---
title: "Philoctetes · Φιλοκτήτης"
author: "Sophocles"
translator: "Richard Jebb"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/
cite: "Sophocles, tr. Richard Jebb, Philoctetes · Φιλοκτήτης. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/"
---

# Philoctetes · Φιλοκτήτης

*Sophocles, tr. Richard Jebb*

Odysseus and the young Neoptolemus must trick an abandoned man out of the bow of Heracles.

> Greek: ed. Francis Storr, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0011.tlg006, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Richard Jebb, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0011.tlg006.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (line numbers), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Lines 1–499](https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/1.md)
2. [Lines 500–977](https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/2.md)
3. [Lines 978–1471](https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/3.md)

## 1. Lines 1–499

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/1/#p-N

[¶0] Odysseus:
This is the headland of sea-washed Lemnos, land untrodden by men and desolate. It was here, child bred of the man who was the noblest of the Greeks, Neoptolemus son of Achilles, that I exposed
long ago the native of Malis, Poeas’ son, on the express command of the two chieftains to do so, because his foot was all running with a gnawing disease. Neither libation nor burnt sacrifice could be attempted by us in peace, but with his wild, ill-omened cries
he filled the whole camp continually with shrieking, moaning. But what need is there to speak of that? The time is not ripe for too many words, lest he even learn that I am here, and I so waste the whole ruse whereby I think soon to take him.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἀκτὴ μὲν ἥδε τῆς περιρρύτου χθονὸς
Λήμνου, βροτοῖς ἄστιπτος οὐδʼ οἰκουμένη,
ἔνθʼ, ὦ κρατίστου πατρὸς Ἑλλήνων τραφεὶς
Ἀχιλλέως παῖ Νεοπτόλεμε, τὸν Μηλιᾶ
Ποίαντος υἱὸν ἐξέθηκʼ ἐγώ ποτε,
ταχθεὶς τόδʼ ἔρδειν τῶν ἀνασσόντων ὕπο,
νόσῳ καταστάζοντα διαβόρῳ πόδα·
ὅτʼ οὔτε λοιβῆς ἡμὶν οὔτε θυμάτων
παρῆν ἑκήλοις προσθιγεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἀγρίαις
κατεῖχʼ ἀεὶ πᾶν στρατόπεδον δυσφημίαις,
βοῶν, στενάζων. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν τί δεῖ
λέγειν; ἀκμὴ γὰρ οὐ μακρῶν ἡμῖν λόγων,
μὴ καὶ μάθῃ μʼ ἥκοντα κἀκχέω τὸ πᾶν
σόφισμα, τῷ νιν αὐτίχʼ αἱρήσειν δοκῶ.

[¶1] Come, it is your task to serve as my ally in what remains, and to seek where in this region there is a cave with two mouths. During cold weather it provides two seats facing the sun, while in summer a breeze wafts sleep through the tunnelled chamber.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ ἔργον ἤδη σὸν τὰ λοίφʼ ὑπηρετεῖν
σκοπεῖν θʼ ὅπου ʼστʼ ἐνταῦθα δίστομος πέτρα
τοιάδʼ, ἵνʼ ἐν ψύχει μὲν ἡλίου διπλῆ
πάρεστιν ἐνθάκησις, ἐν θέρει δʼ ὕπνον
διʼ ἀμφιτρῆτος αὐλίου πέμπει πνοή·

[¶2] And a little below, on the left hand, perhaps, you will see water rising from a spring, if it has not failed. Go there silently, and signal to me whether he still dwells in this same place, or is to be found elsewhere, so that the rest of my plan may be explained by me, heard by you,
and sped by the joint effort of us both.

> Greek: βαιὸν δʼ ἔνερθεν ἐξ ἀριστερᾶς τάχʼ ἂν
ἴδοις ποτὸν κρηναῖον, εἴπερ ἐστὶ σῶν.
ἅ μοι προσελθὼν σῖγα σήμαινʼ εἴτʼ ἐκεῖ
χῶρον τὸν αὐτὸν τόνδʼ ἔτʼ εἴτʼ ἄλλῃ κυρεῖ,
ὡς τἀπίλοιπα τῶν λόγων σὺ μὲν κλύῃς,
ἐγὼ δὲ φράζω, κοινὰ δʼ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ἴῃ.

[¶3] Neoptolemus:
King Odysseus, the completion of the task that you set me is not far off, for I believe I see a cave like that which you have described.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἄναξ Ὀδυσσεῦ, τοὔργον οὐ μακρὰν λέγεις·
δοκῶ γὰρ οἷον εἶπας ἄντρον εἰσορᾶν.

[¶4] Odysseus:
Above you, or below? I do not see it.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἄνωθεν ἢ κάτωθεν; οὐ γὰρ ἐννοῶ.

[¶5] Neoptolemus:
Here, high up—and of footfalls there is not a sound.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τόδʼ ἐξύπερθε· καὶ στίβου γʼ οὐδεὶς κτύπος.

[¶6] Odysseus:
See that he is not sheltered there asleep.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ὅρα καθʼ ὕπνον μὴ καταυλισθεὶς κυρεῖ.

[¶7] Neoptolemus:
I see an empty dwelling, without occupants.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὁρῶ κενὴν οἴκησιν ἀνθρώπων δίχα.

[¶8] Odysseus:
And is there no provision inside for human habitation?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
οὐδʼ ἔνδον οἰκοποιός ἐστί τις τροφή;

[¶9] Neoptolemus:
There is—a bed of leaves, as if for some one who makes his lodging here.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
στιπτή γε φυλλὰς ὡς ἐναυλίζοντί τῳ.

[¶10] Odysseus:
And all else is bare? There is nothing else beneath the roof?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
τὰ δʼ ἄλλʼ ἔρημα, κοὐδέν ἐσθʼ ὑπόστεγον;

[¶11] Neoptolemus:
Just a cup of bare wood, the masterpiece of a sorry craftsman, and with it these tools for kindling.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
αὐτόξυλόν γʼ ἔκπωμα, φλαυρουργοῦ τινος
τεχνήματʼ ἀνδρός, καὶ πυρεῖʼ ὁμοῦ τάδε.

[¶12] Odysseus:
His is the store that you describe.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
κείνου τὸ θησαύρισμα σημαίνεις τόδε.

[¶13] Neoptolemus:
Ha! Yes, and here besides are some rags drying in the sun, stained by some severe infection.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἰοὺ ἰού· καὶ ταῦτά γʼ ἄλλα θάλπεται
ῥάκη, βαρείας του νοσηλείας πλέα.

[¶14] Odysseus:
The man inhabits these regions, clearly, and is somewhere not far off. How could he go far afield when his foot is maimed by that old plague? No, he has gone out in quest of food, or of some soothing herb that he may have noted somewhere.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἁνὴρ κατοικεῖ τούσδε τοὺς τόπους σαφῶς,
κἄστʼ οὐχ ἑκάς που· πῶς γὰρ ἂν νοσῶν ἀνὴρ
κῶλον παλαιᾷ κηρὶ προσβαίη μακράν;
ἀλλʼ ἢ ʼπὶ φορβῆς νόστον ἐξελήλυθεν
ἢ φύλλον εἴ τι νώδυνον κάτοιδέ που.

[¶15] Send your attendant, therefore, to keep watch, lest he come upon me unawares, since he would rather take me than all the Greeks together.

> Greek: τὸν οὖν παρόντα πέμψον εἰς κατασκοπήν,
μὴ καὶ λάθῃ με προσπεσών· ὡς μᾶλλον ἂν
ἕλοιτό μʼ ἢ τοὺς πάντας Ἀργείους λαβεῖν.

[¶16] Neoptolemus:
The man is going, and the path will be watched. And now, if you need anything else, say so. Exit Attendant, on the spectators’ left.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ ἔρχεταί τε καὶ φυλάξεται στίβος.
σὺ δʼ, εἴ τι χρῄζεις, φράζε δευτέρῳ λόγῳ.

[¶17] Odysseus:
Son of Achilles, you must be loyal to the goals of your mission—and not with your body alone. Should you hear some new plan unknown to you till now, you must serve it, since it is to serve that you are here.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
Ἀχιλλέως παῖ, δεῖ σʼ ἐφʼ οἷς ἐλήλυθας
γενναῖον εἶναι, μὴ μόνον τῷ σώματι,
ἀλλʼ ἤν τι καινὸν ὧν πρὶν οὐκ ἀκήκοας
κλύῃς, ὑπουργεῖν, ὡς ὑπηρέτης πάρει.

[¶18] Neoptolemus:
Then what are your orders?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί δῆτʼ ἄνωγας;

[¶19] Odysseus:
You must cheat the mind of Philoctetes by means of a story
told as you converse with him. When he asks you who and from where you are, say that you are the son of Achilles—it is not in that detail that you will cheat him. But tell him you are sailing homeward, and have left the fleet of the Achaean warriors, after coming to hate them with unbounded hatred.
Give him this reason: when, with no other hope of taking Ilium, they had summoned you by their prayers to come from home, they judged you not worthy of the arms of Achilles, not worthy to receive them—even though you had come and were claiming them by right—but instead handed them over to Odysseus. Say what you
will of me—even the vilest of vile insults. You will not harm me at all by that. But if you fail to do as I say, you will inflict pain on all the Argives, for if that man’s bow is not seized, you can never sack the realm of Dardanus.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
τὴν Φιλοκτήτου σε δεῖ
ψυχὴν ὅπως δόλοισιν ἐκκλέψεις λέγων.
ὅταν σʼ ἐρωτᾷ τίς τε καὶ πόθεν πάρει,
λέγειν, Ἀχιλλέως παῖς· τόδʼ οὐχὶ κλεπτέον·
πλεῖς δʼ ὡς πρὸς οἶκον, ἐκλιπὼν τὸ ναυτικὸν
στράτευμʼ Ἀχαιῶν, ἔχθος ἐχθήρας μέγα,
οἵ σʼ ἐν λιταῖς στείλαντες ἐξ οἴκων μολεῖν,
μόνην ἔχοντες τήνδʼ ἅλωσιν Ἰλίου,
οὐκ ἠξίωσαν τῶν Ἀχιλλείων ὅπλων
ἐλθόντι δοῦναι κυρίως αἰτουμένῳ,
ἀλλʼ αὔτʼ Ὀδυσσεῖ παρέδοσαν· λέγων ὅσʼ ἂν
θέλῃς καθʼ ἡμῶν ἔσχατʼ ἐσχάτων κακά.
τούτῳ γὰρ οὐδέν μʼ ἀλγυνεῖς· εἰ δʼ ἐργάσει
μὴ ταῦτα, λύπην πᾶσιν Ἀργείοις βαλεῖς.
εἰ γὰρ τὰ τοῦδε τόξα μὴ ληφθήσεται,
οὐκ ἔστι πέρσαι σοι τὸ Δαρδάνου πέδον.

[¶20] And learn why your intercourse with him may be free from mistrust and danger, while mine cannot. You have sailed to Troy under no oath to any man, nor under any constraint. Neither did you have any part in the earlier expedition. I, however, can deny none of these things. Accordingly, if he
perceives me while he is still master of his bow, I am dead, and you, as my comrade, will share my doom. No, the thing for which we must devise a ruse is just this: how you may steal his invincible weapons. Well I know, my son, that by nature you are not apt
to utter or contrive such treachery. Yet knowing that victory is a sweet prize to gain, steel yourself to do it. Our honesty shall be displayed another time. Now, however, give yourself to me for one brief, shameless day, and then for the rest of time
may you be called the most righteous of all humankind.

> Greek: ὡς δʼ ἔστʼ ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐχί, σοὶ δʼ ὁμιλία
πρὸς τόνδε πιστὴ καὶ βέβαιος, ἔκμαθε.
σὺ μὲν πέπλευκας οὔτʼ ἔνορκος οὐδενὶ
οὔτʼ ἐξ ἀνάγκης οὔτε τοῦ πρώτου στόλου·
ἐμοὶ δὲ τούτων οὐδέν ἐστʼ ἀρνήσιμον.
ὥστʼ εἴ με τόξων ἐγκρατὴς αἰσθήσεται,
ὄλωλα καὶ σὲ προσδιαφθερῶ ξυνών.
ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο δεῖ σοφισθῆναι, κλοπεὺς
ὅπως γενήσει τῶν ἀνικήτων ὅπλων.
ἔξοιδα, παῖ, φύσει σε μὴ πεφυκότα
τοιαῦτα φωνεῖν μηδὲ τεχνᾶσθαι κακά·
ἀλλʼ ἡδὺ γάρ τι κτῆμα τῆς νίκης λαβεῖν,
τόλμα· δίκαιοι δʼ αὖθις ἐκφανούμεθα.
νῦν δʼ εἰς ἀναιδὲς ἡμέρας μέρος βραχὺ
δός μοι σεαυτόν, κᾆτα τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον
κέκλησο πάντων εὐσεβέστατος βροτῶν.

[¶21] Neoptolemus:
I abhor acting on advice, son of Laertes, which causes pain in the hearing. It is not in my nature to achieve anything by means of evil cunning, nor was it, as I hear, in my father’s.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἐγὼ μὲν οὓς ἂν τῶν λόγων ἀλγῶ κλύων,
Λαερτίου παῖ, τούσδε καὶ πράσσειν στυγῶ·
ἔφυν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐκ τέχνης πράσσειν κακῆς,
οὔτʼ αὐτὸς οὔθʼ, ὥς φασιν, οὑκφύσας ἐμέ.

[¶22] But I am ready to take the man by force and without treachery, since with the use of one foot only, he will not overcome so many of us in a struggle. And yet I was sent to assist you and am reluctant to be called traitor. Still I prefer, my king,
to fail when doing what is honorable than to be victorious in a dishonorable manner.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ εἴμʼ ἑτοῖμος πρὸς βίαν τὸν ἄνδρʼ ἄγειν
καὶ μὴ δόλοισιν· οὐ γὰρ ἐξ ἑνὸς ποδὸς
ἡμᾶς τοσούσδε πρὸς βίαν χειρώσεται.
πεμφθείς γε μέντοι σοὶ ξυνεργάτης ὀκνῶ
προδότης καλεῖσθαι· βούλομαι δʼ, ἄναξ, καλῶς
δρῶν ἐξαμαρτεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ νικᾶν κακῶς.

[¶23] Odysseus:
Son of a father so noble, I, too, in my youth once had a slow tongue and an active hand. But now that I have come forth to the test, I see that the tongue, not action, is what masters everything among men.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἐσθλοῦ πατρὸς παῖ, καὐτὸς ὢν νέος ποτὲ
γλῶσσαν μὲν ἀργόν, χεῖρα δʼ εἶχον ἐργάτιν·
νῦν δʼ εἰς ἔλεγχον ἐξιὼν ὁρῶ βροτοῖς
τὴν γλῶσσαν, οὐχὶ τἄργα, πάνθʼ ἡγουμένην.

[¶24] Neoptolemus:
What, then, are your orders—apart from my lying?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί μʼ οὖν ἄνωγας ἄλλο πλὴν ψευδῆ λέγειν;

[¶25] Odysseus:
I command you to take Philoctetes by deceit.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
λέγω σʼ ἐγὼ δόλῳ Φιλοκτήτην λαβεῖν.

[¶26] Neoptolemus:
And why by deceit rather than by persuasion?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί δʼ ἐν δόλῳ δεῖ μᾶλλον ἢ πείσαντʼ ἄγειν;

[¶27] Odysseus:
He will never listen; and by force you cannot take him.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
οὐ μὴ πίθηται· πρὸς βίαν δʼ οὐκ ἂν λάβοις.

[¶28] Neoptolemus:
Has he strength so terrific to make him bold?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὕτως ἔχει τι δεινὸν ἰσχύος θράσος;

[¶29] Odysseus:
Yes, shafts inevitable, escorts of death.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἰούς γʼ ἀφύκτους καὶ προπέμποντας φόνον.

[¶30] Neoptolemus:
Then one does not dare even approach him?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκ ἆρʼ ἐκείνῳ γʼ οὐδὲ προσμῖξαι θρασύ;

[¶31] Odysseus:
No, unless he takes the man by deceit, as I prescribe.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
οὔ, μὴ δόλῳ λαβόντα γʼ, ὡς ἐγὼ λέγω.

[¶32] Neoptolemus:
Then you think it brings no shame to speak what is false?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκ αἰσχρὸν ἡγεῖ δῆτα τὸ ψευδῆ λέγειν;

[¶33] Odysseus:
No, not if the falsehood yields deliverance.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
οὔκ, εἰ τὸ σωθῆναί γε τὸ ψεῦδος φέρει.

[¶34] Neoptolemus:
And with what expression on his face will anyone dare mouth those lies?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
πῶς οὖν βλέπων τις ταῦτα τολμήσει λακεῖν;

[¶35] Odysseus:
When what you do promises gain, it is wrong to shrink back.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ὅταν τι δρᾷς εἰς κέρδος, οὐκ ὀκνεῖν πρέπει.

[¶36] Neoptolemus:
And what gain is it for me that he should come to Troy?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
κέρδος δʼ ἐμοὶ τί τοῦτον ἐς Τροίαν μολεῖν;

[¶37] Odysseus:
His arrows alone will capture Troy.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
αἱρεῖ τὰ τόξα ταῦτα τὴν Τροίαν μόνα.

[¶38] Neoptolemus:
Then I am not to be the conqueror, as you said?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκ ἆρʼ ὁ πέρσων, ὡς ἐφάσκετʼ, εἴμʼ ἐγώ;

[¶39] Odysseus:
Neither will you be without them, nor they without you.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
οὔτʼ ἂν σὺ κείνων χωρὶς οὔτʼ ἐκεῖνα σοῦ.

[¶40] Neoptolemus:
It would seem, then, that we must track them down, if things stand as you say.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
θηρατέʼ οὖν γίγνοιτʼ ἄν, εἴπερ ὧδʼ ἔχει.

[¶41] Odysseus:
Know that by doing this task, you win two rewards.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ὡς τοῦτό γʼ ἔρξας δύο φέρει δωρήματα.

[¶42] Neoptolemus:
What are they? If I knew, I would not refuse the deed.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ποίω; μαθὼν γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ἀρνοίμην τὸ δρᾶν.

[¶43] Odysseus:
You will be celebrated in the same breath as clever and as noble.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
σοφός τʼ ἂν αὑτὸς κἀγαθὸς κεκλῇʼ ἅμα.

[¶44] Neoptolemus:
So be it! I will do it, and cast off all shame.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἴτω· ποήσω, πᾶσαν αἰσχύνην ἀφείς.

[¶45] Odysseus:
Do you remember, then, the story that I recommended?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἦ μνημονεύεις οὖν ἅ σοι παρῄνεσα;

[¶46] Neoptolemus:
Be sure of it, since once and for all I have consented.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
σάφʼ ἴσθʼ, ἐπείπερ εἰσάπαξ συνῄνεσα.

[¶47] Odysseus:
You stay here, then, to wait for him. Meanwhile I will go away, so as not to be observed here with you,
and I will send our lookout back to your ship. And, if in my view you seem to linger at all beyond the due time, I will send that same man back again, after disguising him as the captain of a merchant-ship, so that secrecy may be on our side.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
σὺ μὲν μένων νυν κεῖνον ἐνθάδʼ ἐκδέχου,
ἐγὼ δʼ ἄπειμι, μὴ κατοπτευθῶ παρών,
καὶ τὸν σκοπὸν πρὸς ναῦν ἀποστελῶ πάλιν.
καὶ δεῦρʼ, ἐάν μοι τοῦ χρόνου δοκῆτέ τι
κατασχολάζειν, αὖθις ἐκπέμψω πάλιν
τοῦτον τὸν αὐτὸν ἄνδρα, ναυκλήρου τρόποις
μορφὴν δολώσας, ὡς ἂν ἀγνοία προσῇ·

[¶48] Then, son, as he tells his artful story, take whatever in his tale is from time to time helpful to you. Now I will go to the ship, leaving matters here to you. May escorting Hermes the Deceiver, lead us on, and divine Victory, Athena Polias, who saves me always! Exit Odysseus, on the spectators’ left.

> Greek: οὗ δῆτα, τέκνον, ποικίλως αὐδωμένου
δέχου τὰ συμφέροντα τῶν ἀεὶ λόγων.
ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς ναῦν εἶμι, σοὶ παρεὶς τάδε·
Ἑρμῆς δʼ ὁ πέμπων δόλιος ἡγήσαιτο νῷν
Νίκη τʼ Ἀθάνα Πολιάς, ἣ σῴζει μʼ ἀεί.

[¶49] Chorus:
I am a stranger in a strange land, Master. What must I hide, what must I reveal to a man who will be swift to suspicion? Show me the way! His skill excels all other skill, his wisdom has no equal, whose hands govern the godlike
scepter given by Zeus. To you, my son, that sovereign power has descended from the dawn of time. Therefore tell me how I must serve you.

> Greek: Χορός:
τί χρὴ τί χρή με, δέσποτʼ, ἐν ξένᾳ ξένον
στέγειν ἢ τί λέγειν πρὸς ἄνδρʼ ὑπόπταν;
φράζε μοι. τέχνα γὰρ
τέχνας ἑτέρας προύχει
καὶ γνώμα παρʼ ὅτῳ τὸ θεῖον
Διὸς σκῆπτρον ἀνάσσεται.
σὲ δʼ, ὦ τέκνον, τόδʼ ἐλήλυθεν
πᾶν κράτος ὠγύγιον· τό μοι ἔννεπε
τί σοι χρεὼν ὑπουργεῖν.

[¶50] Neoptolemus:
For the present—since perhaps you wish to see the place
on the island’s edge where he resides—survey it without fear. But when the dread traveler, who has left this dwelling, returns, step forward at my signal from time to time, and try to help as the moment may require.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
νῦν μέν, ἴσως γὰρ τόπον ἐσχατιαῖς
προσιδεῖν ἐθέλεις ὅντινα κεῖται,
δέρκου θαρσῶν· ὁπόταν δὲ μόλῃ
δεινὸς ὁδίτης, τῶνδʼ οὑκ μελάθρων
πρὸς ἐμὴν αἰεὶ χεῖρα προχωρῶν
πειρῶ τὸ παρὸν θεραπεύειν.

[¶51] Chorus:
Long have I been careful of this care, my prince: that my eyes should be watchful for your good above all else. And now tell me, in what manner of shelter does he keep his dwelling? In what region is he now? It is not inopportune for
me to learn so that he may not come upon me unawares from somewhere. In what place does he wander, or rest? Does he plant his steps within his shelter, or abroad?

> Greek: Χορός:
μέλον πάλαι μέλημά μοι λέγεις, ἄναξ,
φρουρεῖν ὄμμʼ ἐπὶ σῷ μάλιστα καιρῷ·
νῦν δέ μοι λέγʼ, αὐλὰς
ποίας ἔνεδρος ναίει
καὶ χῶρον τίνʼ ἔχει. τὸ γάρ μοι
μαθεῖν οὐκ ἀποκαίριον,
μὴ προσπεσών με λάθῃ ποθέν·
τίς τόπος ἢ τίς ἕδρα; τίνʼ ἔχει στίβον,
ἔναυλον ἢ θυραῖον;

[¶52] Neoptolemus:
Well, here you see his home with its two portals,
his rocky cell.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οἶκον μὲν ὁρᾷς τόνδʼ ἀμφίθυρον
πετρίνης κοίτης.

[¶53] Chorus:
And its wretched occupant, where is he gone to?

> Greek: Χορός:
ποῦ γὰρ ὁ τλήμων αὐτὸς ἄπεστιν;

[¶54] Neoptolemus:
It seems clear to me, anyway, that he is plowing his way along somewhere near here in search of food. For I know of a report that
this is his means of sustenance—a wretch wretchedly shooting prey with his feathered shafts—and that no one comes near to him to heal his misery.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
δῆλον ἔμοιγʼ ὡς φορβῆς χρείᾳ
στίβον ὀγμεύει τῇδε πέλας που.
ταύτην γὰρ ἔχειν βιοτῆς αὐτὸν
λόγος ἐστὶ φύσιν, θηροβολοῦντα
πτηνοῖς ἰοῖς στυγερὸν στυγερῶς,
οὐδέ τινʼ αὐτῷ
παιῶνα κακῶν ἐπινωμᾶν.

[¶55] Chorus:
For my part, I pity him when I think how,
with no one to care for him, and seeing no companion’s face, but suffering eternally alone, he is plagued by fierce disease and bewildered by each need as it arises.
How, how does he endure his bitter fate? Ah, contrivances of the gods! Ah, unhappy tribes of mortals, whose life-portion exceeds due measure!

> Greek: Χορός:
οἰκτίρω νιν ἔγωγʼ, ὅπως,
μή του κηδομένου βροτῶν
μηδὲ ξύντροφον ὄμμʼ ἔχων,
δύστανος, μόνος ἀεί,
νοσεῖ μὲν νόσον ἀγρίαν,
ἀλύει δʼ ἐπὶ παντί τῳ
χρείας ἱσταμένῳ. πῶς ποτε πῶς δύσμορος ἀντέχει;
ὦ παλάμαι θεῶν,
ὦ δύστανα γένη βροτῶν,
οἷς μὴ μέτριος αἰών.

[¶56] Chorus:
That man—inferior in no way, probably, to any man belonging to the oldest families—lies alone without companions and stripped of all life’s gifts
among the dappled or shaggy beasts. He is a man to be pitied for his torments and his hunger alike, enduring anguish that has no cure. But to his bitter cries the mountain nymph, babbling Echo, coming from afar,
gives answer.

> Greek: Χορός:
οὗτος πρωτογόνων ἴσως
οἴκων οὐδενὸς ὕστερος,
πάντων ἄμμορος ἐν βίῳ
κεῖται μοῦνος ἀπʼ ἄλλων,
στικτῶν ἢ λασίων μετὰ
θηρῶν, ἔν τʼ ὀδύναις ὁμοῦ
λιμῷ τʼ οἰκτρός, ἀνήκεστα μεριμνήματʼ ἔχων· ὀρεί-
α δʼ ἀθυρόστομος
Ἀχὼ τηλεφανὴς πικραῖς
οἰμωγαῖς ὑπακούει.

[¶57] Neoptolemus:
No part of this is a marvel to me. God-sent—if a man such as I may judge—are both those sufferings which attacked him from savage Chryse,
and those with which he now toils untended. Surely he toils by the plan of some god so that he may not bend against Troy the invincible arrows divine, until the time be fulfilled at which, men say,
by those arrows Troy is fated to fall.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐδὲν τούτων θαυμαστὸν ἐμοί·
θεῖα γάρ, εἴπερ κἀγώ τι φρονῶ,
καὶ τὰ παθήματα κεῖνα πρὸς αὐτὸν
τῆς ὠμόφρονος Χρύσης ἐπέβη,
καὶ νῦν ἃ πονεῖ δίχα κηδεμόνων,
οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὡς οὐ θεῶν του μελέτῃ
τοῦ μὴ πρότερον τόνδʼ ἐπὶ Τροίᾳ
τεῖναι τὰ θεῶν ἀμάχητα βέλη,
πρὶν ὅδʼ ἐξήκοι χρόνος, ᾧ λέγεται
χρῆναί σφʼ ὑπὸ τῶνδε δαμῆναι.

[¶58] Chorus:
Hush, boy!

> Greek: Χορός:
εὔστομʼ ἔχε, παῖ.

[¶59] Neoptolemus:
What is it?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί τόδε;

[¶60] Chorus:
I heard a sudden thud, one that might naturally come from a man worn by pain. From there it came, I think—or there.

> Greek: Χορός:
προυφάνη κτύπος,
φωτὸς σύντροφος ὡς τειρομένου του,
ἤ που τῇδʼ ἢ τῇδε τόπων.

[¶61] It strikes, strikes hard on my ear, the sure sound of someone creeping along his way as if tortured. I cannot miss that grievous cry of a man hard-pressed, even from afar—its tone is too clear.

> Greek: βάλλει βάλλει μʼ ἐτύμα
φθογγά του στίβον κατʼ ἀνάγκαν
ἕρποντος, οὐδέ με λάθει
βαρεῖα τηλόθεν αὐδὰ τρυσάνωρ· διάσημα γὰρ θρηνεῖ.

[¶62] Chorus:
But listen, son—

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλʼ ἔχε, τέκνον,

[¶63] Neoptolemus:
To what? Tell me.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
λέγʼ ὅ τι.

[¶64] Chorus:
To my latest thoughts. For he is not far from his home, but nearby. And not with music of the flute, like a shepherd pasturing his flocks, does he come,—
no—but crying out a far-sounding howl as he stumbles, perhaps, from tortuous pain, or as he scans the haven unvisited by any ship. His cries are loud, and terrible.
Enter Philoctetes, on the spectators’ right.

> Greek: Χορός:
φροντίδας νέας.
ὡς οὐκ ἔξεδρος, ἀλλʼ ἔντοπος ἁνήρ,
οὐ μολπὰν σύριγγος ἔχων,
ὡς ποιμὴν ἀγροβότας, ἀλλʼ ἤ που πταίων ὑπʼ ἀνάγκας
βοᾷ τηλωπὸν ἰωάν,
ἢ ναὸς ἄξενον αὐγάζων ὅρμον· προβοᾷ τι γὰρ δεινόν.

[¶65] Philoctetes:
O strangers!
Who can you be, and from what country, that you have put into this harborless and desolate land? What would I rightly say is your city or your ancestry? The fashion of your equipment is Greek, and most welcome to my
sight; but it would please me to hear your voices. And do not shrink from me in fear, or be frightened by my savage looks. No, pity one so wretched and so lonely, a castaway, so friendless and so miserable. Speak to me, if indeed you have come as friends.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἰὼ ξένοι,
τίνες ποτʼ ἐς γῆν τήνδε κἀκ ποίας πάτρας
κατέσχετʼ οὔτʼ εὔορμον οὔτʼ οἰκουμένην;
ποίας ἂν ὑμᾶς πατρίδος ἢ γένους ποτὲ
τύχοιμʼ ἂν εἰπών; σχῆμα μὲν γὰρ Ἑλλάδος
στολῆς ὑπάρχει προσφιλεστάτης ἐμοί·
φωνῆς δʼ ἀκοῦσαι βούλομαι· καὶ μή μʼ ὄκνῳ
δείσαντες ἐκπλαγῆτʼ ἀπηγριωμένον,
ἀλλʼ οἰκτίσαντες ἄνδρα δύστηνον, μόνον,
ἔρημον ὧδε κἄφιλον κακούμενον,
φωνήσατʼ, εἴπερ ὡς φίλοι προσήκετε.

[¶66] Oh, answer! It is not right that I be disappointed by you in this request, at least, nor you by me.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ ἀνταμείψασθʼ· οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς οὔτʼ ἐμὲ
ὑμῶν ἁμαρτεῖν τοῦτό γʼ οὔθʼ ὑμᾶς ἐμοῦ.

[¶67] Neoptolemus:
Well, know first, stranger, that we are Greeks, since you desire to learn this.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ, ὦ ξένʼ, ἴσθι τοῦτο πρῶτον, οὕνεκα
Ἕλληνές ἐσμεν· τοῦτο γὰρ βούλει μαθεῖν.

[¶68] Philoctetes:
O cherished sound! Ah, that I should truly be
greeted by such a man, after so long a time! What need, young man, has made you land here and brought you to this spot? What business? What wind so kind? Speak, tell me all, so that I may know who you are.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ φίλτατον φώνημα· φεῦ τὸ καὶ λαβεῖν
πρόσφθεγμα τοιοῦδʼ ἀνδρὸς ἐν χρόνῳ μακρῷ.
τίς σʼ, ὦ τέκνον, προσέσχε, τίς προσήγαγεν
χρεία; τίς ὁρμή; τίς ἀνέμων ὁ φίλτατος;
γέγωνέ μοι πᾶν τοῦθʼ, ὅπως εἰδῶ τίς εἶ.

[¶69] Neoptolemus:
My birthplace is the island Scyros, and I am sailing
homeward. I am the son of Achilles, by name Neoptolemus. Now you know everything.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἐγὼ γένος μέν εἰμι τῆς περιρρύτου
Σκύρου· πλέω δʼ ἐς οἶκον· αὐδῶμαι δὲ παῖς
Ἀχιλλέως, Νεοπτόλεμος. οἶσθα δὴ τὸ πᾶν.

[¶70] Philoctetes:
O son of a father I loved, and of soil I cherished! Ward of aged Lycomedes, on what mission have you touched this shore? From where are you sailing?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ φιλτάτου παῖ πατρός, ὦ φίλης χθονός,
ὦ τοῦ γέροντος θρέμμα Λυκομήδους, τίνι
στόλῳ προσέσχες τήνδε γῆν πόθεν πλέων;

[¶71] Neoptolemus:
Well, since you ask, it is from Ilium that I am now guiding my ship.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἐξ Ἰλίου τοι δὴ τανῦν γε ναυστολῶ.

[¶72] Philoctetes:
What? You were certainly not our shipmate at the beginning of the expedition there.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
πῶς εἶπας; οὐ γὰρ δὴ σύ γʼ ἦσθα ναυβάτης
ἡμῖν κατʼ ἀρχὴν τοῦ πρὸς Ἴλιον στόλου.

[¶73] Neoptolemus:
And did you have a part in that toil?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἦ γὰρ μετέσχες καὶ σὺ τοῦδε τοῦ πόνου;

[¶74] Philoctetes:
Then you do not know who I am?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ τέκνον, οὐ γὰρ οἶσθά μʼ ὅντινʼ εἰσορᾷς;

[¶75] Neoptolemus:
How should I know one whom I have never seen before?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
πῶς γὰρ κάτοιδʼ ὅν γʼ εἶδον οὐδεπώποτε;

[¶76] Philoctetes:
Then you have not even heard my name, or any rumor of those sufferings under which I have been perishing?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐδʼ ὄνομʼ ἄρʼ οὐδὲ τῶν ἐμῶν κακῶν κλέος
ᾔσθου ποτʼ οὐδέν, οἷς ἐγὼ διωλλύμην;

[¶77] Neoptolemus:
Be sure that I know nothing of what you ask.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὡς μηδὲν εἰδότʼ ἴσθι μʼ ὧν ἀνιστορεῖς.

[¶78] Philoctetes:
How cursed I must be, how abhorred by the gods,
if not a word of my miserable condition has reached my homeland, or any Greek land at all! Instead those men, who against the gods’ laws cast me away, keep their secret and laugh, while my plague has ever flourished and grows worse!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ πόλλʼ ἐγὼ μοχθηρός, ὦ πικρὸς θεοῖς,
οὗ μηδὲ κληδὼν ὧδʼ ἔχοντος οἴκαδε
μηδʼ Ἑλλάδος γῆς μηδαμοῦ διῆλθέ που.
ἀλλʼ οἱ μὲν ἐκβαλόντες ἀνοσίως ἐμὲ
γελῶσι σῖγʼ ἔχοντες, ἡ δʼ ἐμὴ νόσος
ἀεὶ τέθηλε κἀπὶ μεῖζον ἔρχεται.

[¶79] O my son, boy whose father was Achilles, here I am before you, the man of whom you have perhaps heard as lord of the bow of Heracles, Philoctetes the son of Poeas. I am he whom the two marshalls and the Cephallenian king
shamelessly hurled to this solitude which you see, when I was wasting with a fierce disease, stricken by the savage bite of the murderous serpent. With that plague for my sole companion, boy, those men put me out
here alone and left, after they landed here with their fleet from sea-washed Chryse. Delighted they were then, when they saw me asleep after much tossing on the waves, in the shelter of a cave upon the shore, and they abandoned me, first setting out a few rags, as though for an unfortunate beggar, and a bit of food, too—
a small work of charity. But may they get what they gave me! Can you imagine, boy, what kind of awakening I had when they had gone, and I rose from sleep that day?—what stinging tears I wept, and what miseries I bewailed when I saw that the ships with which I had sailed
were all gone, and that there was no man in the place, not one to help me, not one to ease the sickness that afflicted me, when looking all around me, I could find nothing at hand, save agony—but of that a ready store?

> Greek: ὦ τέκνον, ὦ παῖ πατρὸς ἐξ Ἀχιλλέως,
ὅδʼ εἴμʼ ἐγώ σοι κεῖνος, ὃν κλύεις ἴσως
τῶν Ἡρακλείων ὄντα δεσπότην ὅπλων,
ὁ τοῦ Ποίαντος παῖς Φιλοκτήτης, ὃν οἱ
δισσοὶ στρατηγοὶ χὠ Κεφαλλήνων ἄναξ
ἔρριψαν αἰσχρῶς ὧδʼ ἔρημον, ἀγρίᾳ
νόσῳ καταφθίνοντα, τῆς ἀνδροφθόρου
πληγέντʼ ἐχίδνης ἀγρίῳ χαράγματι·
ξὺν ᾗ μʼ ἐκεῖνοι, παῖ, προθέντες ἐνθάδε
ᾤχοντʼ ἔρημον, ἡνίκʼ ἐκ τῆς ποντίας
Χρύσης κατέσχον δεῦρο ναυβάτῃ στόλῳ.
τότʼ ἄσμενοί μʼ ὡς εἶδον ἐκ πολλοῦ σάλου
εὕδοντʼ ἐπʼ ἀκτῆς ἐν κατηρεφεῖ πέτρᾳ,
λιπόντες ᾤχονθʼ, οἷα φωτὶ δυσμόρῳ
ῥάκη προθέντες βαιὰ καί τι καὶ βορᾶς
ἐπωφέλημα σμικρόν, οἷʼ αὐτοῖς τύχοι.
σὺ δή, τέκνον, ποίαν μʼ ἀνάστασιν δοκεῖς
αὐτῶν βεβώτων ἐξ ὕπνου στῆναι τότε;
ποῖʼ ἐκδακρῦσαι, ποῖʼ ἀποιμῶξαι κακά;
ὁρῶντα μὲν ναῦς, ἃς ἔχων ἐναυστόλουν,
πάσας βεβώσας, ἄνδρα δʼ οὐδένʼ ἔντοπον,
οὐχ ὅστις ἀρκέσειεν οὐδʼ ὅστις νόσου
κάμνοντι συλλάβοιτο· πάντα δὲ σκοπῶν
ηὕρισκον οὐδὲν πλὴν ἀνιᾶσθαι παρόν,
τούτου δὲ πολλὴν εὐμάρειαν, ὦ τέκνον.

[¶80] So time passed for me, season by season, and alone in this narrow house, I had to attend to all my wants by my own resources. For my stomach’s needs this bow provided, bringing down doves on the wing. And whatever my string-sped arrow might strike,
in pain I would crawl to it myself, dragging my wretched foot behind me. Or, again, if water had to be fetched, or, if when the frost had spread, as often happens in winter, a bit of firewood had to be broken, I would creep out in pain and
manage it. Then fire would be lacking; but by rubbing stone hard on stone I would at last reveal the hidden spark which preserves me from day to day. Indeed, a roof over my head and a fire inside provides all that I want—except release from my disease.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὁ μὲν χρόνος δὴ διὰ χρόνου προύβαινέ μοι,
κἄδει τι βαιᾷ τῇδʼ ὑπὸ στέγῃ μόνον
διακονεῖσθαι. γαστρὶ μὲν τὰ σύμφορα
τόξον τόδʼ ἐξηύρισκε, τὰς ὑποπτέρους
βάλλον πελείας· πρὸς δὲ τοῦθʼ, ὅ μοι βάλοι
νευροσπαδὴς ἄτρακτος, αὐτὸς ἂν τάλας
εἰλυόμην, δύστηνον ἐξέλκων πόδα,
πρὸς τοῦτʼ ἄν· εἴ τʼ ἔδει τι καὶ ποτὸν λαβεῖν,
καί που πάγου χυθέντος, οἷα χείματι,
ξύλον τι θραῦσαι, ταῦτʼ ἂν ἐξέρπων τάλας
ἐμηχανώμην· εἶτα πῦρ ἂν οὐ παρῆν,
ἀλλʼ ἐν πέτροισι πέτρον ἐκτρίβων μόλις
ἔφηνʼ ἄφαντον φῶς, ὃ καὶ σῴζει μʼ ἀεί.
οἰκουμένη γὰρ οὖν στέγη πυρὸς μέτα
πάντʼ ἐκπορίζει πλὴν τὸ μὴ νοσεῖν ἐμέ.

[¶81] Come now, son, you must understand what sort of island this is. No mariner approaches it by choice, since there is no anchorage or port where he can find a gainful market or a kindly host. This is not a place to which prudent men voyage. But suppose that some one has put in against his will, for such things may often
happen in the long course of a man’s life. These visitors, then, when they come, son, have compassionate words for me, and, perhaps moved by pity, they give me a little food or some clothing.

> Greek: φέρʼ, ὦ τέκνον, νῦν καὶ τὸ τῆς νήσου μάθῃς.
ταύτῃ πελάζει ναυβάτης οὐδεὶς ἑκών·
οὐ γάρ τις ὅρμος ἔστιν οὐδʼ ὅποι πλέων
ἐξεμπολήσει κέρδος ἢ ξενώσεται.
οὐκ ἐνθάδʼ οἱ πλοῖ τοῖσι σώφροσιν βροτῶν.
τάχʼ οὖν τις ἄκων ἔσχε· πολλὰ γὰρ τάδε
ἐν τῷ μακρῷ γένοιτʼ ἂν ἀνθρώπων χρόνῳ·
οὗτοί μʼ, ὅταν μόλωσιν, ὦ τέκνον, λόγοις
ἐλεοῦσι μέν, καί πού τι καὶ βορᾶς μέρος
προσέδοσαν οἰκτίραντες ἤ τινα στολήν·

[¶82] But there is one thing that no one will do, whenever I mention it: take me home in safety. No, this is already the tenth year that I am wasted by misery from hunger and suffering, by feeding this gluttonous plague. This is what the Atreids and the forceful Odysseus have done to me, boy.
May the gods on Olympus someday give them agonies as strong in requital for mine!

> Greek: ἐκεῖνο δʼ οὐδείς, ἡνίκʼ ἂν μνησθῶ, θέλει,
σῶσαί μʼ ἐς οἴκους, ἀλλʼ ἀπόλλυμαι τάλας
ἔτος τόδʼ ἤδη δέκατον ἐν λιμῷ τε καὶ
κακοῖσι βόσκων τὴν ἀδηφάγον νόσον.
τοιαῦτʼ Ἀτρεῖδαί μʼ ἥ τʼ Ὀδυσσέως βία,
ὦ παῖ, δεδράκασʼ, οἷʼ Ὀλύμπιοι θεοὶ
δοῖέν ποτʼ αὐτοῖς ἀντίποινʼ ἐμοῦ παθεῖν.

[¶83] Chorus:
I believe that I, too, pity you, son of Poeas, as much as your former visitors.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἔοικα κἀγὼ τοῖς ἀφιγμένοις ἴσα
ξένοις ἐποικτίρειν σε, Ποίαντος τέκνον.

[¶84] Neoptolemus:
And I myself attest your accusations,
for I know their truth through my own experience with the wickedness of the Atreids and the force of Odysseus.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἐγὼ δὲ καὐτὸς τοῖσδε μάρτυς ἐν λόγοις,
ὡς εἴσʼ ἀληθεῖς οἶδα, συντυχὼν κακῶν
ἀνδρῶν Ἀτρειδῶν τῆς τʼ Ὀδυσσέως βίας.

[¶85] Philoctetes:
What, do you also have a grievance against the accursed sons of Atreus, a cause for anger at some mistreatment?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἦ γάρ τι καὶ σὺ τοῖς πανωλέθροις ἔχεις
ἔγκλημʼ Ἀτρείδαις, ὥστε θυμοῦσθαι παθών;

[¶86] Neoptolemus:
If only I might one day be allowed to fulfill my heart’s rage by the deeds of my hand,
so that Mycenae might learn, and Sparta, that Scyros also is a mother of brave men!

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
θυμὸν γένοιτο χειρὶ πληρῶσαί ποτε,
ἵνʼ αἱ Μυκῆναι γνοῖεν ἡ Σπάρτη θʼ ὅτι
χἠ Σκῦρος ἀνδρῶν ἀλκίμων μήτηρ ἔφυ.

[¶87] Philoctetes:
Well said, son! Now what is the reason that you have come complaining against them with this fierce wrath?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
εὖ γʼ, ὦ τέκνον· τίνος γὰρ ὧδε τὸν μέγαν
χόλον κατʼ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλῶν ἐλήλυθας;

[¶88] Neoptolemus:
I will tell you—and yet it is hard to tell—
the outrage that I suffered from them upon my arrival there. For when fate decreed that Achilles should die—

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὦ παῖ Ποίαντος, ἐξερῶ, μόλις δʼ ἐρῶ,
ἅγωγʼ ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἐξελωβήθην μολών.
ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔσχε μοῖρʼ Ἀχιλλέα θανεῖν,

[¶89] Philoctetes:
Ah, me! Tell me no more, until I first know this—is the son of Peleus dead?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι· φράσῃς μοι μὴ πέρα, πρὶν ἂν μάθω
πρῶτον τόδʼ, ἦ τέθνηχʼ ὁ Πηλέως γόνος;

[¶90] Neoptolemus:
Dead—not by a mortal hand, but by a god’s.
He was brought down, as men say, by the arrow of Phoebus.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τέθνηκεν, ἀνδρὸς οὐδενός, θεοῦ δʼ ὕπο,
τοξευτός, ὡς λέγουσιν, ἐκ Φοίβου δαμείς.

[¶91] Philoctetes:
Well, noble alike are the slayer and the slain. But I am at a loss to know, son, whether I should first inquire into the wrong done you, or mourn the dead.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀλλʼ εὐγενὴς μὲν ὁ κτανών τε χὠ θανών·
ἀμηχανῶ δὲ πότερον, ὦ τέκνον, τὸ σὸν
πάθημʼ ἐλέγχω πρῶτον ἢ κεῖνον στένω.

[¶92] Neoptolemus:
Your own sorrows, I think, are enough
for you, unhappy man, without mourning for those of your neighbor.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οἶμαι μὲν ἀρκεῖν σοί γε καὶ τὰ σʼ, ὦ τάλας,
ἀλγήμαθʼ, ὥστε μὴ τὰ τῶν πέλας στένειν.

[¶93] Philoctetes:
You speak the truth. Therefore tell me again what happened to you, and how they wronged you.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὀρθῶς ἔλεξας· τοιγαροῦν τὸ σὸν φράσον
αὖθις πάλιν μοι πρᾶγμʼ, ὅτῳ σʼ ἐνύβρισαν.

[¶94] Neoptolemus:
They came for me in a ship elaborately ornamented, shining Odysseus, and he who fostered my father,
and said—whether truly or falsely, I do not know—that since my father had perished, fate now forbade that anyone but I should take the towers of Troy. Saying that this, my friend, was how things stood, they caused me no long delay before I set sail in haste,
chiefly because of my yearning for the dead, that I might look upon him before burial, since I had never seen him. Then, besides, theirs was a fine promise, if by accompanying them I might sack the towers of Troy. It was now the second day of my voyage
when, sped by breeze and oar, I approached bitter Sigeum. When I landed, straightaway the entire army thronged around me with greetings, vowing that they saw their lost Achilles once more alive. He, though, lay ready for burial, and I, unhappy,
when I had wept for him, went before long to the Atreids, to friends, as it was reasonable to suppose,—and claimed my father’s arms and all else that had been his. O, their reply was bold and shameless! “Seed of Achilles, you may take all else that was your father’s. But of those arms another man now is lord, the son of Laertes.”

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἦλθόν με νηὶ ποικιλοστόλῳ μέτα
δῖός τʼ Ὀδυσσεὺς χὠ τροφεὺς τοὐμοῦ πατρός,
λέγοντες, εἴτʼ ἀληθὲς εἴτʼ ἄρʼ οὖν μάτην,
ὡς οὐ θέμις γίγνοιτʼ, ἐπεὶ κατέφθιτο
πατὴρ ἐμός, τὰ πέργαμʼ ἄλλον ἤ μʼ ἑλεῖν.
ταῦτʼ, ὦ ξένʼ, οὕτως ἐννέποντες οὐ πολὺν
χρόνον μʼ ἐπέσχον μή με ναυστολεῖν ταχύ,
μάλιστα μὲν δὴ τοῦ θανόντος ἱμέρῳ,
ὅπως ἴδοιμʼ ἄθαπτον· οὐ γὰρ εἰδόμην·
ἔπειτα μέντοι χὠ λόγος καλὸς προσῆν,
εἰ τἀπὶ Τροίᾳ πέργαμʼ αἱρήσοιμʼ ἰών.
ἦν δʼ ἦμαρ ἤδη δεύτερον πλέοντί μοι,
κἀγὼ πικρὸν Σίγειον οὐρίῳ πλάτῃ
κατηγόμην· καί μʼ εὐθὺς ἐν κύκλῳ στρατὸς
ἐκβάντα πᾶς ἠσπάζετʼ, ὀμνύντες βλέπειν
τὸν οὐκέτʼ ὄντα ζῶντʼ Ἀχιλλέα πάλιν.
κεῖνος μὲν οὖν ἔκειτʼ· ἐγὼ δʼ ὁ δύσμορος
ἐπεὶ ʼδάκρυσα κεῖνον, οὐ μακρῷ χρόνῳ
ἐλθὼν Ἀτρείδας πρὸς φίλους, ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν,
τά θʼ ὅπλʼ ἀπῄτουν τοῦ πατρὸς τά τʼ ἄλλʼ ὅσʼ ἦν.
οἱ δʼ εἶπον, οἴμοι, τλημονέστατον λόγον·
ὦ σπέρμʼ Ἀχιλλέως, τἄλλα μὲν πάρεστί σοι
πατρῷʼ ἑλέσθαι, τῶν δʼ ὅπλων κείνων ἀνὴρ
ἄλλος κρατύνει νῦν, ὁ Λαέρτου γόνος.

[¶95] The tears came quick to my eyes as I sprang up in passionate anger and said in my bitterness, “Madman! Have you dared give my arms to another man in my place, without asking me?” But Odysseus—for he chanced to be at hand—said, “Yes, boy, they awarded them as was just, since it was I who saved the arms and their master by my presence at the crucial moment.” Then immediately, in my fury, I began to lash at him with every kind of insult
and left not one unsaid, if he was indeed to rob me of my arms. At this point, stung by the abuse, though not given to anger, he answered,—“You have not gone to where we have; instead you have been absent from where you were needed. And since your tongue is so arrogant, you will never sail back to Scyros with those arms in your possession.” In that way rebuked, in that way insulted, I sail for home, deprived of what is my own by that worst offspring of a wicked line, Odysseus.

> Greek: κἀγὼ δακρύσας εὐθὺς ἐξανίσταμαι
ὀργῇ βαρείᾳ, καὶ καταλγήσας λέγω·
ὦ σχέτλιʼ, ἦ ʼτολμήσατʼ ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ τινι
δοῦναι τὰ τεύχη τἀμά, πρὶν μαθεῖν ἐμοῦ;
ὁ δʼ εἶπʼ Ὀδυσσεύς, πλησίον γὰρ ὢν κυρεῖ,
ναί, παῖ, δεδώκασʼ ἐνδίκως οὗτοι τάδε·
ἐγὼ γὰρ αὔτʼ ἔσωσα κἀκεῖνον παρών.
κἀγὼ χολωθεὶς εὐθὺς ἤρασσον κακοῖς
τοῖς πᾶσιν, οὐδὲν ἐνδεὲς ποιούμενος,
εἰ τἀμὰ κεῖνος ὅπλʼ ἀφαιρήσοιτό με.
ὁ δʼ ἐνθάδʼ ἥκων, καίπερ οὐ δύσοργος ὤν,
δηχθεὶς πρὸς ἁξήκουσεν ὧδʼ ἠμείψατο·
οὐκ ἦσθʼ ἵνʼ ἡμεῖς, ἀλλʼ ἀπῆσθʼ ἵνʼ οὔ σʼ ἔδει·
καὶ ταῦτʼ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ λέγεις θρασυστομῶν,
οὐ μήποτʼ ἐς τὴν Σκῦρον ἐκπλεύσῃς ἔχων.
τοιαῦτʼ ἀκούσας κἀξονειδισθεὶς κακὰ
πλέω πρὸς οἴκους, τῶν ἐμῶν τητώμενος
πρὸς τοῦ κακίστου κἀκ κακῶν Ὀδυσσέως.

[¶96] And yet I do not blame him as much as I do those in power. For a city hangs wholly on its leaders, and so does an army, but when men shatter law and order, it is the lessons of their teachers that corrupt them. My tale is told in full. May he who hates the Atreids
be as dear to the gods as he is to me!

> Greek: κοὐκ αἰτιῶμαι κεῖνον ὡς τοὺς ἐν τέλει·
πόλις γάρ ἐστι πᾶσα τῶν ἡγουμένων
στρατός τε σύμπας· οἱ δʼ ἀκοσμοῦντες βροτῶν
διδασκάλων λόγοισι γίγνονται κακοί.
λόγος λέλεκται πᾶς· ὁ δʼ Ἀτρείδας στυγῶν
ἐμοί θʼ ὁμοίως καὶ θεοῖς εἴη φίλος.

[¶97] Chorus:
Goddess of the hills, Earth all-nourishing, mother of Zeus himself, you through whose realm the great Pactolus
rolls golden sands! There, there also, dread Mother, I called upon your name, when all the insults of the Atreids landed upon this man, when they handed over his father’s armor, that sublime marvel,
to the son of Laertes. Hear it, blessed queen, who rides on bull-slaughtering lions!

> Greek: Χορός:
ὀρεστέρα παμβῶτι Γᾶ, μᾶτερ αὐτοῦ Διός,
ἃ τὸν μέγαν Πακτωλὸν εὔχρυσον νέμεις,
σὲ κἀκεῖ, μᾶτερ πότνιʼ, ἐπηυδώμαν,
ὅτʼ ἐς τόνδʼ Ἀτρειδᾶν ὕβρις πᾶσʼ ἐχώρει,
ὅτε τὰ πάτρια τεύχεα παρεδίδοσαν,
ἰὼ μάκαιρα ταυροκτόνων
λεόντων ἔφεδρε, τῷ Λαρτίου
σέβας ὑπέρτατον.

[¶98] Philoctetes:
It seems that you have come to me, friends, well commended by a grief that matches my own.
Your story is in harmony with mine, so that I can recognize the work of the Atreids and of Odysseus. For well I know that he would put his tongue to any base tale and to any mischief-making, if thereby he could hope to accomplish something criminal in the end.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἔχοντες, ὡς ἔοικε, σύμβολον σαφὲς
λύπης πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὦ ξένοι, πεπλεύκατε,
καί μοι προσᾴδεθʼ ὥστε γιγνώσκειν ὅτι
ταῦτʼ ἐξ Ἀτρειδῶν ἔργα κἀξ Ὀδυσσέως.
ἔξοιδα γάρ νιν παντὸς ἂν λόγου κακοῦ
γλώσσῃ θιγόντα καὶ πανουργίας, ἀφʼ ἧς
μηδὲν δίκαιον ἐς τέλος μέλλοι ποεῖν.

[¶99] No, that is not at all a wonder to me, but rather that the elder Ajax, if he was there, could bear to see this.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ οὔ τι τοῦτο θαῦμʼ ἔμοιγʼ, ἀλλʼ εἰ παρὼν
Αἴας ὁ μείζων ταῦθʼ ὁρῶν ἠνείχετο.

[¶100] Neoptolemus:
Ah, friend, he was no longer alive—I would never have been plundered like that while he lived.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκ ἦν ἔτι ζῶν, ὦ ξένʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε
ζῶντός γʼ ἐκείνου ταῦτʼ ἐσυλήθην ἐγώ.

[¶101] Philoctetes:
What do you say? Is he, too, dead and gone?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
πῶς εἶπας; ἀλλʼ ἦ χοὖτος οἴχεται θανών;

[¶102] Neoptolemus:
Think of him as of one who sees the sun’s light no more.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὡς μηκέτʼ ὄντα κεῖνον ἐν φάει νόει.

[¶103] Philoctetes:
Oh, no! But the son of Tydeus, and Sisyphus’ offspring that was bought by Laertes—they will not die, since they do not deserve to live!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι τάλας. ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὁ Τυδέως γόνος
οὐδʼ οὑμπολητὸς Σισύφου Λαερτίῳ,
οὐ μὴ θάνωσι· τούσδε γὰρ μὴ ζῆν ἔδει.

[¶104] Neoptolemus:
No, indeed, be sure of it. On the contrary, they prosper now
—yes, and greatly—in the Argive army.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐ δῆτʼ· ἐπίστω τοῦτό γʼ· ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγα
θάλλοντές εἰσι νῦν ἐν Ἀργείων στρατῷ.

[¶105] Philoctetes:
And what of my brave old friend, Nestor of Pylos—is he not alive? He often checked the crimes of those two, if not others, by his sage counsels.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
τί δʼ; οὐ παλαιὸς κἀγαθὸς φίλος τʼ ἐμός,
Νέστωρ ὁ Πύλιος, ἔστιν; οὗτος γὰρ τά γε
κείνων κάκʼ ἐξήρυκε, βουλεύων σοφά.

[¶106] Neoptolemus:
He has his own troubles now, since Antilochus,
the son that was at his side, left him for Hades.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
κεῖνός γε πράσσει νῦν κακῶς, ἐπεὶ θανὼν
Ἀντίλοχος αὐτῷ φροῦδος, ὃς παρῆν, γόνος.

[¶107] Philoctetes:
Ah, me! These two, again, whom you have named, are men of whose death I had least wished to hear. Gods! What are we to look for, when these men have died, but Odysseus here again lives, when
in their place he should have been announced as dead?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι, δύʼ αὖ τώδʼ ἄνδρʼ ἔλεξας, οἷν ἐγὼ
ἥκιστʼ ἂν ἠθέλησʼ ὀλωλότοιν κλύειν.
φεῦ φεῦ· τί δῆτα δεῖ σκοπεῖν, ὅθʼ οἵδε μὲν
τεθνᾶσʼ, Ὀδυσσεὺς δʼ ἔστιν αὖ κἀνταῦθʼ ἵνα
χρῆν ἀντὶ τούτων αὐτὸν αὐδᾶσθαι νεκρόν;

[¶108] Neoptolemus:
The man is a clever wrestler. But even clever schemes, Philoctetes, are often blocked.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
σοφὸς παλαιστὴς κεῖνος· ἀλλὰ χαἰ σοφαὶ
γνῶμαι, Φιλοκτῆτʼ, ἐμποδίζονται θαμά.

[¶109] Philoctetes:
Now, by the gods, tell me—where was Patroclus when you needed him, he whom your father loved beyond all others?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
φέρʼ εἰπὲ πρὸς θεῶν, ποῦ γὰρ ἦν ἐνταῦθά σοι
Πάτροκλος, ὃς σοῦ πατρὸς ἦν τὰ φίλτατα;

[¶110] Neoptolemus:
He, too, was dead. And in a brief maxim I would teach you this: War takes no evil man by choice, but always the good men.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
χοὖτος τεθνηκὼς ἦν· λόγῳ δέ σʼ ἐν βραχεῖ
τοῦτʼ ἐκδιδάξω· πόλεμος οὐδένʼ ἄνδρʼ ἑκὼν
αἱρεῖ πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς χρηστοὺς ἀεί.

[¶111] Philoctetes:
I will attest to that, and with that very truth in mind, I will ask you how fares a man of little worth, but sharp of tongue and clever.
Neoptolemus:
Surely the man of whom you ask is no one but Odysseus?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ξυμμαρτυρῶ σοι· καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτό γε
ἀναξίου μὲν φωτὸς ἐξερήσομαι,
γλώσσῃ δὲ δεινοῦ καὶ σοφοῦ, τί νῦν κυρεῖ.

[¶112] Philoctetes:
I did not mean him; there was one Thersites, who could never be content to speak once and briefly, even though no one wanted him to speak at all. Do you know if he is alive?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ποίου δὲ τούτου πλήν γʼ Ὀδυσσέως ἐρεῖς;
Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐ τοῦτον εἶπον, ἀλλὰ Θερσίτης τις ἦν,
ὃς οὐκ ἂν εἵλετʼ εἰσάπαξ εἰπεῖν, ὅπου
μηδεὶς ἐῴη· τοῦτον οἶσθʼ εἰ ζῶν κυρεῖ;

[¶113] Neoptolemus:
I never saw him, but I heard that he is still alive.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκ εἶδον αὐτόν, ᾐσθόμην δʼ ἔτʼ ὄντα νιν.

[¶114] Philoctetes:
He would be—no evil thing has ever been known to perish. No, the gods take excellent care of their kind. They find a strange joy in turning back from Hades all things criminal
and crooked, while they are always dispatching the just and the good from life. How am I to regard these doings? How can I praise them, when in the very act of praising the ways of the gods, I find that the gods are evil?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἔμελλʼ· ἐπεὶ οὐδέν πω κακόν γʼ ἀπώλετο,
ἀλλʼ εὖ περιστέλλουσιν αὐτὰ δαίμονες,
καί πως τὰ μὲν πανοῦργα καὶ παλιντριβῆ
χαίρουσʼ ἀναστρέφοντες ἐξ Ἅιδου, τὰ δὲ
δίκαια καὶ τὰ χρήστʼ ἀποστέλλουσʼ ἀεί.
ποῦ χρὴ τίθεσθαι ταῦτα, ποῦ δʼ αἰνεῖν, ὅταν
τὰ θεῖʼ ἐπαινῶν τοὺς θεοὺς εὕρω κακούς;

[¶115] Neoptolemus:
I, at least, son of Oetean Poeas, will be on my guard hereafter against Ilium
and the Atreids, and look on them only from afar. And where the worse man is stronger than the good, where nobility goes to ruin and the vile man dominates—among such men I will never make my friends. No, rocky Scyros shall suffice for me
from now on to make me delight in my home. Now to my ship! And you, son of Poeas, farewell—as best you can, farewell! May the gods free you of your disease, just as you wish! But we must be going, so that we
may set sail whenever the god permits our voyage.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἐγὼ μέν, ὦ γένεθλον Οἰταίου πατρός,
τὸ λοιπὸν ἤδη τηλόθεν τό τʼ Ἴλιον
καὶ τοὺς Ἀτρείδας εἰσορῶν φυλάξομαι·
ὅπου δʼ ὁ χείρων τἀγαθοῦ μεῖζον σθένει
κἀποφθίνει τὰ χρηστὰ χὠ δειλὸς κρατεῖ,
τούτους ἐγὼ τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐ στέρξω ποτέ·
ἀλλʼ ἡ πετραία Σκῦρος ἐξαρκοῦσά μοι
ἔσται τὸ λοιπόν, ὥστε τέρπεσθαι δόμῳ.
νῦν δʼ εἶμι πρὸς ναῦν· καὶ σύ, Ποίαντος τέκνον,
χαῖρʼ ὡς μέγιστα, χαῖρε· καί σε δαίμονες
νόσου μεταστήσειαν, ὡς αὐτὸς θέλεις.
ἡμεῖς δʼ ἴωμεν, ὡς ὁπηνίκʼ ἂν θεὸς
πλοῦν ἡμὶν εἴκῃ, τηνικαῦθʼ ὁρμώμεθα.

[¶116] Philoctetes:
Are you setting out already, son?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἤδη, τέκνον, στέλλεσθε;

[¶117] Neoptolemus:
Yes, since opportunity bids us watch near our ship for a fair wind, rather than from afar.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
καιρὸς γὰρ καλεῖ
πλοῦν μὴ ʼξ ἀπόπτου μᾶλλον ἢ ʼγγύθεν σκοπεῖν.

[¶118] Philoctetes:
Now by your father and by your mother, son, by all that you cherish at home—
I solemnly supplicate you, do not leave me alone like this, helpless amid these miseries in which I live, so harsh as you see, and so numerous as I have said! Consider me a small side-task. Great is
your disgust, well I know, at such a cargo. Yet bear with it all the same—to noble minds baseness is hateful, and a good deed is glorious. If you forsake this task, you will have a stain on your honor; but if you perform it, boy, you will win the prize of highest honor—if I return alive to Oeta’s soil.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
πρός νύν σε πατρὸς πρός τε μητρός, ὦ τέκνον,
πρός τʼ εἴ τί σοι κατʼ οἶκόν ἐστι προσφιλές,
ἱκέτης ἱκνοῦμαι, μὴ λίπῃς μʼ οὕτω μόνον,
ἔρημον ἐν κακοῖσι τοῖσδʼ οἵοις ὁρᾷς
ὅσοισί τʼ ἐξήκουσας ἐνναίοντά με·
ἀλλʼ ἐν παρέργῳ θοῦ με. δυσχέρεια μέν,
ἔξοιδα, πολλὴ τοῦδε τοῦ φορήματος·
ὅμως δὲ τλῆθι· τοῖσι γενναίοισί τοι
τό τʼ αἰσχρὸν ἐχθρὸν καὶ τὸ χρηστὸν εὐκλεές.
σοὶ δʼ ἐκλιπόντι τοῦτʼ ὄνειδος οὐ καλόν,
δράσαντι δʼ, ὦ παῖ, πλεῖστον εὐκλείας γέρας,
ἐὰν μόλω ʼγὼ ζῶν πρὸς Οὐταίαν χθόνα.

[¶119] Come, the trouble will not last one full day. Endure it, take me and throw me where you will—in the hold, the prow, the stern, wherever I will least annoy my shipmates. Say yes, by the great god of suppliants, son;
be persuaded! I supplicate you at your knees, I am an infirm wretch, and lame! Do not leave me desolate like this, far from the paths of mankind! No, bring me safely to your own home, or to Euboea, Chalcodon’s seat;

> Greek: ἴθʼ· ἡμέρας τοι μόχθος οὐχ ὅλης μιᾶς.
τόλμησον. ἐμβαλοῦ μʼ ὅπῃ θέλεις ἄγων,
εἰς ἀντλίαν, εἰς πρῷραν, εἰς πρύμνην, ὅποι
ἥκιστα μέλλω τοὺς ξυνόντας ἀλγυνεῖν.
νεῦσον, πρὸς αὐτοῦ Ζηνὸς ἱκεσίου, τέκνον,
πείσθητι· προσπίτνω σε γόνασι, καίπερ ὢν
ἀκράτωρ ὁ τλήμων, χωλός. ἀλλὰ μή μʼ ἀφῇς
ἔρημον οὕτω χωρὶς ἀνθρώπων στίβου,
ἀλλʼ ἢ πρὸς οἶκον τὸν σὸν ἔκσωσόν μʼ ἄγων
ἢ πρὸς τὰ Χαλκώδοντος Εὐβοίας σταθμά·

[¶120] and from there it will be no long journey for me to Oeta and the Trachinian heights, and fair-flowing Spercheius, so that you may show me to my beloved father, though long I have feared that he may have departed me. For often
did I summon him by means of those who came here, sending imploring prayers that he would himself send a ship and get me safely home. But either he is dead, or else, as I think is likely, my messengers thought my concerns of little account and hurried on their homeward voyage.

> Greek: κἀκεῖθεν οὔ μοι μακρὸς εἰς Οἴτην στόλος
Τραχινίαν τε δειράδʼ ἠδʼ ἐς εὔροον
Σπερχειὸν ἔσται· πατρί μʼ ὡς δείξῃς φίλῳ,
ὃν δὴ παλαιὸν ἐξ ὅτου δέδοικʼ ἐγὼ
μή μοι βεβήκῃ. πολλὰ γὰρ τοῖς ἱγμένοις
ἔστελλον αὐτὸν ἱκεσίους πέμπων λιτάς,
αὐτόστολον πέμψαντά μʼ ἐκσῶσαι δόμους.
ἀλλʼ ἢ τέθνηκεν ἢ τὰ τῶν διακόνων,
ὡς εἰκός, οἶμαι, τοὐμὸν ἐν σμικρῷ μέρος
ποιούμενοι τὸν οἴκαδʼ ἤπειγον στόλον.

## 2. Lines 500–977

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/2/#p-N

[¶0] Now, however, since in you I have found one who can be both an escort and a messenger, save me and show me mercy, keeping in mind that all human destiny is full of the fear and the danger that prosperity may be followed by its opposite. He who stands clear of trouble must beware of dangers,
and when a man lives at ease, then it is that he must look most closely to his livelihood, lest it secretly suffer ruin.

> Greek: νῦν δʼ, εἰς σὲ γὰρ πομπόν τε καὐτὸν ἄγγελον
ἥκω, σὺ σῶσον, σύ μʼ ἐλέησον, εἰσορῶν
ὡς πάντα δεινὰ κἀπικινδύνως βροτοῖς
κεῖται παθεῖν μὲν εὖ, παθεῖν δὲ θάτερα.
χρὴ δʼ ἐκτὸς ὄντα πημάτων τὰ δείνʼ ὁρᾶν,
χὤταν τις εὖ ζῇ, τηνικαῦτα τὸν βίον
σκοπεῖν μάλιστα, μὴ διαφθαρεὶς λάθῃ.

[¶1] Chorus:
Have pity, my king! He has told of a struggle with sufferings manifold and oppressive—may the like befall no friend of mine!

> Greek: Χορός:
οἴκτιρʼ, ἄναξ· πολλῶν ἔλεξεν δυσοίστων πόνων
ἆθλʼ, οἷα μηδεὶς τῶν ἐμῶν τύχοι φίλων.

[¶2] And if, my king, you hate the hateful Atreids, then, turning their wrongdoing to this man’s gain,
I would take him in your swift, well-rigged ship to the home for which he longs, and so escape the god’s just wrath.

> Greek: εἰ δὲ πικρούς, ἄναξ, ἔχθεις Ἀτρείδας,
ἐγὼ μέν, τὸ κείνων κακὸν τῷδε κέρδος
μετατιθέμενος, ἔνθαπερ ἐπιμέμονεν,
ἐπʼ εὐστόλου ταχείας νεὼς
πορεύσαιμʼ ἂν ἐς δόμους, τὰν θεῶν
νέμεσιν ἐκφυγών.

[¶3] Neoptolemus:
Though now as a casual spectator you are compliant,
beware lest later, when filled with his disease by its constant company, you prove no longer constant to these sentiments.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὅρα σὺ μὴ νῦν μέν τις εὐχερὴς παρῇς,
ὅταν δὲ πλησθῇς τῆς νόσου ξυνουσίᾳ,
τότʼ οὐκέθʼ αὑτὸς τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις φανῇς.

[¶4] Chorus:
That will not happen. You will never have just cause to rebuke me for that!

> Greek: Χορός:
ἥκιστα· τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅπως ποτʼ εἰς ἐμὲ
τοὔνειδος ἕξεις ἐνδίκως ὀνειδίσαι.

[¶5] Neoptolemus:
Well, then, it would shame me if the stranger were to find
me less ready than you are to toil for his good. Come, if it pleases you, let us sail. Let the man set out at once; our ship, for her part, will carry him, and will not refuse. Only may the gods give us safe passage from this land, and from here to whatever destination we choose!

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ αἰσχρὰ μέντοι σοῦ γέ μʼ ἐνδεέστερον
ξένῳ φανῆναι πρὸς τὸ καίριον πονεῖν.
ἀλλʼ εἰ δοκεῖ, πλέωμεν, ὁρμάσθω ταχύς·
χἠ ναῦς γὰρ ἄξει κοὐκ ἀπαρνηθήσεται.
μόνον θεοὶ σῴζοιεν ἔκ τε τῆσδε γῆς
ἡμᾶς ὅποι τʼ ἐνθένδε βουλοίμεσθα πλεῖν.

[¶6] Philoctetes:
O day of joy unsurpassed! Most delightful man, and you good sailors! If only I could show you in deeds what a true friend you have made in me! Let us be going, my son, when we two have made a solemn farewell to my homeless home inside, so that you may also learn
by what means I sustained my life, and how stout of heart I was born. For I believe that the mere sight would have deterred any other man but me from enduring these sufferings. But I have been slowly schooled by necessity to endure misery. Neoptolemus is about to follow Philoctetes into the cave.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ φίλτατον μὲν ἦμαρ, ἥδιστος δʼ ἀνήρ,
φίλοι δὲ ναῦται, πῶς ἂν ὑμὶν ἐμφανὴς
ἔργῳ γενοίμην, ὥς μʼ ἔθεσθε προσφιλῆ;
ἴωμεν, ὦ παῖ, προσκύσαντε τὴν ἔσω
ἄοικον εἰσοίκησιν, ὥς με καὶ μάθῃς
ἀφʼ ὧν διέζων ὥς τʼ ἔφυν εὐκάρδιος.
οἶμαι γὰρ οὐδʼ ἂν ὄμμασιν μόνην θέαν
ἄλλον λαβόντα πλὴν ἐμοῦ τλῆναι τάδε·
ἐγὼ δʼ ἀνάγκῃ προύμαθον στέργειν κακά.

[¶7] Chorus:
Wait, let us listen to the two men who are coming!
One is a crewman of your ship, the other a stranger. Go in after you hear their report.
Enter the Merchant, on the spectators’ left, accompanied by a Sailor.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐπίσχετον, μάθωμεν· ἄνδρε γὰρ δύο,
ὁ μὲν νεὼς σῆς ναυβάτης, ὁ δʼ ἀλλόθρους,
χωρεῖτον, ὧν μαθόντες αὖθις εἴσιτον.

[¶8] Merchant:
Son of Achilles, I asked my companion here, when he was guarding your ship with two others, to tell me where you might be found,
since I have chanced upon you unexpectedly by the good fortune of coming to anchor off this very coast. With no great company I am homeward bound on my trader’s voyage from Ilium to Peparethus with its cluster-laden vines, but when I heard that the sailors
were all of your crew, I resolved not to continue my voyage in silence, without first giving you my news and getting the due reward. You know nothing, I suspect, of your own affairs: the new designs the Greeks
have regarding you, and not only designs, but deeds in progress and no longer postponed.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
Ἀχιλλέως παῖ, τόνδε τὸν ξυνέμπορον,
ὃς ἦν νεὼς σῆς σὺν δυοῖν ἄλλοιν φύλαξ,
ἐκέλευσʼ ἐμοί σε ποῦ κυρῶν εἴης φράσαι,
ἐπείπερ ἀντέκυρσα, δοξάζων μὲν οὔ,
τύχῃ δέ πως πρὸς ταὐτὸν ὁρμισθεὶς πέδον.
πλέων γὰρ ὡς ναύκληρος οὐ πολλῷ στόλῳ
ἀπʼ Ἰλίου πρὸς οἶκον ἐς τὴν εὔβοτρυν
Πεπάρηθον, ὡς ἤκουσα τοὺς ναύτας ὅτι
σοὶ πάντες εἶεν συννεναυστοληκότες,
ἔδοξέ μοι μὴ σῖγα, πρὶν φράσαιμί σοι,
τὸν πλοῦν ποεῖσθαι, προστυχόντι τῶν ἴσων.
οὐδὲν σύ που κάτοισθα τῶν σαυτοῦ πέρι,
ἃ τοῖσιν Ἀργείοισιν ἀμφὶ σοῦ νέα
βουλεύματʼ ἐστί, κοὐ μόνον βουλεύματα,
ἀλλʼ ἔργα δρώμενʼ, οὐκέτʼ ἐξαργούμενα.

[¶9] Neoptolemus:
The service you have done me by your forethought, sir, unless I am unworthy, will remain in my grateful thoughts. But tell me just what the designs are that you mentioned, so that I may understand
what is the strange plan of the Greeks that you know.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ ἡ χάρις μὲν τῆς προμηθίας, ξένε,
εἰ μὴ κακὸς πέφυκα, προσφιλὴς μενεῖ·
φράσον δʼ ἅπερ, γʼ ἔλεξας, ὡς μάθω τί μοι
νεώτερον, βούλευμʼ ἀπʼ Ἀργείων ἔχεις.

[¶10] Merchant:
Pursuers are on the way in search of you with a fleet. They are the aged Phoenix and the sons of Theseus.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
φροῦδοι διώκοντές σε ναυτικῷ στόλῳ
Φοῖνιξ ὁ πρέσβυς οἵ τε Θησέως κόροι.

[¶11] Neoptolemus:
To bring me back by force, or through persuasion?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὡς ἐκ βίας μʼ ἄξοντες ἢ λόγοις πάλιν;

[¶12] Merchant:
I do not know; but I have come to tell you what I did hear.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
οὐκ οἶδʼ· ἀκούσας δʼ ἄγγελος πάρειμί σοι.

[¶13] Neoptolemus:
Are Phoenix and his comrades really so eager to do this favor for the Atreids?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἦ ταῦτα δὴ Φοῖνίξ τε χοἰ ξυνναυβάται
οὕτω καθʼ ὁρμὴν δρῶσιν Ἀτρειδῶν χάριν;

[¶14] Merchant:
Be sure that it is being done, and without delay.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
ὡς ταῦτʼ ἐπίστω δρώμενʼ, οὐ μέλλοντʼ ἔτι.

[¶15] Neoptolemus:
Then why was Odysseus not ready to sail on this mission, and bring the message himself? Or did some fear hold him back?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
πῶς οὖν Ὀδυσσεὺς πρὸς τάδʼ οὐκ αὐτάγγελος
πλεῖν ἦν ἕτοιμος; ἢ φόβος τις εἶργέ νιν;

[¶16] Merchant:
Oh, he and the son of Tydeus were readying for pursuit of another man, just as I was leaving port.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
κεῖνός γʼ ἐπʼ ἄλλον ἄνδρʼ ὁ Τυδέως τε παῖς
ἔστελλον, ἡνίκʼ ἐξανηγόμην ἐγώ.

[¶17] Neoptolemus:
Who is this other after whom Odysseus himself was sailing?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
πρὸς ποῖον αὖ τόνδʼ αὐτὸς Οὑδυσσεὺς ἔπλει;

[¶18] Merchant:
There was a man.... But tell me first who that is over there. And whatever you say, do speak quietly.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
ἦν δή τις—ἀλλὰ τόνδε μοι πρῶτον φράσον
τίς ἐστίν· ἃν λέγῃς δὲ μὴ φώνει μέγα.

[¶19] Neoptolemus:
There, sir, before your eyes is the renowned Philoctetes.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὅδʼ ἔσθʼ ὁ κλεινός σοι Φιλοκτήτης, ξένε.

[¶20] Merchant:
Then do not question me further, but get yourself out of here as quickly as possible and sail away.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
μή νύν μʼ ἔρῃ τὰ πλείονʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅσον τάχος
ἔκπλει σεαυτὸν ξυλλαβὼν ἐκ τῆσδε γῆς.

[¶21] Philoctetes:
What is he saying, boy? Why does the sailor traffic with you about me in these dark whispers?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
τί φησιν, ὦ παῖ; τί με κατὰ σκότον ποτὲ
διεμπολᾷ λόγοισι πρός σʼ ὁ ναυβάτης;

[¶22] Neoptolemus:
His meaning yet eludes me. But, whatever he will say, he must say openly—to you, me and my men here.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκ οἶδά πω τί φησι· δεῖ δʼ αὐτὸν λέγειν
εἰς φῶς ὃ λέξει, πρὸς σὲ κἀμὲ τούσδε τε.

[¶23] Merchant:
Seed of Achilles, do not stir the army’s resentment against me for saying what I should not. I receive many benefits for what services I do them, as a poor man may.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
ὦ σπέρμʼ Ἀχιλλέως, μή με διαβάλῃς στρατῷ
λέγονθʼ ἃ μὴ δεῖ· πόλλʼ ἐγὼ κείνων ὕπο
δρῶν ἀντιπάσχω χρηστά θʼ, οἷʼ ἀνὴρ πένης.

[¶24] Neoptolemus:
I am the enemy of the Atreids, and this man is my closest friend precisely because he hates them. Since, then, you have come kindly disposed towards me, you must not hide from us any part of their plans that you have heard.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἐγώ εἰμʼ Ἀτρείδαις δυσμενής· οὗτος δέ μοι
φίλος μέγιστος, οὕνεκʼ Ἀτρείδας στυγεῖ.
δεῖ δή σʼ ἔμοιγʼ ἐλθόντα προσφιλῆ, λόγων
κρύψαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς μηδένʼ ὧν ἀκήκοας.

[¶25] Merchant:
Beware of what you are doing, boy.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
ὅρα τί ποιεῖς, παῖ.

[¶26] Neoptolemus:
I am well aware.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
σκοπῶ κἀγὼ πάλαι.

[¶27] Merchant:
I will hold you accountable.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
σὲ θήσομαι τῶνδʼ αἴτιον.

[¶28] Neoptolemus:
Do so, but speak.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ποιοῦ λέγων.

[¶29] Merchant:
I will. It is after this man that those two whom I named to you, Diomedes and forceful Odysseus, are sailing. They are oath-bound to retrieve him, either by winning words or by overpowering might.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
λέγω. ʼπὶ τοῦτον ἄνδρε τώδʼ ὥπερ κλύεις,
ὁ Τυδέως παῖς ἥ τʼ Ὀδυσσέως βία,
διώμοτοι πλέουσιν ἦ μὴν ἢ λόγῳ
πείσαντες ἄξειν ἢ πρὸς ἰσχύος κράτος.

[¶30] And all the Achaeans heard this clearly from the mouth Odysseus, for his confidence of success in this action was higher than his comrade’s.

> Greek: καὶ ταῦτʼ Ἀχαιοὶ πάντες ἤκουον σαφῶς
Ὀδυσσέως λέγοντος· οὗτος γὰρ πλέον
τὸ θάρσος εἶχε θατέρου δράσειν τάδε.

[¶31] Neoptolemus:
And for the sake of what did the Atreids after so long a time turn their thoughts so urgently towards this man,
whom they were long since keeping an outcast? What was the desire that came over them, or what force? What avenging spirit sent by the gods to exact payment for evil deeds?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τίνος δʼ Ἀτρεῖδαι τοῦδʼ ἄγαν οὕτω χρόνῳ
τοσῷδʼ ἐπεστρέφοντο πράγματος χάριν,
ὅν γʼ εἶχον ἤδη χρόνιον ἐκβεβληκότες;
τίς ὁ πόθος αὐτοὺς ἵκετʼ; ἢ θεῶν βία
καὶ νέμεσις, οἵπερ ἔργʼ ἀμύνουσιν κακά;

[¶32] Merchant:
I will inform you of all that, since it seems that you have not heard. There was a seer of noble birth,
a son of Priam, called Helenus, whom that man, out on a solitary night raid—that deceitful Odysseus, whose repute is all shame and dishonor—captured. Leading him back in bonds, he displayed him publicly to the Achaeans as his glorious prey.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
ἐγώ σε τοῦτʼ, ἴσως γὰρ οὐκ ἀκήκοας,
πᾶν ἐκδιδάξω. μάντις ἦν τις εὐγενής,
Πριάμου μὲν υἱός, ὄνομα δʼ ὠνομάζετο
Ἕλενος, ὃν οὗτος νυκτὸς ἐξελθὼν μόνος,
ὁ πάντʼ ἀκούων αἰσχρὰ καὶ λωβήτʼ ἔπη
δόλιος Ὀδυσσεὺς εἷλε· δέσμιόν τʼ ἄγων
ἔδειξʼ Ἀχαιοῖς ἐς μέσον, θήραν καλήν·

[¶33] Helenus then prophesied for them whatever matter they asked, and, pertaining to Troy, he foretold that they would never sack its towers, unless by winning words they should bring Philoctetes here from the island where he now dwells. And, as soon as he heard the seer prophecy this, Laertes’ son
immediately promised that he would bring the man and show him to the Achaeans. He thought it most likely that he would get him willingly, but, if unwilling, then by force, and he added that, were he to fail in this, whoever wished it might sever his head.

> Greek: ὃς δὴ τά τʼ ἄλλʼ αὐτοῖσι πάντʼ ἐθέσπισεν
καὶ τἀπὶ Τροίᾳ πέργαμʼ ὡς οὐ μή ποτε
πέρσοιεν, εἰ μὴ τόνδε πείσαντες λόγῳ
ἄγοιντο νήσου τῆσδʼ ἐφʼ ἧς ναίει τανῦν.
καὶ ταῦθʼ ὅπως ἤκουσʼ ὁ Λαέρτου τόκος
τὸν μάντιν εἰπόντʼ, εὐθέως ὑπέσχετο
τὸν ἄνδρʼ Ἀχαιοῖς τόνδε δηλώσειν ἄγων·
οἴοιτο μὲν μάλισθʼ ἑκούσιον λαβών,
εἰ μὴ θέλοι δʼ, ἄκοντα· καὶ τούτων κάρα
τέμνειν ἐφεῖτο τῷ θέλοντι μὴ τυχών.

[¶34] You have heard everything, boy, and I advise speed for you, and for any man for whom you care.

> Greek: ἤκουσας, ὦ παῖ, πάντα· τὸ σπεύδειν δέ σοι
καὐτῷ παραινῶ κεἴ τινος κήδει πέρι.

[¶35] Philoctetes:
Alas! Has he, the utter plague, sworn to fetch me back to the Achaeans by persuasion? For if that were to happen, I could be persuaded, when dead, to come back up
from Hades into the light, as his father did!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι τάλας· ἦ κεῖνος, ἡ πᾶσα βλάβη,
ἔμʼ εἰς Ἀχαιοὺς ὤμοσεν πείσας στελεῖν;
πεισθήσομαι γὰρ ὧδε κἀξ Ἅιδου θανὼν
πρὸς φῶς ἀνελθεῖν, ὥσπερ οὑκείνου πατήρ.

[¶36] Merchant:
I know nothing about that. But for my part I must return to ship, while for you I pray that god may help you in every possible way. Exit Merchant.

> Greek: Ἔμπορος:
οὐκ οἶδʼ ἐγὼ ταῦτʼ· ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ μὲν εἶμʼ ἐπὶ
ναῦν, σφῷν δʼ ὅπως ἄριστα συμφέροι θεός.

[¶37] Philoctetes:
Now is it not astounding, boy, that Odysseus would ever have expected by means of soft words
to lead me from his ship and show me in the middle of the Greeks? No! I would sooner listen to that greatest and worst of my enemies, the viper which made me crippled as I am! But there is nothing that he would not say or dare. And now I know that he is coming here.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὔκουν τάδʼ, ὦ παῖ, δεινά, τὸν Λαερτίου
ἔμʼ ἐλπίσαι ποτʼ ἂν λόγοισι μαλθακοῖς
δεῖξαι νεὼς ἄγοντʼ ἐν Ἀργείοις μέσοις;
οὔ· θᾶσσον ἂν τῆς πλεῖστον ἐχθίστης ἐμοὶ
κλύοιμʼ ἐχίδνης, ἥ μʼ ἔθηκεν ὧδʼ ἄπουν.
ἀλλʼ ἔστʼ ἐκείνῳ πάντα λεκτά, πάντα δὲ
τολμητά· καὶ νῦν οἶδʼ ὁθούνεχʼ ἵξεται.

[¶38] Come, son, let us be moving, so that a wide sea may part us from the ship of Odysseus. Let us go! Good speed in good season brings sleep and rest when toil is finished.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ, ὦ τέκνον, χωρῶμεν, ὡς ἡμᾶς πολὺ
πέλαγος ὁρίζῃ τῆς Ὀδυσσέως νεώς.
ἴωμεν· ἥ τοι καίριος σπουδὴ πόνου
λήξαντος ὕπνον κἀνάπαυλαν ἤγαγεν.

[¶39] Neoptolemus:
Then as soon as the wind is not at our prow,
we will sail. At present it blows against us.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκοῦν ἐπειδὰν πνεῦμα τοὐκ πρῴρας ἀνῇ,
τότε στελοῦμεν· νῦν γὰρ ἀντιοστατεῖ.

[¶40] Philoctetes:
The sailing is always fair, when you flee trouble.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀεὶ καλὸς πλοῦς ἔσθʼ, ὅταν φεύγῃς κακά.

[¶41] Neoptolemus:
Not so; this weather is against them also.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὔκ, ἀλλὰ κἀκείνοισι ταῦτʼ ἐναντία.

[¶42] Philoctetes:
No wind stands in the way of pirates who sense a chance to steal and plunder by force.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐκ ἔστι λῃσταῖς πνεῦμʼ ἐναντιούμενον,
ὅταν παρῇ κλέψαι τι χἀρπάσαι βίᾳ.

[¶43] Neoptolemus:
Well, if you are so resolved, let us go, once you have taken from the cave whatever you need or desire most.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ εἰ δοκεῖ, χωρῶμεν, ἔνδοθεν λαβὼν
ὅτου σε χρεία καὶ πόθος μάλιστʼ ἔχει.

[¶44] Philoctetes:
Yes, there are some things that I need, though the choice is not large.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ὧν δεῖ, καίπερ οὐ πολλῶν ἄπο.

[¶45] Neoptolemus:
What is there that will not be available on board my ship?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί τοῦθʼ ὃ μὴ νεώς γε τῆς ἐμῆς ἔπι;

[¶46] Philoctetes:
I have a store of a certain herb, whereby I can always
best lull this wound, until it is wholly tamed.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
φύλλον τί μοι πάρεστιν, ᾧ μάλιστʼ ἀεὶ
κοιμῶ τόδʼ ἕλκος, ὥστε πραΰνειν πάνυ.

[¶47] Neoptolemus:
Fetch it, then. Now, what else do you wish to take?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ ἔκφερʼ αὐτό. τί γὰρ ἔτʼ ἄλλʼ ἐρᾷς λαβεῖν;

[¶48] Philoctetes:
Any of these arrows that may have been forgotten, and may have slipped away from me, so that I not leave it for another to take.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
εἴ μοί τι τόξων τῶνδʼ ἀπημελημένον
παρερρύηκεν, ὡς λίπω μή τῳ λαβεῖν.

[¶49] Neoptolemus:
Is that indeed the famous bow which you hold?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἦ ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ κλεινὰ τόξʼ ἃ νῦν ἔχεις;

[¶50] Philoctetes:
This, and no other, that I carry in my hand.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ταῦτʼ, οὐ γὰρ ἄλλʼ ἔστʼ, ἀλλʼ ἃ βαστάζω χεροῖν.

[¶51] Neoptolemus:
Is there any way that I might have a closer view of it—and handle it, and salute it as divine?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἆρʼ ἔστιν ὥστε κἀγγύθεν θέαν λαβεῖν
καὶ βαστάσαι με προσκύσαι θʼ ὥσπερ θεόν;

[¶52] Philoctetes:
To you alone, my son, this shall be granted, along with anything else in my power that is in your interest.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
σοί γʼ, ὦ τέκνον, καὶ τοῦτο κἄλλο τῶν ἐμῶν
ὁποῖον ἄν σοι ξυμφέρῃ γενήσεται.

[¶53] Neoptolemus:
I do indeed crave to touch it, but my craving takes this form: if it is lawful, I would be glad. If not, think no more of it.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
καὶ μὴν ἐρῶ γε, τὸν δʼ ἔρωθʼ οὕτως ἔχω·
εἴ μοι θέμις, θέλοιμʼ ἄν· εἰ δὲ μή, πάρες.

[¶54] Philoctetes:
Your words are reverent, son, and your wish is lawful. For you alone have given to my eyes the light of life and the hope of seeing the land of Oeta, of seeing
my aged father and my friends; and you alone, when I lay beneath the feet of my enemies, have lifted me beyond their reach. Be bold. The bow shall be yours to handle and to return to the hand that gave it, and you will be able to boast aloud that in reward for your goodness, you alone of mortals have touched it.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὅσιά τε φωνεῖς ἔστι τʼ, ὦ τέκνον, θέμις,
ὅς γʼ ἡλίου τόδʼ εἰσορᾶν ἐμοὶ φάος
μόνος δέδωκας, ὃς χθόνʼ Οἰταίαν ἰδεῖν,
ὃς πατέρα πρέσβυν, ὃς φίλους, ὃς τῶν ἐμῶν
ἐχθρῶν μʼ ἔνερθεν ὄντʼ ἀνέστησας πέρα.
θάρσει, παρέσται ταῦτά σοι καὶ θιγγάνειν
καὶ δόντι δοῦναι κἀξεπεύξασθαι βροτῶν
ἀρετῆς ἕκατι τῶνδʼ ἐπιψαῦσαι μόνον·

[¶55] Yes, it was by a good deed that I myself won it.

> Greek: εὐεργετῶν γὰρ καὐτὸς αὔτʼ ἐκτησάμην.

[¶56] Neoptolemus:
I am not sorry that I found you and have gained your friendship, since whoever knows how to render benefit for a benefit received must prove a friend more valuable than any possession. Please, do go inside.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκ ἄχθομαί σʼ ἰδών τε καὶ λαβὼν φίλον·
ὅστις γὰρ εὖ δρᾶν εὖ παθὼν ἐπίσταται,
παντὸς γένοιτʼ ἂν κτήματος κρείσσων φίλος. χωροῖς ἂν εἴσω.

[¶57] Philoctetes:
Agreed, and I will bring you also.
My sickness craves the comfort of your presence. Philoctetes and Neoptolemus enter the cave.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
καὶ σέ γʼ εἰσάξω· τὸ γὰρ
νοσοῦν ποθεῖ σε ξυμπαραστάτην λαβεῖν.

[¶58] Chorus:
I have heard a rumor, but never seen with my eyes, how the man who once approached the bed of Zeus was bound upon a
swift wheel by the almighty son of Cronus. But of no other mortal do I know, either by hearsay or by sight, that has encountered a doom so repugnant as this of Philoctetes. For though he had wronged no one by force or thievery,
but conducted himself fairly towards the fair, he was left to perish so undeservedly. I truly marvel how—how in the world—as he listened in solitude to the breakers rushing around him,
he kept his hold upon a life so full of grief.

> Greek: Χορός:
λόγῳ μὲν ἐξήκουσʼ, ὄπωπα δʼ οὐ μάλα,
τὸν πελάταν λέκτρων ποτὲ τῶν Διὸς
κατὰ δρομάδʼ ἄμπυκα δέσμιον ὡς ἔβαλεν παγκρατὴς Κρόνου παῖς·
ἄλλον δʼ οὔτινʼ ἔγωγʼ οἶδα κλύων οὐδʼ ἐσιδὼν μοίρᾳ
τοῦδʼ ἐχθίονι συντυχόντα
θνατῶν, ὃς οὔτʼ ἔρξας τινʼ οὔ τι νοσφίσας,
ἀλλʼ ἴσος ὢν ἴσοις ἀνήρ,
ὤλλυθʼ ὧδʼ ἀναξίως.
τόδε τοι θαῦμά μʼ ἔχει,
πῶς ποτε πῶς ποτʼ ἀμφιπλάκτων ῥοθίων μόνος κλύων,
πῶς ἄρα πανδάκρυτον οὕτω βιοτὰν κατέσχεν·

[¶59] Chorus:
Here, he alone was his own neighbor, powerless to walk, with no one in the land to be his companion while he suffered—no one to whom he could cry out a lament that would be answered
for the plague that gnawed his flesh and drained his blood—no one to lull with healing herbs gathered from the nourishing earth the burning blood which oozed from the ulcers of his
envenomed foot, whenever the torment attacked him. Instead he would then creep this way or that, stumbling like a child without his kind nurse, to any place from where his needs
might be supplied, whenever the devouring anguish withdrew.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἵνʼ αὐτὸς ἦν πρόσουρος, οὐκ ἔχων βάσιν,
οὐδέ τινʼ ἐγχώρων κακογείτονα,
παρʼ ᾧ στόνον ἀντίτυπον βαρυβρῶτʼ ἀποκλαύσειεν αἱματηρόν·
ὃς τὰν θερμοτάταν αἱμάδα κηκιομέναν ἑλκέων
ἐνθήρου ποδὸς ἠπίοισι
φύλλοις κατευνάσειεν, εἴ τις ἐμπέσοι,
φορβάδος ἐκ γαίας ἑλών·
εἷρπε γὰρ ἄλλοτʼ ἀλλαχᾷ
τότʼ ἂν εἰλυόμενος
παῖς ἄτερ ὡς φίλας τιθήνας ὅθεν εὐμάρειʼ ὑπάρ-
χοι πόρου, ἁνίκʼ ἐξανείη δακέθυμος ἄτα·

[¶60] Chorus:
For food he did not gather the fruit of holy Earth, nor anything else that we mortals feed on by our labor,
except when on occasion he obtained food to ease his hunger by means of feathered shafts from his swift-striking bow. Ah, joyless was his life, who for ten years never knew the delight of wine,
but ever directed his path towards any stagnant pool that he could find as he gazed around him.

> Greek: Χορός:
οὐ φορβὰν ἱερᾶς γᾶς σπόρον, οὐκ ἄλλων
αἴρων τῶν νεμόμεσθʼ ἀνέρες ἀλφησταί,
πλὴν ἐξ ὠκυβόλων εἴ ποτε τόξων
πτανοῖς ἰοῖς ἀνύσειε γαστρὶ φορβάν.
ὦ μελέα ψυχά,
ὃς μηδʼ οἰνοχύτου πώματος ἥσθη δεκέτει χρόνῳ,
λεύσσων δʼ ὅπου γνοίη στατὸν εἰς ὕδωρ,
ἀεὶ προσενώμα.

[¶61] Chorus:
But now, after those troubles, he will attain happiness and heartiness in the end
because of his meeting with this son of a noble race, who after the fullness of many months carries him aboard our sea-crossing hull to his ancestral home,
the haunt of Malian nymphs, and to the banks of the Spercheius in that very land where, above Oeta’s heights, the hero of the brazen shield approached the gods, illuminated by his father’s divine fire.

> Greek: Χορός:
νῦν δʼ ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν παιδὸς ὑπαντήσας
εὐδαίμων ἀνύσει καὶ μέγας ἐκ κείνων·
ὅς νιν ποντοπόρῳ δούρατι, πλήθει
πολλῶν μηνῶν, πατρίαν ἄγει πρὸς αὐλὰν
Μαλιάδων νυμφᾶν
Σπερχειοῦ τε παρʼ ὄχθας, ἵνʼ ὁ χάλκασπις ἀνὴρ θεοῖς
πλάθει πατρὸς θείῳ πυρὶ παμφαής,
Οἴτας ὑπὲρ ὄχθων.

[¶62] Neoptolemus:
Please, come on. Why so silent with no apparent cause? And why are you paralyzed?
Philoctetes:
Ai, ai!

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἕρπʼ, εἰ θέλεις. τί δή ποθʼ ὧδʼ ἐξ οὐδενὸς
λόγου σιωπᾷς κἀπόπληκτος ὧδʼ ἔχει;

[¶63] Neoptolemus:
What is the matter?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀᾶ, ἀᾶ.

[¶64] Philoctetes:
Nothing serious—go on, son.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί δʼ ἔστιν;
Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐδὲν δεινόν· ἀλλʼ ἴθʼ, ὦ τέκνον.

[¶65] Neoptolemus:
Are you in pain from the disease that frequents you?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
μῶν ἄλγος ἴσχεις τῆς παρεστώσης νόσου;

[¶66] Philoctetes:
No, indeed no. I think it is better now.—Gods, oh!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐ δῆτʼ ἔγωγʼ, ἀλλʼ ἄρτι κουφίζειν δοκῶ. ὦ θεοί.

[¶67] Neoptolemus:
Why do you groan like this and call on the gods?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί τοὺς θεοὺς ὧδʼ ἀναστένων καλεῖς;

[¶68] Philoctetes:
That they may come to me with power to save and soothe.—Ai! Ai!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
σωτῆρας αὐτοὺς ἠπίους θʼ ἡμῖν μολεῖν. ἀᾶ, ἀᾶ.

[¶69] Neoptolemus:
What troubles you? Speak, do not keep so silent. It is plain enough that you are suffering somehow.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί ποτε πέπονθας; οὐκ ἐρεῖς, ἀλλʼ ὧδʼ ἔσει
σιγηλός; ἐν κακῷ δέ τῳ φαίνει κυρῶν.

[¶70] Philoctetes:
I am destroyed, boy—I can never conceal my suffering when you are close. Ah! Ah! It shoots through me, shoots straight through! Oh, the pain, the misery!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀπόλωλα, τέκνον, κοὐ δυνήσομαι κακὸν
κρύψαι παρʼ ὑμῖν, ἀτταταῖ· διέρχεται
διέρχεται. δύστηνος, ὦ τάλας ἐγώ.

[¶71] I am destroyed, boy—I am devoured! Ah, by the gods I beg you, if you have a sword ready to hand, strike at my ankle—cut it off now! Do not spare my life!
Quick, boy, quick!

> Greek: ἀπόλωλα, τέκνον· βρύκομαι, τέκνον· παπαῖ,
ἀπαππαπαῖ, παπαππαπαππαπαππαπαῖ.
πρὸς θεῶν, πρόχειρον εἴ τί σοι, τέκνον, πάρα
ξίφος χεροῖν, πάταξον εἰς ἄκρον πόδα·
ἀπάμησον ὡς τάχιστα· μὴ φείσῃ βίου. ἴθʼ, ὦ παῖ.

[¶72] Neoptolemus:
What new thing has come on you so suddenly that you wail for yourself with these loud shrieks?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί δʼ ἔστιν οὕτω νεοχμὸν ἐξαίφνης, ὅτου
τοσήνδʼ ἰυγὴν καὶ στόνον σαυτοῦ ποεῖ;

[¶73] Philoctetes:
You know, son.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἶσθʼ, ὦ τέκνον;

[¶74] Neoptolemus:
What is it?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί δʼ ἔστιν;

[¶75] Philoctetes:
You know, boy.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἶσθʼ, ὦ παῖ;

[¶76] Neoptolemus:
What ails you? I do not know.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί σοί;
οὐκ οἶδα.

[¶77] Philoctetes:
How could you not know? Oh, oh!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
πῶς οὐκ οἶσθα; παππαπαππαπαῖ.

[¶78] Neoptolemus:
Yes, terrible is the burden of your disease.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
δεινόν γε τοὐπίσαγμα τοῦ νοσήματος.

[¶79] Philoctetes:
Terrible beyond telling! Oh, pity me!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
δεινὸν γὰρ οὐδὲ ῥητόν· ἀλλʼ οἴκτιρέ με.

[¶80] Neoptolemus:
What shall I do?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί δῆτα δράσω;

[¶81] Philoctetes:
Do not betray me because of fear. This plague comes only now and then,—perhaps when she has been sated with her roamings elsewhere.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
μή με ταρβήσας προδῷς·
ἥκει γὰρ αὕτη διὰ χρόνου πλάνοις ἴσως
ὡς ἐξεπλήσθη.

[¶82] Neoptolemus:
Ah, poor wretch! Poor man, truly for all your sufferings! Shall I support you, or somehow offer a helping hand?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἰὼ ἰὼ δύστηνε σύ,
δύστηνε δῆτα διὰ πόνων πάντων φανείς.
βούλει λάβωμαι δῆτα καὶ θίγω τί σου;

[¶83] Philoctetes:
No, no. But take this bow of mine—as you earlier asked of me—and keep it in your care and safe
until this present bout with my disease is past. For indeed sleep takes me as soon as this pain passes away, nor can it cease before then. But you must allow me to sleep in peace. And if
those men come in the meantime, then by the gods I forbid you willingly or unwillingly, or by any skilled trickery, to give up this bow to them, lest you bring destruction at once on yourself and on me, who am your suppliant.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
μὴ δῆτα τοῦτό γʼ· ἀλλά μοι τὰ τόξʼ ἑλὼν
τάδʼ, ὥσπερ ᾐτοῦ μʼ ἀρτίως, ἕως ἀνῇ
τὸ πῆμα τοῦτο τῆς νόσου τὸ νῦν παρόν,
σῷζʼ αὐτὰ καὶ φύλασσε. λαμβάνει γὰρ οὖν
ὕπνος μʼ, ὅταν περ τὸ κακὸν ἐξίῃ τόδε·
κοὐκ ἔστι λῆξαι πρότερον· ἀλλʼ ἐᾶν χρεὼν
ἕκηλον εὕδειν. ἢν δὲ τῷδε τῷ χρόνῳ
μόλωσʼ ἐκεῖνοι, πρὸς θεῶν ἐφίεμαι
ἑκόντα μηδʼ ἄκοντα μηδέ τῳ τέχνῃ
κείνοις μεθεῖναι ταῦτα, μὴ σαυτόν θʼ ἅμα
κἄμʼ, ὄντα σαυτοῦ πρόστροπον, κτείνας γένῃ.

[¶84] Neoptolemus:
Have no fears as to my caution. The bow shall pass
into no hands but yours and mine. Give it to me, and may good luck accompany it!

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
θάρσει προνοίας οὕνεκʼ· οὐ δοθήσεται
πλὴν σοί τε κἀμοί· ξὺν τύχῃ δὲ πρόσφερε.

[¶85] Philoctetes:
There, take it boy. And humble yourself before the jealous gods, so that the bow may not prove baneful for you, as it did for me and for him who owned it before me.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἰδοὺ δέχου, παῖ· τὸν φθόνον δὲ πρόσκυσον
μή σοι γενέσθαι πολύπονʼ αὐτὰ μηδʼ ὅπως
ἐμοί τε καὶ τῷ πρόσθʼ ἐμοῦ κεκτημένῳ.

[¶86] Neoptolemus:
O gods, grant this to the two of us! And grant us a voyage
prosperous and unimpeded, to whatever goal the god may deem right and that our mission provides!

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὦ θεοί, γένοιτο ταῦτα νῷν· γένοιτο δὲ
πλοῦς οὔριός τε κεὐσταλὴς ὅποι ποτὲ
θεὸς δικαιοῖ χὠ στόλος πορσύνεται.

[¶87] Philoctetes:
Futile, I fear, are your prayers, boy. Look, once again the dark blood is oozing drop by drop from deep in the wound, and I look for worse to come.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀλλʼ οὖν δέδοικα μὴ ἀτέλεστʼ εὔχῃ, τέκνον.
στάζει γὰρ αὖ μοι φοίνιον τόδʼ ἐκ βυθοῦ
κηκῖον αἷμα, καί τι προσδοκῶ νέον.

[¶88] Ah, me, oh, oh! Cursed foot, what torment you cause me! It creeps on me, it is coming near! Ah, misery! Now you know my condition. Do not flee, no!

> Greek: παπαῖ, φεῦ.
παπαῖ μάλʼ, ὦ πούς, οἷά μʼ ἐργάσει κακά.
προσέρπει,
προσέρχεται τόδʼ ἐγγύς. οἴμοι μοι τάλας.
ἔχετε τὸ πρᾶγμα· μὴ φύγητε μηδαμῇ.

[¶89] Oh, alas! Odysseus of Cephallene, once my friend, would that this anguish might stick to you, and pierce your chest! Ah, me! Ah, me! O you twin marshalls, Agamemnon, and you, Menelaus, may your flesh instead of mine
nourish this plague, and for as long! Oh, Ah, me! O Death, Death, though I am always summoning you day after day, why do you never come? O son, noble youth, seize me,
burn me up, true friend, in that fire famed as Lemnian. I, too, once deemed it lawful to do that very service for the son of Zeus, in return for which I received these same arms, which are now in your keeping. What do you say, boy, what do you say?

> Greek: ἀτταταῖ.
ὦ ξένε Κεφαλλήν, εἴθε σου διαμπερὲς
στέρνων ἔχοιτʼ ἄλγησις ἥδε. φεῦ, παπαῖ,
παπαῖ μάλʼ αὖθις. ὦ διπλοῖ στρατηλάται,
Ἀγάμεμνον, ὦ Μενέλαε, πῶς ἂν ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ
τὸν ἴσον χρόνον τρέφοιτε τήνδε τὴν νόσον; ἰώ μοι.
ὦ Θάνατε Θάνατε, πῶς ἀεὶ καλούμενος
οὕτω κατʼ ἦμαρ, οὐ δύνᾳ μολεῖν ποτε;
ὦ τέκνον ὦ γενναῖον, ἀλλὰ συλλαβὼν
τῷ Λημνίῳ τῷδʼ ἀνακαλουμένῳ πυρὶ
ἔμπρησον, ὦ γενναῖε· κἀγώ τοί ποτε
τὸν τοῦ Διὸς παῖδʼ ἀντὶ τῶνδε τῶν ὅπλων,
ἃ νῦν σὺ σῴζεις, τοῦτʼ ἐπηξίωσα δρᾶν. τί φής, παῖ;

[¶90] Why this silence? Where are your thoughts, son?

> Greek: τί φής; τί σιγᾷς; ποῦ ποτʼ ὤν, τέκνον, κυρεῖς;

[¶91] Neoptolemus:
My heart has long been aching for your load of pain.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλγῶ πάλαι δὴ τἀπὶ σοὶ στένων κακά.

[¶92] Philoctetes:
Stop, then, and take courage; this visitor comes sharply, but goes quickly. Yet, I beg you, do not leave me alone.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀλλʼ, ὦ τέκνον, καὶ θάρσος ἴσχʼ· ὡς ἥδε μοι
ὀξεῖα φοιτᾷ καὶ ταχεῖʼ ἀπέρχεται.
ἀλλʼ ἀντιάζω, μή με καταλίπῃς μόνον.

[¶93] Neoptolemus:
Take heart, we will remain.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
θάρσει, μενοῦμεν.

[¶94] Philoctetes:
Will you?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἦ μενεῖς;

[¶95] Neoptolemus:
Be sure of it.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
σαφῶς φρόνει.

[¶96] Philoctetes:
Indeed, I do not think it right to put you under oath.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐ μήν σʼ ἔνορκόν γʼ ἀξιῶ θέσθαι, τέκνον.

[¶97] Neoptolemus:
Rest assured; it is not lawful for me to leave without you.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὡς οὐ θέμις γʼ ἐμοὔστι σοῦ μολεῖν ἄτερ.

[¶98] Philoctetes:
Give me your hand in pledge!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἔμβαλλε χειρὸς πίστιν.

[¶99] Neoptolemus:
I give it—to stay.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἐμβάλλω μενεῖν.

[¶100] Philoctetes:
Now take me there, over there!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἐκεῖσε νῦν μʼ, ἐκεῖσε

[¶101] Neoptolemus:
Where do you mean?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ποῖ λέγεις;

[¶102] Philoctetes:
Up there!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἄνω

[¶103] Neoptolemus:
What is this new delirium? Why do you gaze at the dome above us?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί παραφρονεῖς αὖ; τί τὸν ἄνω λεύσσεις κύκλον;

[¶104] Philoctetes:
Let me go, let me go!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
μέθες μέθες με.

[¶105] Neoptolemus:
Where will you go, if I do so?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ποῖ μεθῶ;

[¶106] Philoctetes:
Let me go, I say!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
μέθες ποτέ.

[¶107] Neoptolemus:
I will not.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὔ φημʼ ἐάσειν.

[¶108] Philoctetes:
You will kill me, if you touch me further.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀπό μʼ ὀλεῖς, ἢν προσθίγῃς.

[¶109] Neoptolemus:
There, then, I release you—if in fact you believe it is for the better.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
καὶ δὴ μεθίημʼ, εἴ τι δὴ πλέον φρονεῖς.

[¶110] Philoctetes:
Wide Earth, embrace me now on the verge of death!
This pain no longer lets me stand up.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ γαῖα, δέξαι θανάσιμόν μʼ ὅπως ἔχω
τὸ γὰρ κακὸν τόδʼ οὐκέτʼ ὀρθοῦσθαί μʼ ἐᾷ.

[¶111] Neoptolemus:
Sleep, I think, will take him before long. See, his head sinks backward. Yes, a sweat runs over his whole body, and a dark, hemorrhaging vein has burst from his heel.
Come, friends, let us leave him in quietness, so that he may fall asleep.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τὸν ἄνδρʼ ἔοικεν ὕπνος οὐ μακροῦ χρόνου
ἕξειν· κάρα γὰρ ὑπτιάζεται τόδε·
ἱδρώς γέ τοί νιν πᾶν καταστάζει δέμας,
μέλαινά τʼ ἄκρου τις παρέρρωγεν ποδὸς
αἱμορραγὴς φλέψ. ἀλλʼ ἐάσωμεν, φίλοι,
ἕκηλον αὐτόν, ὡς ἂν εἰς ὕπνον πέσῃ.

[¶112] Chorus:
Divine Sleep, god who knows no pain, Sleep, stranger to anguish, come in favor to us, come happy, and giving happiness, great King!

> Greek: Χορός:
Ὕπνʼ ὀδύνας ἀδαής, Ὕπνε δʼ ἀλγέων,
εὐαὲς ἡμῖν ἔλθοις,
εὐαίων εὐαίων, ὦναξ·

[¶113] Keep before his eyes such light as is spread before them now. Come to him, I pray you, come with power to heal! Son, consider what position you will take, and to what strategy you will next direct our course.
You see his condition now! Why should we hesitate to act? Opportunity, the umpire of all contests, often wins a great victory by one swift stroke.

> Greek: ὄμμασι δʼ ἀντίσχοις
τάνδʼ αἴγλαν, ἃ τέταται τανῦν.
ἴθι ἴθι μοι παιών.
ὦ τέκνον, ὅρα ποῦ στάσει,
ποῖ δέ μοι τἀνθένδε βάσει,
φροντίδος. ὁρᾷς ἤδη.
πρὸς τί μενοῦμεν πράσσειν;
καιρός τοι πάντων γνώμαν ἴσχων
πολύ τι πολὺ παρὰ πόδα κράτος ἄρνυται.

[¶114] Neoptolemus:
No, even though he hears nothing, I see that
we have made this bow our quarry to no end, if we sail without him. His must be the victor’s crown. It is he that the god commanded we bring. It would be a foul disgrace upon us to boast of deeds in which failure and fraud had equal parts.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ ὅδε μὲν κλύει οὐδέν, ἐγὼ δʼ ὁρῶ οὕνεκα θήραν
τήνδʼ ἁλίως ἔχομεν τόξων, δίχα τοῦδε πλέοντες.
τοῦδε γὰρ ὁ στέφανος, τοῦτον θεὸς εἶπε κομίζειν.
κομπεῖν δʼ ἔστʼ ἀτελῆ σὺν ψεύδεσιν αἰσχρὸν ὄνειδος.

[¶115] Chorus:
Well, the god must look to that, son. But when you answer me again,
softly, please, softly whisper your words. For sick men’s restless sleep is quick to vision. But, please, use your utmost care to win that prize,
that great prize, by stealth. For if you maintain your present purpose towards this man—you know what purpose I mean—then truly there are irremediable troubles in store, which a shrewd mind can foresee.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀλλά, τέκνον, τάδε μὲν θεὸς ὄψεται·
ὧν δʼ ἂν ἀμείβῃ μʼ αὖθις,
βαιάν μοι, βαιάν, ὦ τέκνον,
πέμπε λόγων φάμαν·
ὡς πάντων ἐν νόσῳ εὐδρακὴς
ὕπνος ἄϋπνος λεύσσειν.
ἀλλʼ ὅτι δύνᾳ μάκιστον
κεῖνο δή μοι κεῖνο λάθρᾳ
ἐξιδοῦ ὅπᾳ πράξεις.
οἶσθα γὰρ ἃν αὐδῶμαι,
εἰ ταύταν τούτων γνώμαν ἴσχεις,
μάλα τοι ἄπορα πυκινοῖς ἐνιδεῖν πάθη.

[¶116] Chorus:
Now, son, a fair wind blows you on your way: sightless and helpless, the man lies stretched in darkness—sleep in the heat is sound—
with no command of hands or feet, but stripped of all his powers, like one who rests with Hades. Take note, see if your pronouncements are seasonable. So far as my thoughts can seize the truth, boy, the best strategy is that which stirs no alarm.

> Greek: Χορός:
οὖρός τοι, τέκνον, οὖρος·
ἁνὴρ δʼ ἀνόμματος οὐδʼ ἔχων
ἀρωγὰν ἐκτέταται νύχιος,
ʽἁ̓λεὴς ὕπνος ἐσθλός,ʼ
οὐ χερός, οὐ ποδός, οὔ τινος ἄρχων,
ἀλλά τις ὡς Ἀΐδᾳ παρακείμενος.
ὅρα, βλέπʼ εἰ καίρια
φθέγγει· τὸ δʼ ἁλώσιμον
ἐμᾷ φροντίδι, παῖ,
πόνος ὁ μὴ φοβῶν κράτιστος.

[¶117] Neoptolemus:
Quiet, I say, and do not abandon your wits—the man is opening his eyes and lifts his head.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
σιγᾶν κελεύω μηδʼ ἀφεστάναι φρενῶν·
κινεῖ γὰρ ἁνὴρ ὄμμα κἀνάγει κάρα.

[¶118] Philoctetes:
Ah, light succeeding upon sleep! Ah, friendly watchers, sight unlooked for even in my dreams! I could never have expected this, son—
that you would have the patience to wait so tenderly upon my sufferings by staying close beside me and helping to relieve me. The Atreids, certainly, those valiant generals, had no heart to bear this burden so lightly. But your nature is noble and drawn of a noble line,
and so you have made little of all this, though loud cries and stenches afflicted you. And now, since the plague seems to allow me a space of forgetfulness and peace at last, lift me up yourself and set me on my feet,
so that, when the faintness releases me at length, we may set out to the ship, and not hold back our sailing.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ φέγγος ὕπνου διάδοχον τό τʼ ἐλπίδων
ἄπιστον οἰκούρημα τῶνδε τῶν ξένων.
οὐ γάρ ποτʼ, ὦ παῖ, τοῦτʼ ἂν ἐξηύχησʼ ἐγώ,
τλῆναί σʼ ἐλεινῶς ὧδε τἀμὰ πήματα
μεῖναι παρόντα καὶ ξυνωφελοῦντά μοι.
οὔκουν Ἀτρεῖδαι τοῦτʼ ἔτλησαν εὐφόρως
οὕτως ἐνεγκεῖν, ἁγαθοὶ στρατηλάται.
ἀλλʼ εὐγενὴς γὰρ ἡ φύσις κἀξ εὐγενῶν,
ὦ τέκνον, ἡ σή, πάντα ταῦτʼ ἐν εὐχερεῖ
ἔθου, βοῆς τε καὶ δυσοσμίας γέμων.
καὶ νῦν ἐπειδὴ τοῦδε τοῦ κακοῦ δοκεῖ
λήθη τις εἶναι κἀνάπαυλα δή, τέκνον,
σύ μʼ αὐτὸς ἆρον, σύ με κατάστησον, τέκνον,
ἵνʼ, ἡνίκʼ ἂν κόπος μʼ ἀπαλλάξῃ ποτέ,
ὁρμώμεθʼ ἐς ναῦν μηδʼ ἐπίσχωμεν τὸ πλεῖν.

[¶119] Neoptolemus:
It pleases me to see you living unpained and breathing still, however contrary to my expectation. For in view of your persistent sufferings,
your symptoms seemed to speak of death. But now lift yourself, or, if you prefer, these men will carry you. The labor will not be grudged, since you and I are of one mind.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ ἥδομαι μέν σʼ εἰσιδὼν παρʼ ἐλπίδα
ἀνώδυνον βλέποντα κἀμπνέοντʼ ἔτι·
ὡς οὐκέτʼ ὄντος γὰρ τὰ συμβόλαιά σου
πρὸς τὰς παρούσας ξυμφορὰς ἐφαίνετο.
νῦν δʼ αἶρε σαυτόν· εἰ δέ σοι μᾶλλον φίλον,
οἴσουσί σʼ οἵδε· τοῦ πόνου γὰρ οὐκ ὄκνος,
ἐπείπερ οὕτω σοί τʼ ἔδοξʼ ἐμοί τε δρᾶν.

[¶120] Philoctetes:
Thank you, son, and help me up, as you will.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
αἰνῶ τάδʼ, ὦ παῖ, καί μʼ ἔπαιρʼ, ὥσπερ νοεῖς·

[¶121] Yet do not trouble your men, so that they may not suffer from the foul stench before it is necessary. It will be trial enough for them to live on board with me.

> Greek: τούτους δʼ ἔασον, μὴ βαρυνθῶσιν κακῇ
ὀσμῇ πρὸ τοῦ δέοντος· οὑπὶ νηὶ γὰρ
ἅλις πόνος τούτοισι συνναίειν ἐμοί.

[¶122] Neoptolemus:
So be it. Now stand up, and take hold of me.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἔσται τάδʼ· ἀλλʼ ἵστω τε καὐτὸς ἀντέχου.

[¶123] Philoctetes:
Do not worry, my habitual method will help me to my feet.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
θάρσει· τό τοι σύνηθες ὀρθώσει μʼ ἔθος.

[¶124] Neoptolemus:
God! What am I to do next?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
παπαῖ· τί δῆτʼ ἂν δρῷμʼ ἐγὼ τοὐνθένδε γε;

[¶125] Philoctetes:
What is the matter? Where strays your speech?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
τί δʼ ἔστιν, ὦ παῖ; ποῖ ποτʼ ἐξέβης λόγῳ;

[¶126] Neoptolemus:
I do not know where to turn my tongue when my thoughts are so confused.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅποι χρὴ τἄπορον τρέπειν ἔπος.

[¶127] Philoctetes:
Confused? How so? No, do not say it!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀπορεῖς δὲ τοῦ σύ; μὴ λέγʼ, ὦ τέκνον, τάδε.

[¶128] Neoptolemus:
My mind is indeed brought to that condition.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ ἐνθάδʼ ἤδη τοῦδε τοῦ πάθους κυρῶ.

[¶129] Philoctetes:
It cannot be that offense at my sickness has persuaded you not to take me aboard your ship?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐ δή σε δυσχέρεια τοῦ νοσήματος
ἔπεισεν ὥστε μή μʼ ἄγειν ναύτην ἔτι;

[¶130] Neoptolemus:
All is offense when a man has abandoned his true nature and does what does not suit him.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἅπαντα δυσχέρεια, τὴν αὑτοῦ φύσιν
ὅταν λιπών τις δρᾷ τὰ μὴ προσεικότα.

[¶131] Philoctetes:
But you, at least, are not departing from your begetter’s
example either in word or deed, when you help a man who is noble.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν ἔξω τοῦ φυτεύσαντος σύ γε
δρᾷς οὐδὲ φωνεῖς, ἐσθλὸν ἄνδρʼ ἐπωφελῶν.

[¶132] Neoptolemus:
I shall be found to have no honor—this is the thought that long torments me.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
αἰσχρὸς φανοῦμαι· τοῦτʼ ἀνιῶμαι πάλαι.

[¶133] Philoctetes:
Not because of your present deeds, at least. But because of your words, I worry.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὔκουν ἐν οἷς γε δρᾷς· ἐν οἷς δʼ αὐδᾷς ὀκνῶ.

[¶134] Neoptolemus:
O Zeus, what shall I do? Must I be twice found base—by disloyal silence, as well as by shameful speech?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὦ Ζεῦ, τί δράσω; δεύτερον ληφθῶ κακός,
κρύπτων θʼ ἃ μὴ δεῖ καὶ λέγων αἴσχιστʼ ἐπῶν;

[¶135] Philoctetes:
Unless I am lacking in judgment, he means to betray me, leave me behind and sail away!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἁνὴρ ὅδʼ, εἰ μὴ ʼγὼ κακὸς γνώμων ἔφυν,
προδούς μʼ ἔοικε κἀκλιπὼν τὸν πλοῦν στελεῖν.

[¶136] Neoptolemus:
Leave you? No, not I. Rather, to your pain, I will bring you along. That is my torment.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
λιπὼν μὲν οὐκ ἔγωγε· λυπηρῶς δὲ μὴ
πέμπω σε μᾶλλον, τοῦτʼ ἀνιῶμαι πάλαι.

[¶137] Philoctetes:
What do you mean, son? I do not understand.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
τί ποτε λέγεις, ὦ τέκνον; ὡς οὐ μανθάνω.

[¶138] Neoptolemus:
I will conceal nothing. You must sail to Troy, back to the Achaeans and the forces of the Atreids.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐδέν σε κρύψω· δεῖ γὰρ ἐς Τροίαν σε πλεῖν
πρὸς τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς καὶ τὸν Ἀτρειδῶν στόλον.

[¶139] Philoctetes:
Ah, no! What have you said?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι, τί εἶπας;

[¶140] Neoptolemus:
Do not wail in grief, before you understand!

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
μὴ στέναζε, πρὶν μάθῃς.

[¶141] Philoctetes:
Understand what? What do you intend to do to me?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ποῖον μάθημα; τί με νοεῖς δρᾶσαί ποτε;

[¶142] Neoptolemus:
Save you, first, from this misery, and then,
together with you, go and plunder Troy’s plains.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
σῶσαι κακοῦ μὲν πρῶτα τοῦδʼ, ἔπειτα δὲ
ξὺν σοὶ τὰ Τροίας πεδία πορθῆσαι μολών.

[¶143] Philoctetes:
And this is your true intent?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
καὶ ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ δρᾶν νοεῖς;

[¶144] Neoptolemus:
A harsh necessity governs these events, so do not be angered at hearing of them.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
πολλὴ κρατεῖ
τούτων ἀνάγκη, καὶ σὺ μὴ θυμοῦ κλύων.

[¶145] Philoctetes:
I am destroyed—ah, misery!—betrayed! What have you done to me, stranger? Return my bow at once!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀπόλωλα τλήμων, προδέδομαι. τί μʼ, ὦ ξένε,
δέδρακας; ἀπόδος ὡς τάχος τὰ τόξα μοι.

[¶146] Neoptolemus:
No, it is not possible. My duty and my interest alike constrain me to obey those in power.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ οὐχ οἷόν τε· τῶν γὰρ ἐν τέλει κλύειν
τό τʼ ἔνδικόν με καὶ τὸ συμφέρον ποεῖ.

[¶147] Philoctetes:
You destroying fire, you utter monster, you hateful masterpiece of astounding wickedness! What treachery you have done to me! How thoroughly you have deceived me! And are you, you wretch, unashamed to look at me,
the suppliant who turned to you for mercy? In taking my bow, you have robbed me of my life. Return it, I beg you, return it, I pray you, son! By the gods of your fathers, do not rob me of my life! Ah, me! He speaks to me no more.
He looks away, as if he will never give it up! O you inlets and headlands, you wild creatures of the hills who have shared my life, and you jagged cliffs, to you—for you alone hear me—to you my accustomed companions,
I bewail the treacherous treatment I have received from the son of Achilles. Although he swore to take me to my home, it is to Troy that he takes me. Although he gave me his right hand in pledge of his word, he has taken my bow, the sacred bow, once belonging to Zeus’s son Heracles, and he keeps it, and wants to show it to the Argives as his own.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ πῦρ σὺ καὶ πᾶν δεῖμα καὶ πανουργίας
δεινῆς τέχνημʼ ἔχθιστον, οἷά μʼ εἰργάσω,
οἷʼ ἠπάτηκας· οὐδʼ ἐπαισχύνει μʼ ὁρῶν
τὸν προστρόπαιον, τὸν ἱκέτην, ὦ σχέτλιε;
ἀπεστέρηκας τὸν βίον τὰ τόξʼ ἑλών.
ἀπόδος, ἱκνοῦμαί σʼ, ἀπόδος, ἱκετεύω, τέκνον·
πρὸς θεῶν πατρῴων, τὸν βίον με μὴ ἀφέλῃ.
ὤμοι τάλας. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ προσφωνεῖ μʼ ἔτι,
ἀλλʼ ὡς μεθήσων μήποθʼ, ὧδʼ ὁρᾷ πάλιν.
ὦ λιμένες, ὦ προβλῆτες, ὦ ξυνουσίαι
θηρῶν ὀρείων, ὦ καταρρῶγες πέτραι,
ὑμῖν τάδʼ, οὐ γὰρ ἄλλον οἶδʼ ὅτῳ λέγω,
ἀνακλαίομαι παροῦσι τοῖς εἰωθόσιν,
οἷʼ ἔργʼ ὁ παῖς μʼ ἔδρασεν οὑξ Ἀχιλλέως·
ὀμόσας ἀπάξειν οἴκαδʼ, ἐς Τροίαν μʼ ἄγει·
προσθείς τε χεῖρα δεξιάν, τὰ τόξα μου
ἱερὰ λαβὼν τοῦ Ζηνὸς Ἡρακλέους ἔχει,
καὶ τοῖσιν Ἀργείοισι φήνασθαι θέλει·

[¶148] By force he drags me away, as if he had captured a strong man, and does not see that he is cutting down a corpse, the shadow of smoke, a mere phantom. In my strength he could not have taken me—no!—nor even in my present condition, save by deceit. But now, because of my rotten fate, I have been tricked. What should I do?

> Greek: ὡς ἄνδρʼ ἑλὼν ἰσχυρόν ἐκ βίας μʼ ἄγει,
κοὐκ οἶδʼ ἐναίρων νεκρὸν ἢ καπνοῦ σκιάν,
εἴδωλον ἄλλως· οὐ γὰρ ἂν σθένοντά γε
εἷλέν μʼ· ἐπεὶ οὐδʼ ἂν ὧδʼ ἔχοντʼ, εἰ μὴ δόλῳ.
νῦν δʼ ἠπάτημαι δύσμορος. τί χρή με δρᾶν;

[¶149] Wait, give it back! Now, at least, recover your true self! What do you say? Silence! I am nothing! Double-gated cave, back, back again I return to you, but now stripped and lacking the means to live. Yes, in that chamber I will wither away alone,
bringing down with that bow no winged bird, no beast that roams the hills. Rather I myself shall die in misery, and supply a feast for those who fed me, becoming the prey of those on whom I preyed. Ah, in requital for blood my own blood will flow,
shed at the hands of a man who seemed all unknowing of evil! May destruction seize you!—but no, not yet, not before I learn whether you will change your mind. But if not, may you die a cruel death!

> Greek: ἀλλʼ ἀπόδος, ἀλλὰ νῦν ἔτʼ ἐν σαυτῷ γενοῦ.
τί φής; σιωπᾷς; οὐδέν εἰμʼ ὁ δύσμορος.
ὦ σχῆμα πέτρας δίπυλον, αὖθις αὖ πάλιν
εἴσειμι πρὸς σὲ ψιλός, οὐκ ἔχων τροφήν·
ἀλλʼ αὐανοῦμαι τῷδʼ ἐν αὐλίῳ μόνος,
οὐ πτηνὸν ὄρνιν οὐδὲ θῆρʼ ὀρειβάτην
τόξοις ἐναίρων τοισίδʼ, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς τάλας
θανὼν παρέξω δαῖθʼ ὑφʼ ὧν ἐφερβόμην,
καί μʼ οὓς ἐθήρων πρόσθε θηράσουσι νῦν·
φόνον φόνου δὲ ῥύσιον τίσω τάλας
πρὸς τοῦ δοκοῦντος οὐδὲν εἰδέναι κακόν.
ὄλοιο—μή πω, πρὶν μάθοιμʼ εἰ καὶ πάλιν
γνώμην μετοίσεις· εἰ δὲ μή, θάνοις κακῶς.

[¶150] Chorus:
What shall we do? It rests with you, my king, whether we now sail, or move forward to answer his pleas.

> Greek: Χορός:
τί δρῶμεν; ἐν σοὶ καὶ τὸ πλεῖν ἡμᾶς, ἄναξ,
ἤδη ʼστὶ καὶ τοῖς τοῦδε προσχωρεῖν λόγοις.

[¶151] Neoptolemus:
A startling pity for him has come upon me—and not now for the first time, but long ago.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἐμοὶ μὲν οἶκτος δεινὸς ἐμπέπτωκέ τις
τοῦδʼ ἀνδρὸς οὐ νῦν πρῶτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάλαι.

[¶152] Philoctetes:
Show mercy, boy, for the love of the gods, and do not give men cause to reproach you for having cheated me.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἐλέησον, ὦ παῖ, πρὸς θεῶν, καὶ μὴ παρῇς
σαυτοῦ βροτοῖς ὄνειδος, ἐκκλέψας ἐμέ.

[¶153] Neoptolemus:
Ah, no, what shall I do? I wish I had never left
Scyros, so pained am I by these doings.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οἴμοι, τί δράσω; μή ποτʼ ὤφελον λιπεῖν
τὴν Σκῦρον· οὕτω τοῖς παροῦσιν ἄχθομαι.

[¶154] Philoctetes:
You are not in and of yourself wicked, but you seem to have come to me after learning the shameless lessons of wicked masters. Now leave such behavior to others, whom it suits, and sail from here—once you have given me back my weapons.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐκ εἶ κακὸς σύ, πρὸς κακῶν δʼ ἀνδρῶν μαθὼν
ἔοικας ἥκειν αἰσχρά· νῦν δʼ ἄλλοισι δοὺς
οἷς εἰκὸς ἔκπλει, τἀμά μοι μεθεὶς ὅπλα.

[¶155] Neoptolemus:
What shall we do, friends?
Enter Odysseus with several armed attendants.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί δρῶμεν, ἄνδρες;
Ὀδυσσεύς:
ὦ κάκιστʼ ἀνδρῶν, τί δρᾷς;

[¶156] Odysseus:
Traitor, what are you doing? Come back here and surrender that bow to me!

> Greek: οὐκ εἶ μεθεὶς τὰ τόξα ταῦτʼ ἐμοὶ πάλιν;

[¶157] Philoctetes:
Who is that? Do I hear Odysseus?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι, τίς ἁνήρ; ἆρʼ Ὀδυσσέως κλύω;

[¶158] Odysseus:
Yes, Odysseus, be sure of it. Here I am before your eyes.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
Ὀδυσσέως, σάφʼ ἴσθʼ, ἐμοῦ γʼ, ὃν εἰσορᾷς.

## 3. Lines 978–1471

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/sophocles-philoctetes/3/#p-N

[¶0] Philoctetes:
Ah, me, I am sold, destroyed! It was he, then, who entrapped me and robbed me of my arms.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι· πέπραμαι κἀπόλωλʼ· ὅδʼ ἦν ἄρα
ὁ ξυλλαβών με κἀπονοσφίσας ὅπλων.

[¶1] Odysseus:
Yes, I and no other. I avow it.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἐγώ, σάφʼ ἴσθʼ, οὐκ ἄλλος· ὁμολογῶ τάδε.

[¶2] Philoctetes:
Give back my bow, boy, give it up.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀπόδος, ἄφες μοι, παῖ, τὰ τόξα.

[¶3] Odysseus:
That he shall never do, even if he wished to. And, what is more, you must come along with it, or my men will bring you by force.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
τοῦτο μέν,
οὐδʼ ἢν θέλῃ, δράσει ποτʼ· ἀλλὰ καὶ σὲ δεῖ
στείχειν ἅμʼ αὐτοῖς, ἢ βίᾳ στελοῦσί σε.

[¶4] Philoctetes:
Me, you basest and boldest of scoundrels,
they will take me by force?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἔμʼ, ὦ κακῶν κάκιστε καὶ τολμήστατε,
οἵδʼ ἐκ βίας ἄξουσιν;

[¶5] Odysseus:
Unless you come of your own free will.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἢν μὴ ἕρπῃς ἑκών.

[¶6] Philoctetes:
O Lemnos, and you all-conquering flame kindled by Hephaestus, will you indeed endure it that this man should take me from your domain by force?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ Λημνία χθὼν καὶ τὸ παγκρατὲς σέλας
Ἡφαιστότευκτον, ταῦτα δῆτʼ ἀνασχετά,
εἴ μʼ οὗτος ἐκ τῶν σῶν ἀπάξεται βίᾳ;

[¶7] Odysseus:
Zeus it is, I tell you, Zeus, who rules this land,
and it is by Zeus that these actions are decreed. I am his servant.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
Ζεύς ἐσθʼ, ἵνʼ εἰδῇς, Ζεύς, ὁ τῆσδε γῆς κρατῶν,
Ζεύς, ᾧ δέδοκται ταῦθʼ· ὑπηρετῶ δʼ ἐγώ.

[¶8] Philoctetes:
Hated creature, what clever pleading you devise! By sheltering yourself behind the gods, you make the gods liars.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ μῖσος, οἷα κἀξανευρίσκεις λέγειν·
θεοὺς προτείνων τοὺς θεοὺς ψευδεῖς τίθης.

[¶9] Odysseus:
No, but true prophets. Now our march must begin.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
οὔκ, ἀλλʼ ἀληθεῖς· ἡ δʼ ὁδὸς πορευτέα.

[¶10] Philoctetes:
Never!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὔ φημʼ.

[¶11] Odysseus:
Now, I say. You must obey.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἐγὼ δέ φημι. πειστέον τάδε.

[¶12] Philoctetes:
Ah, misery! Clearly, then, my father sired me to be a slave and no free man.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι τάλας. ἡμᾶς μὲν ὡς δούλους σαφῶς
πατὴρ ἄρʼ ἐξέφυσεν οὐδʼ ἐλευθέρους.

[¶13] Odysseus:
Not so, but to be the peer of the best and bravest, with whom you are destined to take Troy and force it to the ground.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
οὔκ, ἀλλʼ ὁμοίους τοῖς ἀρίστοισιν, μεθʼ ὧν
Τροίαν σʼ ἑλεῖν δεῖ καὶ κατασκάψαι βίᾳ.

[¶14] Philoctetes:
No, never—even if I must suffer every torment,
so long as I have this island’s steep cliffs beneath me!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐδέποτέ γʼ· οὐδʼ ἢν χρῇ με πᾶν παθεῖν κακόν,
ἕως ἂν ᾖ μοι γῆς τόδʼ αἰπεινὸν βάθρον.

[¶15] Odysseus:
What do you plan to do?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
τί δʼ ἐργασείεις;

[¶16] Philoctetes:
Throw myself now from the rock and shatter my head on the rocks below!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
κρᾶτʼ ἐμὸν τόδʼ αὐτίκα
πέτρᾳ πέτρας ἄνωθεν αἱμάξω πεσών.

[¶17] Odysseus:
Quick, seize him, both of you! Do not give him the chance!

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ξυλλάβετον αὐτόν· μὴ ʼπὶ τῷδʼ ἔστω τάδε.

[¶18] Philoctetes:
O my arms, what shames you suffer for lack of your cherished
bow, now that you are made that man’s bound quarry! And you, who cannot think one healthy or one noble thought, how stealthily you have once more ambushed and trapped me, taking this boy for your screen, because he was a stranger to me. He is too good for your company, but worthy of mine,
since he had no thought but to execute his orders, and he already shows remorse for his own errors and for the wrongs done me. But your corrupt mind, always on the lookout from some position of ambush, trained him well—unsuited and unwilling though he was—
to be cunning in evil. And now, wretch, for me you plan bonds and passage from the very shore on which you had me flung away, friendless, abandoned, citiless, a corpse in the eyes of the living. Ah! Hades take you! Indeed I have often so prayed for you.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ χεῖρες, οἷα πάσχετʼ ἐν χρείᾳ φίλης
νευρᾶς, ὑπʼ ἀνδρὸς τοῦδε συνθηρώμεναι.
ὦ μηδὲν ὑγιὲς μηδʼ ἐλεύθερον φρονῶν,
οἷʼ αὖ μʼ ὑπῆλθες, ὥς μʼ ἐθηράσω, λαβὼν
πρόβλημα σαυτοῦ παῖδα τόνδʼ ἀγνῶτʼ ἐμοί,
ἀνάξιον μὲν σοῦ, κατάξιον δʼ ἐμοῦ,
ὃς οὐδὲν ᾔδει πλὴν τὸ προσταχθὲν ποεῖν,
δῆλος δὲ καὶ νῦν ἐστιν ἀλγεινῶς φέρων
οἷς τʼ αὐτὸς ἐξήμαρτεν οἷς τʼ ἐγὼ ʼπαθον.
ἀλλʼ ἡ κακὴ σὴ διὰ μυχῶν βλέπουσʼ ἀεὶ
ψυχή νιν ἀφυῆ τʼ ὄντα κοὐ θέλονθʼ ὅμως
εὖ προυδίδαξεν ἐν κακοῖς εἶναι σοφόν.
καὶ νῦν ἔμʼ, ὦ δύστηνε, συνδήσας νοεῖς
ἄγειν ἀπʼ ἀκτῆς τῆσδʼ, ἐν ᾗ με προυβάλου
ἄφιλον ἔρημον ἄπολιν, ἐν ζῶσιν νεκρόν. φεῦ.
ὄλοιο· καί σοι πολλάκις τόδʼ ηὐξάμην.

[¶19] But, because the gods grant me nothing that is sweet, you remain alive and you laugh, while I live miserably among countless sufferings, mocked by you and by the sons of Atreus, the two generals whom you serve on this errand.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ οὐ γὰρ οὐδὲν θεοὶ νέμουσιν ἡδύ μοι,
σὺ μὲν γέγηθας ζῶν, ἐγὼ δʼ ἀλγύνομαι
τοῦτʼ αὔθʼ, ὅτι ζῶ σὺν κακοῖς πολλοῖς τάλας,
γελώμενος πρὸς σοῦ τε καὶ τῶν Ἀτρέως
διπλῶν στρατηγῶν, οἷς σὺ ταῦθʼ ὑπηρετεῖς.

[¶20] And yet you sailed with them only when brought under their yoke by trickery and compulsion. But me, when, to my utter ruin, I sailed of my own accord as their mate with seven ships, me they cast out of ship and honor, as you claim, while they say that it was your doing. And now, why would you take me? Why have me led away? For what purpose?

> Greek: καίτοι σὺ μὲν κλοπῇ τε κἀνάγκῃ ζυγεὶς
ἔπλεις ἅμʼ αὐτοῖς, ἐμὲ δὲ τὸν πανάθλιον,
ἑκόντα πλεύσανθʼ ἑπτὰ ναυσὶ ναυβάτην,
ἄτιμον ἔβαλον, ὡς σὺ φής, κεῖνοι δὲ σέ.
καὶ νῦν τί μʼ ἄγετε; τί μʼ ἀπάγεσθε; τοῦ χάριν;

[¶21] I am nothing, and, as far as you were concerned, I have long been dead. You creature abhorred by the gods, how is it that you no longer find me crippled and foul-smelling? How, if I sail with you, can you burn sacrifices to the gods, or make libations any more? That was your pretext for casting me away in the first place.

> Greek: ὃς οὐδέν εἰμι καὶ τέθνηχʼ ὑμῖν πάλαι.
πῶς, ὦ θεοῖς ἔχθιστε, νῦν οὐκ εἰμί σοι
χωλός, δυσώδης; πῶς θεοῖς ἔξεσθʼ, ὁμοῦ
πλεύσαντος αἴθειν ἱερά; πῶς σπένδειν ἔτι;
αὕτη γὰρ ἦν σοι πρόφασις ἐκβαλεῖν ἐμέ.

[¶22] A cruel death for you!—and die you shall for your unjust treatment of me, if the gods care for justice. But I know that they do care for it, since you would never have made this voyage for one so miserable, unless some god-sent goad had driven you after me.

> Greek: κακῶς ὄλοισθʼ· ὀλεῖσθε δʼ ἠδικηκότες
τὸν ἄνδρα τόνδε, θεοῖσιν εἰ δίκης μέλει.
ἔξοιδα δʼ ὡς μέλει γʼ· ἐπεὶ οὔποτʼ ἂν στόλον
ἐπλεύσατʼ ἂν τόνδʼ εἵνεκʼ ἀνδρὸς ἀθλίου,
εἰ μή τι κέντρον θεῖον ἦγʼ ὑμᾶς ἐμοῦ.

[¶23] O, fatherland, and you watchful gods, bring your vengeance, bring your vengeance on them all after so long, if at all you pity me! Yes, my life merits pity. Yet if I were to see those men overthrown, I would believe that I had escaped my plague.

> Greek: ἀλλʼ, ὦ πατρῴα γῆ θεοί τʼ ἐπόψιοι,
τίσασθε τίσασθʼ ἀλλὰ τῷ χρόνῳ ποτὲ
ξύμπαντας αὐτούς, εἴ τι κἄμʼ οἰκτίρετε·
ὡς ζῶ μὲν οἰκτρῶς, εἰ δʼ ἴδοιμʼ ὀλωλότας
τούτους, δοκοῖμʼ ἂν τῆς νόσου πεφευγέναι.

[¶24] Chorus:
Bitter is the stranger, and bitter his words, Odysseus. They do not bend before the storm of his troubles.

> Greek: Χορός:
βαρύς τε καὶ βαρεῖαν ὁ ξένος φάτιν
τήνδʼ εἶπʼ, Ὀδυσσεῦ, κοὐχ ὑπείκουσαν κακοῖς.

[¶25] Odysseus:
I could say much in answer to his claims, if time allowed; but now I can say one thing only. What kind of man the occasion demands, that kind of man am I.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
πόλλʼ ἂν λέγειν ἔχοιμι πρὸς τὰ τοῦδʼ ἔπη,
εἴ μοι παρείκοι· νῦν δʼ ἑνὸς κρατῶ λόγου.
οὗ γὰρ τοιούτων δεῖ, τοιοῦτός εἰμʼ ἐγώ·

[¶26] And accordingly, where the judgment at hand is of just and good men, you could find no man more pious than me. Victory, however, is my inborn desire in every field—save with regard to you. To you, in this case, I will gladly give way. Yes, release him, and lay not another finger upon him.

> Greek: χὤπου δικαίων κἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν κρίσις,
οὐκ ἂν λάβοις μου μᾶλλον οὐδένʼ εὐσεβῆ.
νικᾶν γε μέντοι πανταχοῦ χρῄζων ἔφυν,
πλὴν εἰς σέ· νῦν δὲ σοί γʼ ἑκὼν ἐκστήσομαι.
ἄφετε γὰρ αὐτὸν μηδὲ προσψαύσητʼ ἔτι·

[¶27] Let him stay here. We have no further need of you, now that we have these weapons. For Teucer is there among our forces, well-skilled in this craft, as am I, and I believe that I can master this bow in no way worse than you, and point it with no worse a hand.

> Greek: ἐᾶτε μίμνειν. οὐδὲ σοῦ προσχρῄζομεν,
τά γʼ ὅπλʼ ἔχοντες ταῦτʼ, ἐπεὶ πάρεστι μὲν
Τεῦκρος παρʼ ἡμῖν, τήνδʼ ἐπιστήμην ἔχων,
ἐγώ θʼ, ὃς οἶμαι σοῦ κάκιον οὐδὲν ἂν
τούτων κρατύνειν, μηδʼ ἐπιθύνειν χερί.

[¶28] So what need is there of you? Farewell! Enjoy your strolls on Lemnos! We must be going. And perhaps your onetime prize will bring me the honor which ought to have been your own.

> Greek: τί δῆτα σοῦ δεῖ; χαῖρε τὴν Λῆμνον πατῶν·
ἡμεῖς δʼ ἴωμεν, καὶ τάχʼ ἂν τὸ σὸν γέρας
τιμὴν ἐμοὶ νείμειεν, ἣν σὲ χρῆν ἔχειν.

[¶29] Philoctetes:
Ah, no, what shall I do? Are you to shine before the Argives graced with my arms?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι· τί δράσω δύσμορος; σὺ τοῖς ἐμοῖς
ὅπλοισι κοσμηθεὶς ἐν Ἀργείοις φανεῖ;

[¶30] Odysseus:
Argue with me no more. I am going.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
μή μʼ ἀντιφώνει μηδέν, ὡς στείχοντα δή.

[¶31] Philoctetes:
Seed of Achilles, will you, too, grant me your voice no more, but leave without a word?
To Neoptolemus.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ σπέρμʼ Ἀχιλλέως, οὐδὲ σοῦ φωνῆς ἔτι
γενήσομαι προσφθεγκτός, ἀλλʼ οὕτως ἄπει;

[¶32] Odysseus:
Come on! Do not look at him, kind and noble though you are. Do not obliterate our good fortune.
To the Chorus.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
χώρει σύ· μὴ πρόσλευσσε, γενναῖός περ ὤν,
ἡμῶν ὅπως μὴ τὴν τύχην διαφθερεῖς.

[¶33] Philoctetes:
And will you also, friends, leave me so desolate and show me no pity?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἦ καὶ πρὸς ὑμῶν ὧδʼ ἔρημος, ὦ ξένοι,
λειφθήσομαι δὴ κοὐκ ἐποικτερεῖτέ με;

[¶34] Chorus:
The boy commands our ship. Whatever he says to you, that is our answer also.
To the Chorus.

> Greek: Χορός:
ὅδʼ ἐστὶν ἡμῶν ναυκράτωρ ὁ παῖς· ὅσʼ ἂν
οὗτος λέγῃ σοι, ταῦτά σοι χἠμεῖς φαμέν.

[¶35] Neoptolemus:
I shall be told by Odysseus here that I am too
soft-hearted; but remain here, if that one agrees, until the sailors have readied everything on board, and we have made our prayers to the gods. In the interval, perhaps, he will obtain a better attitude towards us. And so we two are going.
And you, when we call you, be quick to come. Exeunt Odysseus and Neoptolemus.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀκούσομαι μὲν ὡς ἔφυν οἴκτου πλέως
πρὸς τοῦδʼ· ὅμως δὲ μείνατʼ, εἰ τούτῳ δοκεῖ,
χρόνον τοσοῦτον, εἰς ὅσον τά τʼ ἐκ νεὼς
στείλωσι ναῦται καὶ θεοῖς εὐξώμεθα.
χοὖτος τάχʼ ἂν φρόνησιν ἐν τούτῳ λάβοι
λῴω τινʼ ἡμῖν. νὼ μὲν οὖν ὁρμώμεθον,
ὑμεῖς δʼ, ὅταν καλῶμεν, ὁρμᾶσθαι ταχεῖς.

[¶36] Philoctetes:
Hollow in the caverned rock, now hot, now frosty, how true it seems, then, that I was sadly fated never to leave you!
No, you will witness my death, too. Ah, ah, me! Sad dwelling, so long filled with the pain welling from my flesh, what will be my daily portion hereafter?
Where, from what provision, shall I, unhappy, find any hope of sustenance? Above my head the tremulous doves will go on their way through the whistling wind. I can stop their flight no more.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ κοίλας πέτρας γύαλον
θερμὸν καὶ παγετῶδες, ὥς σʼ οὐκ ἔμελλον ἄρʼ, ὦ τάλας,
λείψειν οὐδέποτʼ, ἀλλά μοι καὶ θνῄσκοντι συνείσει.
ὤμοι μοί μοι.
ὦ πληρέστατον αὔλιον
λύπας τᾶς ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τάλαν,
τίπτʼ αὖ μοι τὸ κατʼ ἆμαρ
ἔσται; τοῦ ποτε τεύξομαι
σιτονόμου μέλεος πόθεν ἐλπίδος;
πέλειαι δʼ ἄνω
πτωκάδες ὀξυτόνου διὰ πνεύματος
ἐλῶσιν· οὐκέτʼ ἴσχω.

[¶37] Chorus:
It was you, you, I say, doomed one, that chose this fate; and this fortune to which you are captive comes from no other source, nor from a stronger man’s compulsion. For when in fact it was in your power to show sense,
you chose to reject the better fate, and to accept the worse.

> Greek: Χορός:
σύ τοι σύ τοι κατηξίωσας,
ὦ βαρύποτμε, κοὐκ
ἄλλοθεν ἔχει τύχᾳ τᾷδʼ ἀπὸ μείζονος,
εὖτέ γε παρὸν φρονῆσαι
τοῦ λῴονος δαίμονος εἵλου τὸ κάκιον αἰνεῖν.

[¶38] Philoctetes:
Ah, miserable, miserable, then, am I, and shamed by hardship, who next must hereafter dwell in my misery here,
with no man for companion in the days to come, and waste away. I can no longer bring food to my home, no
longer gain it by the winged weapons held in my strong hands. But the unsuspected and stealthy fictions of a treacherous mind deceived me. If only I could watch him, the contriver of this plot, doomed to endure my anguish for as long a time!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ τλάμων τλάμων ἄρʼ ἐγὼ
καὶ μόχθῳ λωβατός, ὃς ἤδη μετʼ οὐδενὸς ὕστερον
ἀνδρῶν εἰσοπίσω τάλας ναίων ἐνθάδʼ ὀλοῦμαι,
αἰαῖ αἰαῖ,
οὐ φορβὰν ἔτι προσφέρων,
οὐ πτανῶν ἀπʼ ἐμῶν ὅπλων
κραταιαῖς μετὰ χερσὶν
ἴσχων· ἀλλά μοι ἄσκοπα
κρυπτά τʼ ἔπη δολερᾶς ὑπέδυ φρενός·
ἰδοίμαν δέ νιν,
τὸν τάδε μησάμενον, τὸν ἴσον χρόνον
ἐμὰς λαχόντʼ ἀνίας.

[¶39] Chorus:
Doom, god-sent doom constrained you to suffer this, not, I tell you, any treachery to which my hand was lent.
Aim your hate-filled, baneful curse elsewhere, since I prefer that you not reject my friendship.

> Greek: Χορός:
πότμος, πότμος σε δαιμόνων τάδʼ,
οὐδὲ σέ γε δόλος,
ἔσχεν ὑπὸ χειρὸς ἀμᾶς. στυγερὰν ἔχε
δύσποτμον ἀρὰν ἐπʼ ἄλλοις.
καὶ γὰρ ἐμοὶ τοῦτο μέλει, μὴ φιλότητʼ ἀπώσῃ.

[¶40] Philoctetes:
Alas! No doubt sitting on the white ocean shore
he mocks me, brandishing the weapon that nourished my unhappy life, the weapon which no one else had carried! Cherished bow, ah, friend forced from my loving hands,
if you have the power to feel, surely you see with pity that the comrade of Heracles will now no longer use you anymore!
Now you are handled by another, a man of craftiness; you see the shameless deceptions and the face of that hated enemy by whom countless wrongs, springing from shameless designs, have been contrived against me. O Zeus!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οἴμοι μοι, καί που πολιᾶς
πόντου θινὸς ἐφήμενος
ἐγγελᾷ, χερὶ πάλλων
τὰν ἐμὰν μελέου τροφάν,
τὰν οὐδείς ποτʼ ἐβάστασεν.
ὦ τόξον φίλον, ὦ φίλων
χειρῶν ἐκβεβιασμένον,
ἦ που ἐλεινὸν ὁρᾷς, φρένας εἴ τινας
ἔχεις, τὸν Ἡράκλειον
ἄρθμιον ὧδέ σοι
οὐκέτι χρησόμενον τὸ μεθύστερον,
ἄλλου δʼ ἐν μεταλλαγᾷ
πολυμηχάνου ἀνδρὸς ἐρέσσει,
ὁρῶν μὲν αἰσχρὰς ἀπάτας, στυγνὸν δὲ φῶτʼ ἐχθοδοπόν,
μυρίʼ, ἀπʼ αἰσχρῶν ἀνατέλλονθʼ, ὃς ἐφʼ ἡμῖν κάκʼ ἐμήσατʼ, ὦ Ζεῦ.

[¶41] Chorus:
A man must always assert what is right. But, when he has done so, he must not let loose malignant, stinging taunts. The man was the sole representative of the whole army, and at their mandate
he achieved a universal benefit for his friends.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἀνδρός τοι τὰ μὲν ἔνδικʼ αἰὲν εἰπεῖν,
εἰπόντος δὲ μὴ φθονερὰν
ἐξῶσαι γλώσσας ὀδύναν.
κεῖνος δʼ εἷς ἀπὸ πολλῶν
ταχθεὶς τῶνδʼ ἐφημοσύνᾳ
κοινὰν ἤνυσεν ἐς φίλους ἀρωγάν.

[¶42] Philoctetes:
Ah, my winged prey, and you tribes of bright-eyed creatures held by this place in its upland pastures, leap no more
in flight from your lairs, for I do not grasp in my hands those shafts which were once my strength—but now, gone, are my undoing! Roam at will now; the place has no more terrors—for you!
The time is ripe for you to take blood for blood, to sate yourselves to your heart’s desire on my discolored flesh! Soon I will leave life, for from what source can I find the means to live? Who can feed, as I will have to,
on the winds, when he no longer owns any of the bounty that the life-giving earth supplies?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ πταναὶ θῆραι χαροπῶν τʼ
ἔθνη θηρῶν, οὓς ὅδʼ ἔχει
χῶρος οὐρεσιβώτας,
μηκέτʼ ἀπʼ αὐλίων φυγᾷ
πηδᾶτʼ· οὐ γὰρ ἔχω χεροῖν
τὰν πρόσθεν βελέων ἀλκάν,
ὦ δύστανος ἐγὼ τανῦν,
ἀλλʼ ἀνέδην, ὁ δὲ χῶρος ἄρʼ οὐκέτι
φοβητὸς οὐκέθʼ ὑμῖν,
ἕρπετε· νῦν καλὸν
ἀντίφονον κορέσαι στόμα πρὸς χάριν
ἐμᾶς σαρκὸς αἰόλας·
ἀπὸ γὰρ βίον αὐτίκα λείψω.
πόθεν γὰρ ἔσται βιοτά; τίς ὧδʼ ἐν αὔραις τρέφεται,
μηκέτι μηδενὸς κρατύνων ὅσα πέμπει βιόδωρος αἶα;

[¶43] Chorus:
In the name of the gods, if you have any reverence for a friend who approaches you in all kindness, approach him!

> Greek: Χορός:
πρὸς θεῶν, εἴ τι σέβει ξένον, πέλασσον,
εὐνοίᾳ πάσᾳ πελάταν·

[¶44] But know this, and know it well: it is in your power to escape this plague. Cruel is it that you feed it with your own flesh, and that there is no way for you to learn to endure the countless torments that dwell with it.

> Greek: ἀλλὰ γνῶθʼ, εὖ γνῶθʼ ἐπὶ σοὶ
κῆρα τάνδʼ ἀποφεύγειν.
οἰκτρὰ γὰρ βόσκειν, ἀδαὴς δʼ
ἔχειν μυρίον ἄχθος, ὃ ξυνοικεῖ.

[¶45] Philoctetes:
Again, again, you have recalled the old agony to my thoughts—kindest though you are of all who have visited before! Why have you ruined me? What have you done to me?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
πάλιν πάλιν παλαιὸν ἄλγημʼ ὑπέμνασας, ὦ
λῷστε τῶν πρὶν ἐντόπων.

[¶46] Chorus:
What do you mean?

> Greek: τί μʼ ὤλεσας; τί μʼ εἴργασαι;

[¶47] Philoctetes:
That it was your hope to take
me to that Trojan land I abhor.

> Greek: Χορός:
τί τοῦτʼ ἔλεξας;
Φιλοκτήτης:
εἰ σὺ τὰν ἐμοὶ στυγερὰν
Τρῳάδα γᾶν μʼ ἤλπισας ἄξειν.

[¶48] Chorus:
Yes, I believe that to be the best course.

> Greek: Χορός:
τόδε γὰρ νοῶ κράτιστον.

[¶49] Philoctetes:
Leave me, then—immediately!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀπό νύν με λείπετʼ ἤδη.

[¶50] Chorus:
Pleasant, pleasant, indeed, is the task you set me, and I am ready to obey.
Come, let us be going, each to his station in the ship!

> Greek: Χορός:
φίλα μοι, φίλα ταῦτα παρήγγειλας ἑκόντι τε πράσσειν.
ἴωμεν ἴωμεν
ναὸς ἵνʼ ἡμῖν τέτακται.
Φιλοκτήτης:
μή, πρὸς ἀραίου Διός, ἔλθῃς, ἱκετεύω.

[¶51] Philoctetes:
By Zeus who hears men’s curses, do not go, I implore you!
Chorus:
Be moderate.

> Greek: Χορός:
μετρίαζʼ.
Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ ξένοι, μείνατε, πρὸς θεῶν.

[¶52] Philoctetes:
Friends, in the name of the gods, stay!
Chorus:
Why do you call?

> Greek: Χορός:
τί θροεῖς;
Φιλοκτήτης:
αἰαῖ αἰαῖ, δαίμων δαίμων·

[¶53] Philoctetes:
Ayee, ayee! Doom, Doom! My suffering kills me! Foot, my foot, what shall I do with you in the days to come?

> Greek: ἀπόλωλʼ ὁ τάλας·
ὦ ποὺς πούς, τί σʼ ἔτʼ ἐν βίῳ
τεύξω τῷ μετόπιν τάλας;

[¶54] O friends, return, come back to me!

> Greek: ὦ ξένοι, ἔλθετʼ ἐπήλυδες αὖθις.

[¶55] Chorus:
To do what that has a different spirit from that of your former commands?

> Greek: Χορός:
τί ῥέξοντες ἀλλοκότῳ
γνώμᾳ τῶν πάρος, ὧν προύφαινες;

[¶56] Philoctetes:
There is no reason for indignation when the words of one crazed
by a storm of pain are senseless.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὔτοι νεμεσητόν,
ἀλύοντα χειμερίῳ
λύπᾳ καὶ παρὰ νοῦν θροεῖν.

[¶57] Chorus:
Come with us, then, poor man, as we bid you.

> Greek: Χορός:
βᾶθί νυν, ὦ τάλαν, ὥς σε κελεύομεν.

[¶58] Philoctetes:
Never, never—of that be certain! Not even if the lord of the fiery lightning comes to wrap me in the blaze of his thunderbolts!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐδέποτʼ οὐδέποτʼ, ἴσθι τόδʼ ἔμπεδον,
οὐδʼ εἰ πυρφόρος ἀστεροπητὴς
βροντᾶς αὐγαῖς μʼ εἶσι φλογίζων.

[¶59] Ilium be damned, and as many of the men before its walls as dared reject this foot of mine! But oh, friends, grant me one wish!

> Greek: ἐρρέτω Ἴλιον οἵ θʼ ὑπʼ ἐκείνῳ
πάντες ὅσοι τόδʼ ἔτλασαν ἐμοῦ ποδὸς ἄρθρον ἀπῶσαι.
ἀλλʼ, ὦ ξένοι, ἕν γέ μοι εὖχος ὀρέξατε.

[¶60] Chorus:
What would you ask?

> Greek: Χορός:
ποῖον ἐρεῖς τόδʼ ἔπος;

[¶61] Philoctetes:
A sword, if you can find one, or an axe, or any weapon—
please, pass it to me!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ξίφος, εἴ ποθεν,
ἢ γένυν ἢ βελέων τι προπέμψατε.
Χορός:
ὡς τίνα δὴ ῥέξῃς παλάμαν ποτέ;

[¶62] Chorus:
That you may execute what scheme?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
χρῶτʼ ἀπὸ πάντα καὶ ἄρθρα τέμω χερί·

[¶63] Philoctetes:
Mangle all this body, and sever limb from limb with my own hand! Death, death is my thought now!
Chorus:
Why, why ever would you—

> Greek: φονᾷ φονᾷ νόος ἤδη.
Χορός:
τί ποτε;

[¶64] Philoctetes:
I am seeking my father—

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
πατέρα ματεύων.

[¶65] Chorus:
In what land?

> Greek: Χορός:
ποῖ γᾶς;

[¶66] Philoctetes:
In Hades; he dwells in the sunlight no more. Ah, my city, city of my fathers! I crave to see you, unhappy man that I truly am
for leaving your sacred stream and going to help the Danaans, my enemies! I am nothing now, nothing anymore! Exit Philoctetes into the cave.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἐς Ἅιδου·
οὐ γάρ ἐστʼ ἐν φάει γʼ ἔτι.
ὦ πόλις, ὦ πατρία,
πῶς ἂν εἰσίδοιμʼ ἄθλιός σʼ ἀνήρ,
ὅς γε σὰν λιπὼν ἱερὰν
λιβάδʼ ἐχθροῖς ἔβαν Δαναοῖς
ἀρωγός· ἔτʼ οὐδέν εἰμι.

[¶67] Chorus:
Long ago I would have left you to go to my ship, had I not seen
Odysseus approaching, and the son of Achilles, too, coming here for us.
Enter Neoptolemus and Odysseus.

> Greek: Χορός:
ἐγὼ μὲν ἤδη καὶ πάλαι νεὼς ὁμοῦ
στείχων ἂν ἦ σοι τῆς ἐμῆς, εἰ μὴ πέλας
Ὀδυσσέα στείχοντα τόν τʼ Ἀχιλλέως
γόνον πρὸς ἡμᾶς δεῦρʼ ἰόντʼ ἐλεύσσομεν.

[¶68] Odysseus:
Will you not tell me why you make this return journey with such eager speed?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
οὐκ ἂν φράσειας ἥντινʼ αὖ παλίντροπος
κέλευθον ἕρπεις ὧδε σὺν σπουδῇ ταχύς;
Νεοπτόλεμος:
λύσων ὅσʼ ἐξήμαρτον ἐν τῷ πρὶν χρόνῳ.

[¶69] Neoptolemus:
I come to undo the mistake that I made earlier.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
δεινόν γε φωνεῖς· ἡ δʼ ἁμαρτία τίς ἦν;

[¶70] Odysseus:
Your words alarm me—what mistake was that?
Neoptolemus:
The one I made when I obeyed you and all the army.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἣν σοὶ πιθόμενος τῷ τε σύμπαντι στρατῷ
Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἔπραξας ἔργον ποῖον ὧν οὔ σοι πρέπον;

[¶71] Odysseus:
What did you do that was unworthy of you?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀπάταισιν αἰσχραῖς ἄνδρα καὶ δόλοις ἑλών.

[¶72] Neoptolemus:
I captured a man by disgraceful deceits and treachery.
Odysseus:
What man? Oh! Can you be planning something rash?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
τὸν ποῖον; ὤμοι· μῶν τι βουλεύει νέον;

[¶73] Neoptolemus:
Rash, no. But to Poeas’ son—

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
νέον μὲν οὐδέν, τῷ δὲ Ποίαντος τόκῳ,

[¶74] Odysseus:
What are you going to do? Suddenly a certain fear comes over me.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
τί χρῆμα δράσεις; ὥς μʼ ὑπῆλθέ τις φόβος.

[¶75] Neoptolemus:
—From whom I took this bow, back to him—

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
παρʼ οὗπερ ἔλαβον τάδε τὰ τόξʼ, αὖθις πάλιν

[¶76] Odysseus:
Zeus! What will you say? Certainly you do not intend to give it back?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ὦ Ζεῦ, τί λέξεις; οὔ τί που δοῦναι νοεῖς;

[¶77] Neoptolemus:
Yes, I do, because disgracefully and unjustly I got hold of it.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
αἰσχρῶς γὰρ αὐτὰ κοὐ δίκῃ λαβὼν ἔχω.

[¶78] Odysseus:
In the name of the gods, are you saying this to mock me?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
πρὸς θεῶν, πότερα δὴ κερτομῶν λέγεις τάδε;

[¶79] Neoptolemus:
If it is mockery to speak the truth.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
εἰ κερτόμησίς ἐστι τἀληθῆ λέγειν.

[¶80] Odysseus:
What do you mean, Neoptolemus? What are you saying?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
τί φής, Ἀχιλλέως παῖ; τίνʼ εἴρηκας λόγον;

[¶81] Neoptolemus:
Must I repeat the same words twice and three times?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
δὶς ταὐτὰ βούλει καὶ τρὶς ἀναπολεῖν μʼ ἔπη;

[¶82] Odysseus:
I would not have wished to hear them even once.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἀρχὴν κλύειν ἂν οὐδʼ ἅπαξ ἐβουλόμην.

[¶83] Neoptolemus:
Know for certain that I have nothing more to say.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
εὖ νῦν ἐπίστω πάντʼ ἀκηκοὼς λόγον.

[¶84] Odysseus:
There is someone, I tell you, who will prevent your deed.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἔστιν τις, ἔστιν ὅς σε κωλύσει τὸ δρᾶν.

[¶85] Neoptolemus:
What do you mean? Who will oppose me in this?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί φής; τίς ἔσται μʼ οὑπικωλύσων τάδε;

[¶86] Odysseus:
The whole host of the Achaeans, and I for one.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ξύμπας Ἀχαιῶν λαός, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἐγώ.

[¶87] Neoptolemus:
Wise though you were born, your threats are void of wisdom.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
σοφὸς πεφυκὼς οὐδὲν ἐξαυδᾷς σοφόν.

[¶88] Odysseus:
And your words are not wise, nor is that which you want to do.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
σὺ δʼ οὔτε φωνεῖς οὔτε δρασείεις σοφά.

[¶89] Neoptolemus:
And yet if they are just, they are better than wise.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ εἰ δίκαια, τῶν σοφῶν κρείσσω τάδε.

[¶90] Odysseus:
And how is it just for you to give up what was won by means of my plans?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
καὶ πῶς δίκαιον, ἅ γʼ ἔλαβες βουλαῖς ἐμαῖς, πάλιν μεθεῖναι ταῦτα;

[¶91] Neoptolemus:
My error was to my dishonor, and now I must try to retrieve it.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τὴν ἁμαρτίαν
αἰσχρὰν ἁμαρτὼν ἀναλαβεῖν πειράσομαι.

[¶92] Odysseus:
The army of the Achaeans causes you no fear, when you do this?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
στρατὸν δʼ Ἀχαιῶν οὐ φοβεῖ, πράσσων τάδε;

[¶93] Neoptolemus:
With justice on my side, I do not tremble at the terrors you name.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ξὺν τῷ δικαίῳ τὸν σὸν οὐ ταρβῶ φόβον.

[¶94] Odysseus:
…

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
[ξὺν τῷ δικαίῳ χεὶρ ἐμή σʼ ἀναγκάσει.]

[¶95] Neoptolemus:
No, not even at the threat of your hand do I yield obedience.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ οὐδέ τοι σῇ χειρὶ πείθομαι τὸ δρᾶν.

[¶96] Odysseus:
Then our battles shall be not with the Trojans, but with you.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
οὔ τἄρα Τρωσίν, ἀλλὰ σοὶ μαχούμεθα.

[¶97] Neoptolemus:
So be it, if that is what the future holds.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἴτω τὸ μέλλον.

[¶98] Odysseus:
Do you see my right hand
clasping my sword hilt?

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
χεῖρα δεξιὰν ὁρᾷς
κώπης ἐπιψαύουσαν;

[¶99] Neoptolemus:
You will see me do the same, and not slowly.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλὰ κἀμέ τοι
ταὐτὸν τόδʼ ὄψει δρῶντα κοὐ μέλλοντʼ ἔτι.

[¶100] Odysseus:
However, I will let you be. But I will go report this to all the army, and by them you will be punished.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
καίτοι σʼ ἐάσω· τῷ δὲ σύμπαντι στρατῷ
λέξω τάδʼ ἐλθών, ὅς σε τιμωρήσεται.

[¶101] Neoptolemus:
You have come to your senses. And if you are so prudent hereafter,
perhaps you may steer clear of trouble. Odysseus feigns departure, but conceals himself nearby.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἐσωφρόνησας· κἂν τὰ λοίφʼ οὕτω φρονῇς,
ἴσως ἂν ἐκτὸς κλαυμάτων ἔχοις πόδα.

[¶102] But you, son of Poeas, Philoctetes, come out! Leave the shelter of your rocky home!
Philoctetes: Within.

> Greek: σὺ δʼ, ὦ Ποίαντος παῖ, Φιλοκτήτην λέγω,
ἔξελθʼ, ἀμείψας τάσδε πετρήρεις στέγας.

[¶103] What is this disruptive cry once more rising beside my cave? Why do you call me? What do you want of me? He appears at the mouth of the cave, and sees Neoptolemus.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
τίς αὖ παρʼ ἄντροις θόρυβος ἵσταται βοῆς;
τί μʼ ἐκκαλεῖσθε; τοῦ κεχρημένοι, ξένοι;

[¶104] Oh, no! This business will bring me no good. Have you come bringing me new misery on top of the old?

> Greek: ὤμοι· κακὸν τὸ χρῆμα. μῶν τί μοι νέα
πάρεστε πρὸς κακοῖσι πέμποντες κακά;

[¶105] Neoptolemus:
Take heart and listen to my words.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
θάρσει· λόγους δʼ ἄκουσον οὓς ἥκω φέρων.

[¶106] Philoctetes:
I am afraid. Beautiful words did me evil once before, when I believed your promises.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
δέδοικʼ ἔγωγε· καὶ τὰ πρὶν γὰρ ἐκ λόγων
καλῶν κακῶς ἔπραξα, σοῖς πεισθεὶς λόγοις.

[¶107] Neoptolemus:
Is there no room, then, for repentance?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὔκουν ἔνεστι καὶ μεταγνῶναι πάλιν;

[¶108] Philoctetes:
You spoke just like this, when you were seeking to steal my bow—a professed friend, with my destruction in his treacherous heart.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
τοιοῦτος ἦσθα τοῖς λόγοισι χὤτε μου
τὰ τόξʼ ἔκλεπτες, πιστός, ἀτηρὸς λάθρᾳ.

[¶109] Neoptolemus:
I assure you, I am not so now. I merely wish to know whether you have resolved to stay here and endure, or to sail with us.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ οὔ τι μὴν νῦν· βούλομαι δέ σου κλύειν,
πότερα δέδοκταί σοι μένοντι καρτερεῖν
ἢ πλεῖν μεθʼ ἡμῶν;

[¶110] Philoctetes:
Stop, not another word! Whatever you may say will be said in vain.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
παῦε, μὴ λέξῃς πέρα·
μάτην γὰρ ἃν εἴπῃς γε πάντʼ εἰρήσεται.

[¶111] Neoptolemus:
You are so resolved?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὕτω δέδοκται;

[¶112] Philoctetes:
More firmly, believe me, than words can say.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
καὶ πέρα γʼ ἴσθʼ ἢ λέγω.

[¶113] Neoptolemus:
Well, I could have wished that you had listened to my words, but if nothing that I say will help, then I am finished.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ ἤθελον μὲν ἄν σε πεισθῆναι λόγοις
ἐμοῖσιν· εἰ δὲ μή τι πρὸς καιρὸν λέγων
κυρῶ, πέπαυμαι.

[¶114] Philoctetes:
Yes, all your pleas will be in vain. You will never gain my mind’s good will, since first you fraudulently seized my means of life and robbed me of it, and then you have come here to admonish me, you most hateful descendant of so noble a father!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
πάντα γὰρ φράσεις μάτην.
οὐ γάρ ποτʼ εὔνουν τὴν ἐμὴν κτήσει φρένα,
ὅστις γʼ ἐμοῦ δόλοισι τὸν βίον λαβὼν
ἀπεστέρηκας, κᾆτα νουθετεῖς ἐμὲ
ἐλθών, ἀρίστου πατρὸς αἴσχιστος γεγώς.

[¶115] Ruin seize you all, the Atreids first, and next the son of Laertes, and you!
Neoptolemus:
Speak no more curses, and instead receive these weapons from my hand.

> Greek: ὄλοισθʼ, Ἀτρεῖδαι μὲν μάλιστʼ, ἔπειτα δὲ ὁ Λαρτίου παῖς καὶ σύ.
Νεοπτόλεμος:
μὴ ʼπεύξῃ πέρα·
δέχου δὲ χειρὸς ἐξ ἐμῆς βέλη τάδε.

[¶116] Philoctetes:
What did you say? Am I being tricked a second time?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
πῶς εἶπας; ἆρα δεύτερον δολούμεθα;

[¶117] Neoptolemus:
No, I swear it by the pure majesty of Zeus most high!

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀπώμοσʼ ἁγνὸν Ζηνὸς ὑψίστου σέβας.

[¶118] Philoctetes:
O welcome words—if your words are true!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ φίλτατʼ εἰπών, εἰ λέγεις ἐτήτυμα.

[¶119] Neoptolemus:
The deed will soon make it plain. Come, stretch out your right hand and be master of your bow! As he hands the bow and arrows to Philoctetes, Odysseus suddenly appears.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τοὔργον παρέσται φανερόν· ἀλλὰ δεξιὰν
πρότεινε χεῖρα, καὶ κράτει τῶν σῶν ὅπλων.

[¶120] Odysseus:
But I forbid it, as the gods are my witnesses, in the name of the Atreids and the entire army!

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
ἐγὼ δʼ ἀπαυδῶ γʼ, ᾧ θεοὶ ξυνίστορες,
ὑπέρ τʼ Ἀτρειδῶν τοῦ τε σύμπαντος στρατοῦ.

[¶121] Philoctetes:
Son, whose voice was that? Do I hear Odysseus?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
τέκνον, τίνος φώνημα, μῶν Ὀδυσσέως,
ἐπῃσθόμην;

[¶122] Odysseus:
Be sure of it, and you see him at your side, who will carry you to the plains of Troy by force, whether or not the son of Achilles is willing.

> Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς:
σάφʼ ἴσθι· καὶ πέλας γʼ ὁρᾷς,
ὅς σʼ ἐς τὰ Τροίας πεδίʼ ἀποστελῶ βίᾳ,
ἐάν τʼ Ἀχιλλέως παῖς ἐάν τε μὴ θέλῃ·

[¶123] Philoctetes:
But it will bring you no joy, if this arrow fly straight. Odysseus flees from the stage.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀλλʼ οὔ τι χαίρων, ἢν τόδʼ ὀρθωθῇ βέλος.

[¶124] Neoptolemus:
Wait—by the gods, no! Do not let it fly!

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἆ, μηδαμῶς, μή, πρὸς θεῶν, μεθῇς βέλος.

[¶125] Philoctetes:
Let go of me, in the name of the gods, dear boy!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
μέθες με, πρὸς θεῶν, χεῖρα, φίλτατον τέκνον.

[¶126] Neoptolemus:
I will not.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὐκ ἂν μεθείην.

[¶127] Philoctetes:
Alas! Why did you take from me the chance to kill my hated enemy with my bow?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
φεῦ· τί μʼ ἄνδρα πολέμιον
ἐχθρόν τʼ ἀφείλου μὴ κτανεῖν τόξοις ἐμοῖς;

[¶128] Neoptolemus:
It would have been honorable neither for me, nor for you.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ οὔτʼ ἐμοὶ τοῦτʼ ἐστὶν οὔτε σοὶ καλόν.

[¶129] Philoctetes:
Well, you may be sure of one thing, at least: the army’s chiefs, the lying heralds of the Greeks, though bold with words, are cowards in the fight.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἀλλʼ οὖν τοσοῦτόν γʼ ἴσθι, τοὺς πρώτους στρατοῦ,
τοὺς τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ψευδοκήρυκας, κακοὺς
ὄντας πρὸς αἰχμήν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς λόγοις θρασεῖς.

[¶130] Neoptolemus:
Good; the bow is yours, and you have no cause for anger or complaint against me.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
εἶεν· τὰ μὲν δὴ τόξʼ ἔχεις, κοὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅτου
ὀργὴν ἔχοις ἂν οὐδὲ μέμψιν εἰς ἐμέ.

[¶131] Philoctetes:
Agreed. You have revealed the true stock, my son, from which you spring. You are no child of Sisyphus, but of Achilles, whose fame was the fairest when he was among the living, as it is now with the dead.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ξύμφημι· τὴν φύσιν δʼ ἔδειξας, ὦ τέκνον,
ἐξ ἧς ἔβλαστες, οὐχὶ Σισύφου πατρός,
ἀλλʼ ἐξ Ἀχιλλέως, ὃς μετὰ ζώντων ὅτʼ ἦν
ἤκουʼ ἄριστα, νῦν δὲ τῶν τεθνηκότων.

[¶132] Neoptolemus:
I delight at your praise of my father,
and of myself. But hear what I desire to gain from you. It is true that men are compelled to bear the fortunes given by the gods; but when they cling to self-inflicted miseries, as you do,
no one can justly excuse or pity them. You have become savage: you welcome no counsellor, and if someone admonishes you, even if he speaks in all good will, you detest him and consider him an enemy who wishes you ill. All the same I will speak to you, calling Zeus who guards oaths to witness.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἥσθην πατέρα τὸν ἀμὸν εὐλογοῦντά σε
αὐτόν τʼ ἔμʼ· ὧν δέ σου τυχεῖν ἐφίεμαι,
ἄκουσον. ἀνθρώποισι τὰς μὲν ἐκ θεῶν
τύχας δοθείσας ἔστʼ ἀναγκαῖον φέρειν·
ὅσοι δʼ ἑκουσίοισιν ἔγκεινται βλάβαις,
ὥσπερ σύ, τούτοις οὔτε συγγνώμην ἔχειν
δίκαιόν ἐστιν οὔτʼ ἐποικτίρειν τινά.
σὺ δʼ ἠγρίωσαι, κοὔτε σύμβουλον δέχει,
ἐάν τε νουθετῇ τις εὐνοίᾳ λέγων,
στυγεῖς, πολέμιον δυσμενῆ θʼ ἡγούμενος.
ὅμως δὲ λέξω· Ζῆνα δʼ ὅρκιον καλῶ·

[¶133] And you remember these words and write them in your heart: you suffer this plague’s affliction in accordance with god-sent fate, because you came near to Chryse’s guardian, the serpent who secretly watches over her home and guards her roofless sanctuary. Know also that you will never gain relief from this grave sickness,
as long as the sun still rises in the east and sets in the west, until of your own free will you come to the plains of Troy, find there the sons of Asclepius, our comrades, be relieved of this infection, and, with this bow’s
aid and mine, be hailed as the sacker of Troy’s towers. How I know these things are so ordained, I will tell you. We have a Trojan prisoner, Helenus, foremost among seers, who says plainly that all this must come to pass, and further,
that this very summer must see the complete capture of Troy. Otherwise he willingly gives himself over for execution, if these prophecies of his prove false. Therefore, now that you understand everything, give way graciously. It is a glorious addition to your gain to be singled out
as best of the Greeks—first, for coming into healing hands, and then for taking Troy rich in tears, and so winning a matchless renown.

> Greek: καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐπίστω καὶ γράφου φρενῶν ἔσω.
σὺ γὰρ νοσεῖς τόδʼ ἄλγος ἐκ θείας τύχης,
Χρύσης πελασθεὶς φύλακος, ὃς τὸν ἀκαλυφῆ
σηκὸν φυλάσσει κρύφιος οἰκουρῶν ὄφις·
καὶ παῦλαν ἴσθι τῆσδε μή ποτʼ ἂν τυχεῖν
νόσου βαρείας, ἕως ἂν αὑτὸς ἥλιος
ταύτῃ μὲν αἴρῃ, τῇδε δʼ αὖ δύνῃ πάλιν,
πρὶν ἂν τὰ Τροίας πεδίʼ ἑκὼν αὐτὸς μόλῃς,
καὶ τοῖν παρʼ ἡμῖν ἐντυχὼν Ἀσκληπίδαιν
νόσου μαλαχθῇς τῆσδε, καὶ τὰ πέργαμα
ξὺν τοῖσδε τόξοις ξύν τʼ ἐμοὶ πέρσας φανῇς.
ὡς δʼ οἶδα ταῦτα τῇδʼ ἔχοντʼ ἐγὼ φράσω.
ἀνὴρ γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἐκ Τροίας ἁλούς,
Ἕλενος ἀριστόμαντις, ὃς λέγει σαφῶς
ὡς δεῖ γενέσθαι ταῦτα· καὶ πρὸς τοῖσδʼ ἔτι
ὡς ἔστʼ ἀνάγκη τοῦ παρεστῶτος θέρους
Τροίαν ἁλῶναι πᾶσαν· ἢ δίδωσʼ ἑκὼν
κτείνειν ἑαυτόν, ἢν τάδε ψευσθῇ λέγων.
ταῦτʼ οὖν ἐπεὶ κάτοισθα, συγχώρει θέλων.
καλὴ γὰρ ἡ ʼπίκτησις, Ἑλλήνων ἕνα
κριθέντʼ ἄριστον τοῦτο μὲν παιωνίας
ἐς χεῖρας ἐλθεῖν, εἶτα τὴν πολύστονον
Τροίαν ἑλόντα κλέος ὑπέρτατον λαβεῖν.

[¶134] Philoctetes:
Hateful life, why, why do you keep me in the light of day, instead of letting me go to Hades’ domain?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ στυγνὸς αἰών, τί με, τί δῆτʼ ἔχεις ἄνω
βλέποντα κοὐκ ἀφῆκας εἰς Ἅιδου μολεῖν;

[¶135] Ah, me, what shall I do? How can I ignore this man’s words, when he has advised me with good will? But shall I yield, then? How, after doing that, shall I, ill-fated, come into men’s sight? Whom will I be able to talk to? You orbs that have watched my every suffering,
how could you endure to see me consorting with the sons of Atreus, who caused my ruin, or with the accursed son of Laertes? It is not my resentment for what has already been done that stings me, rather it is the many troubles which I seem to foresee I must suffer at the hands of
these men in the future. For when the mind of men has once mothered wrongdoing, it trains those men to be wrongdoers in all else thereafter. And in you, too, I wonder at this. You should never yourself revisit Troy, and should prevent me from going there, seeing that those men have done you outrage
by stripping you of your father’s arms [when, in the suit for the weapons, they judged unhappy Ajax inferior to Odysseus]. After that, will you go to fight at their side, and compel me to do the same? No, do not do it, son, but, as you swore to me, escort me home. You yourself remain in Scyros, and leave those evil men to their evil doom.

> Greek: οἴμοι, τί δράσω; πῶς ἀπιστήσω λόγοις
τοῖς τοῦδʼ, ὃς εὔνους ὢν ἐμοὶ παρῄνεσεν;
ἀλλʼ εἰκάθω δῆτʼ; εἶτα πῶς ὁ δύσμορος
εἰς φῶς τάδʼ ἔρξας εἶμι; τῷ προσήγορος;
πῶς, ὦ τὰ πάντʼ ἰδόντες ἀμφʼ ἐμοὶ κύκλοι,
ταῦτʼ ἐξανασχήσεσθε, τοῖσιν Ἀτρέως
ἐμὲ ξυνόντα παισίν, οἵ μʼ ἀπώλεσαν;
πῶς τῷ πανώλει παιδὶ τῷ Λαερτίου;
οὐ γάρ με τἄλγος τῶν παρελθόντων δάκνει,
ἀλλʼ οἷα χρὴ παθεῖν με πρὸς τούτων ἔτι
δοκῶ προλεύσσειν· οἷς γὰρ ἡ γνώμη κακῶν
μήτηρ γένηται, τἄλλα παιδεύει κακούς.
καὶ σοῦ δʼ ἔγωγε θαυμάσας ἔχω τόδε.
χρῆν γάρ σε μήτʼ αὐτόν ποτʼ ἐς Τροίαν μολεῖν
ἡμᾶς τʼ ἀπείργειν, οἵ γέ σου καθύβρισαν,
πατρὸς γέρας συλῶντες, εἶτα τοῖσδε σὺ
εἶ ξυμμαχήσων, κἄμʼ ἀναγκάζεις τόδε;
μὴ δῆτα, τέκνον· ἀλλʼ ἅ μοι ξυνώμοσας,
πέμψον πρὸς οἴκους· καὐτὸς ἐν Σκύρῳ μένων
ἔα κακῶς αὐτοὺς ἀπόλλυσθαι κακούς.

[¶136] So shall you win double thanks from me, as from your father, and you will not appear through your service to bad men to be like them in your nature.
Neoptolemus:
Your recommendation is reasonable, but nevertheless, I wish that you would put your trust in the gods and in my words,
and sail from this land with me, your friend.

> Greek: χοὔτω διπλῆν μὲν ἐξ ἐμοῦ κτήσει χάριν,
διπλῆν δὲ πατρός, κοὐ κακοὺς ἐπωφελῶν
δόξεις ὁμοῖος τοῖς κακοῖς πεφυκέναι.
Νεοπτόλεμος:
λέγεις μὲν εἰκότʼ, ἀλλʼ ὅμως σε βούλομαι
θεοῖς τε πιστεύσαντα τοῖς τʼ ἐμοῖς λόγοις
φίλου μετʼ ἀνδρὸς τοῦδε τῆσδʼ ἐκπλεῖν χθονός.

[¶137] Philoctetes:
What! To the plains of Troy and to the abhorred son of Atreus, with this miserable foot?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἦ πρὸς τὰ Τροίας πεδία καὶ τὸν Ἀτρέως
ἔχθιστον υἱὸν τῷδε δυστήνῳ ποδί;

[¶138] Neoptolemus:
No, rather to those who will free you and your pus-filled limb from pain, and will save you from your sickness.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
πρὸς τοὺς μὲν οὖν σε τήνδε τʼ ἔμπυον βάσιν
παύσοντας ἄλγους κἀποσώσοντας νόσου.

[¶139] Philoctetes:
You giver of frightening advice, what have you said?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ δεινὸν αἶνον αἰνέσας, τί φής ποτε;

[¶140] Neoptolemus:
I recognize what will be best in the end for you and for me.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἃ σοί τε κἀμοὶ λῷσθʼ ὁρῶ τελούμενα.

[¶141] Philoctetes:
Have you no shame before the gods for saying that?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
καὶ ταῦτα λέξας οὐ καταισχύνει θεούς;

[¶142] Neoptolemus:
Why should a man be ashamed of benefiting his friends?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
πῶς γάρ τις αἰσχύνοιτʼ ἂν ὠφελῶν φίλους·

[¶143] Philoctetes:
Do you mean a benefit to the Atreids, or for me?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
λέγεις δʼ Ἀτρείδαις ὄφελος ἢ ʼπʼ ἐμοὶ τόδε;

[¶144] Neoptolemus:
For you, certainly, since I am your friend and speak in friendship.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
σοί που, φίλος γʼ ὤν, χὠ λόγος τοιόσδε μου.

[¶145] Philoctetes:
How can that be, when you would give me up to my enemies?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
πῶς, ὅς γε τοῖς ἐχθροῖσί μʼ ἐκδοῦναι θέλεις;

[¶146] Neoptolemus:
Please, sir, learn to be less defiant in misfortune.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ὦ τᾶν, διδάσκου μὴ θρασύνεσθαι κακοῖς.

[¶147] Philoctetes:
You will ruin me—I know it—with these words.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὀλεῖς με, γιγνώσκω σε, τοῖσδε τοῖς λόγοις.

[¶148] Neoptolemus:
Not I. But you, I say, will not understand.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
οὔκουν ἔγωγε· φημὶ δʼ οὔ σε μανθάνειν.

[¶149] Philoctetes:
Do I not know already that the Atreids cast me away?

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἐγὼ οὐκ Ἀτρείδας ἐκβαλόντας οἶδά με;

[¶150] Neoptolemus:
They cast you out, yes, but look if they will not in turn restore you.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀλλʼ ἐκβαλόντες εἰ πάλιν σώσουσʼ ὅρα.

[¶151] Philoctetes:
Never—if I must first consent to see Troy.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
οὐδέποθʼ ἑκόντα γʼ ὥστε τὴν Τροίαν ἰδεῖν.

[¶152] Neoptolemus:
What can I do, then if my pleading fails to persuade you of anything that I recommend?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί δῆτʼ ἂν ἡμεῖς δρῷμεν, εἰ σέ γʼ ἐν λόγοις
πείσειν δυνησόμεσθα μηδὲν ὧν λέγω;

[¶153] The easiest course for me is to stop talking, and for you to live, just as you do now, without deliverance.

> Greek: ὡς ῥᾷστʼ ἐμοὶ μὲν τῶν λόγων λῆξαι, σὲ δὲ
ζῆν, ὥσπερ ἤδη ζῇς, ἄνευ σωτηρίας.

[¶154] Philoctetes:
Let me bear the sufferings that are fated me. But what you promised me with your right hand in mine—to bring me home,—that promise fulfil for me, son,
and do not delay, or remind me further of Troy. I have had my fill of grief and lamentations.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἔα με πάσχειν ταῦθʼ ἅπερ παθεῖν με δεῖ·
ἃ δʼ ᾔνεσάς μοι δεξιᾶς ἐμῆς θιγών,
πέμπειν πρὸς οἴκους, ταῦτά μοι πρᾶξον, τέκνον,
καὶ μὴ βράδυνε μηδʼ ἐπιμνησθῇς ἔτι
Τροίας· ἅλις γάρ μοι τεθρήνηται γόοις.

[¶155] Neoptolemus:
If it is your will, let us go.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
εἰ δοκεῖ, στείχωμεν.

[¶156] Philoctetes:
O noble words!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ γενναῖον εἰρηκὼς ἔπος.

[¶157] Neoptolemus:
Now lean your steps firmly upon mine.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
ἀντέρειδε νῦν βάσιν σήν.

[¶158] Philoctetes:
As far as my strength allows.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
εἰς ὅσον γʼ ἐγὼ σθένω.

[¶159] Neoptolemus:
But how shall I escape blame from the Achaeans?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
αἰτίαν δὲ πῶς Ἀχαιῶν φεύξομαι;

[¶160] Philoctetes:
Disregard it.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
μὴ φροντίσῃς.

[¶161] Neoptolemus:
What if they ravage my country?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τί γάρ, ἐὰν πορθῶσι χώραν τὴν ἐμήν;

[¶162] Philoctetes:
I will be there—

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ἐγὼ παρὼν

[¶163] Neoptolemus:
And what aid will you render?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
τίνα προσωφέλησιν ἔρξεις;

[¶164] Philoctetes:
—And with the shafts of Heracles—

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
βέλεσι τοῖς Ἡρακλέους

[¶165] Neoptolemus:
What?

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
πῶς λέγεις;

[¶166] Philoctetes:
—I will keep them away.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
εἴρξω πελάζειν.

[¶167] Neoptolemus:
Then say your farewell to this island, and leave with me.
Heracles appears above the stage.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
στεῖχε προσκύσας χθόνα.

[¶168] Heracles:
Not yet, not until you have heard my commands,
son of Poeas. Know that your ears perceive the voice of Heracles, and that you look upon his face. For your sake I have left my divine seat and come
to reveal to you the purposes of Zeus, and to halt the journey on which you are departing. Hearken to my words. First I would tell you of my own fortunes—how, by toiling through and enduring so many toils to the end, I have won the glory of deathlessness, as you witness.
And for you, be sure, this fate is ordained, that through these toils of yours you will make your life far-famed. You shall go with this man to the Trojan city, where, first, you shall be healed of your cruel sickness,
and then, chosen out as foremost among the warriors in prowess, with my bow you shall sever Paris, the author of these evils, from life. You shall sack Troy and shall receive from the army the spoils of supreme valor to carry home
to the heights of your native Oeta for the delight of your father Poeas. And whatever spoils you receive from that army, from them carry to my pyre a thank-offering for my bow. And these counsels hold for you also, son of Achilles,
for you have not the might to subdue the Trojan realm without him, nor he without you. Rather, like twin lions with the same quarry, each of you must guard the other’s life. For the healing of your sickness, I will send Asclepius to Troy, since it is doomed to fall a second time
before my arrows. But of this be mindful, when you plunder the land—that you show reverence towards the gods. Do this because Father Zeus regards all else as of less account, and because Piety does not die along with mortals. Whether they are alive or dead, their piety does not perish.

> Greek: Ἡρακλῆς:
μήπω γε, πρὶν ἂν τῶν ἡμετέρων
ἀίῃς μύθων, παῖ Ποίαντος·
φάσκειν δʼ αὐδὴν τὴν Ἡρακλέους
ἀκοῇ τε κλύειν λεύσσειν τʼ ὄψιν.
τὴν σὴν δʼ ἥκω χάριν οὐρανίας
ἕδρας προλιπών,
τὰ Διός τε φράσων βουλεύματά σοι
κατερητύσων θʼ ὁδὸν ἣν στέλλει·
σὺ δʼ ἐμῶν μύθων ἐπάκουσον.
καὶ πρῶτα μέν σοι τὰς ἐμὰς λέξω τύχας,
ὅσους πονήσας καὶ διεξελθὼν πόνους
ἀθάνατον ἀρετὴν ἔσχον, ὡς πάρεσθʼ ὁρᾶν.
καὶ σοί, σάφʼ ἴσθι, τοῦτʼ ὀφείλεται παθεῖν,
ἐκ τῶν πόνων τῶνδʼ εὐκλεᾶ θέσθαι βίον.
ἐλθὼν δὲ σὺν τῷδʼ ἀνδρὶ πρὸς τὸ Τρωικὸν
πόλισμα, πρῶτον μὲν νόσου παύσει λυγρᾶς,
ἀρετῇ τε πρῶτος ἐκκριθεὶς στρατεύματος,
Πάριν μέν, ὃς τῶνδʼ αἴτιος κακῶν ἔφυ,
τόξοισι τοῖς ἐμοῖσι νοσφιεῖς βίου,
πέρσεις τε Τροίαν, σκῦλά τʼ εἰς μέλαθρα σὰ
πέμψεις, ἀριστεῖʼ ἐκλαβὼν στρατεύματος,
Ποίαντι πατρὶ πρὸς πάτρας Οἴτης πλάκα.
ἃ δʼ ἂν λάβῃς σὺ σκῦλα τοῦδε τοῦ στρατοῦ,
τόξων ἐμῶν μνημεῖα πρὸς πυρὰν ἐμὴν
κόμιζε. καὶ σοὶ ταῦτʼ, Ἀχιλλέως τέκνον,
παρῄνεσʼ· οὔτε γὰρ σὺ τοῦδʼ ἄτερ σθένεις
ἑλεῖν τὸ Τροίας πεδίον οὔθʼ οὗτος σέθεν.
ἀλλʼ ὡς λέοντε συννόμω φυλάσσετον
οὗτος σὲ καὶ σὺ τόνδʼ· ἐγὼ δʼ Ἀσκληπιὸν
παυστῆρα πέμψω σῆς νόσου πρὸς Ἴλιον.
τὸ δεύτερον γὰρ τοῖς ἐμοῖς αὐτὴν χρεὼν
τόξοις ἁλῶναι. τοῦτο δʼ ἐννοεῖθʼ, ὅταν
πορθῆτε γαῖαν, εὐσεβεῖν τὰ πρὸς θεούς·
ὡς τἄλλα πάντα δεύτερʼ ἡγεῖται πατὴρ
Ζεύς· οὐ γὰρ εὐσέβεια συνθνῄσκει βροτοῖς·
κἂν ζῶσι κἂν θάνωσιν, οὐκ ἀπόλλυται.

[¶169] Philoctetes:
Ah, friend whose voice I have longed to hear, whose shape I see at long last, I will not disobey your commands!

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
ὦ φθέγμα ποθεινὸν ἐμοὶ πέμψας
χρόνιός τε φανείς,
οὐκ ἀπιθήσω τοῖς σοῖς μύθοις.

[¶170] Neoptolemus:
I, too, consent.

> Greek: Νεοπτόλεμος:
κἀγὼ γνώμην ταύτῃ τίθεμαι.

[¶171] Heracles:
Then do not long delay,
for the occasion and the fair wind there at your stern urge you forward.

> Greek: Ἡρακλῆς:
μή νυν χρόνιοι μέλλετε πράσσειν·
καιρὸς καὶ πλοῦς
ὅδʼ ἐπείγει γὰρ κατὰ πρύμνην.

[¶172] Philoctetes:
Come, then, let me hail this land as I depart. Farewell, chamber that shared my watches. Farewell,
nymphs of stream and meadow, and you, strong pounding of the sea-lashed cape, where often in the cavern’s inmost recess my head was wetted by the south wind’s blasts, and where many times the Hermaean mount sent an echo
to my sad groans in the gale of my sorrow! But now, clear springs and Lycian fount, I am leaving you, leaving you at last, though such a hope had never buoyed me! Farewell, sea-wrapped Lemnos,
and send me off with sailing fair to my heart’s content, send me to the destination appointed me by mighty Fate and the will of my friends, and by the all-taming god who has brought these things to pass.

> Greek: Φιλοκτήτης:
φέρε νυν στείχων χώραν καλέσω.
χαῖρʼ, ὦ μέλαθρον ξύμφρουρον ἐμοί,
νύμφαι τʼ ἔνυδροι λειμωνιάδες,
καὶ κτύπος ἄρσην πόντου προβολῆς,
οὗ πολλάκι δὴ τοὐμὸν ἐτέγχθη
κρᾶτʼ ἐνδόμυχον πληγαῖσι νότου,
πολλὰ δὲ φωνῆς τῆς ἡμετέρας
Ἑρμαῖον ὄρος παρέπεμψεν ἐμοὶ
στόνον ἀντίτυπον χειμαζομένῳ.
νῦν δʼ, ὦ κρῆναι Λύκιόν τε ποτόν,
λείπομεν ὑμᾶς, λείπομεν ἤδη
δόξης οὔ ποτε τῆσδʼ ἐπιβάντες.
χαῖρʼ, ὦ Λήμνου πέδον ἀμφίαλον,
καί μʼ εὐπλοίᾳ πέμψον ἀμέμπτως,
ἔνθʼ ἡ μεγάλη Μοῖρα κομίζει
γνώμη τε φίλων χὠ πανδαμάτωρ
δαίμων, ὃς ταῦτʼ ἐπέκρανεν.

[¶173] Chorus:
Now let us all leave together,
once we have prayed to the nymphs of the sea to come be the guides of our safe return.

> Greek: Χορός:
χωρῶμεν δὴ πάντες ἀολλεῖς,
νύμφαις ἁλίαισιν ἐπευξάμενοι
νόστου σωτῆρας ἱκέσθαι.