from sweet words, when I believed them.
NEOPTOLEMOS
