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Neoptolemus
Please, come on. Why so silent with no apparent cause? And why are you paralyzed?
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Please, come on. Why so silent with no apparent cause? And why are you paralyzed?
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Philoctetes
Ai, ai!
Ai, ai!
Neoptolemus
What is the matter?
What is the matter?
Philoctetes
Nothing serious—go on, son.
Nothing serious—go on, son.
Neoptolemus
Are you in pain from the disease that frequents you?
Are you in pain from the disease that frequents you?
Philoctetes
No, indeed no. I think it is better now.—Gods, oh!
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No, indeed no. I think it is better now.—Gods, oh!
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Neoptolemus
Why do you groan like this and call on the gods?
Why do you groan like this and call on the gods?
Philoctetes
That they may come to me with power to save and soothe.—Ai! Ai!
That they may come to me with power to save and soothe.—Ai! Ai!
Neoptolemus
What troubles you? Speak, do not keep so silent. It is plain enough that you are suffering somehow.
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What troubles you? Speak, do not keep so silent. It is plain enough that you are suffering somehow.
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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!
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!
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Quick, boy, quick!
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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!
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!
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Quick, boy, quick!
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Neoptolemus
What new thing has come on you so suddenly that you wail for yourself with these loud shrieks?
What new thing has come on you so suddenly that you wail for yourself with these loud shrieks?
Philoctetes
You know, son.
You know, son.
Neoptolemus
What is it?
What is it?
Philoctetes
You know, boy.
You know, boy.
Neoptolemus
What ails you? I do not know.
What ails you? I do not know.
Philoctetes
How could you not know? Oh, oh!
How could you not know? Oh, oh!
Neoptolemus
Yes, terrible is the burden of your disease.
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Yes, terrible is the burden of your disease.
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Philoctetes
Terrible beyond telling! Oh, pity me!
Terrible beyond telling! Oh, pity me!
Neoptolemus
What shall I do?
What shall I do?
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.
Do not betray me because of fear. This plague comes only now and then,—perhaps when she has been sated with her roamings elsewhere.
Neoptolemus
Ah, poor wretch! Poor man, truly for all your sufferings! Shall I support you, or somehow offer a helping hand?
Ah, poor wretch! Poor man, truly for all your sufferings! Shall I support you, or somehow offer a helping hand?
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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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.
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.
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!
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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!
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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.
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!
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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
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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,
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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?
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Why this silence? Where are your thoughts, son?
805
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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.
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!
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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
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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,
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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?
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Why this silence? Where are your thoughts, son?
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Neoptolemus
My heart has long been aching for your load of pain.
My heart has long been aching for your load of pain.
Philoctetes
Stop, then, and take courage; this visitor comes sharply, but goes quickly. Yet, I beg you, do not leave me alone.
Stop, then, and take courage; this visitor comes sharply, but goes quickly. Yet, I beg you, do not leave me alone.
Neoptolemus
Take heart, we will remain.
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Take heart, we will remain.
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Philoctetes
Will you?
Will you?
Neoptolemus
Be sure of it.
Be sure of it.
Philoctetes
Indeed, I do not think it right to put you under oath.
Indeed, I do not think it right to put you under oath.
Neoptolemus
Rest assured; it is not lawful for me to leave without you.
Rest assured; it is not lawful for me to leave without you.
Philoctetes
Give me your hand in pledge!
Give me your hand in pledge!
Neoptolemus
I give it—to stay.
I give it—to stay.
Philoctetes
Now take me there, over there!
Now take me there, over there!
Neoptolemus
Where do you mean?
Where do you mean?
Philoctetes
Up there!
Up there!
Neoptolemus
What is this new delirium? Why do you gaze at the dome above us?
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What is this new delirium? Why do you gaze at the dome above us?
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Philoctetes
Let me go, let me go!
Let me go, let me go!
Neoptolemus
Where will you go, if I do so?
Where will you go, if I do so?
Philoctetes
Let me go, I say!
Let me go, I say!
Neoptolemus
I will not.
I will not.
Philoctetes
You will kill me, if you touch me further.
You will kill me, if you touch me further.
Neoptolemus
There, then, I release you—if in fact you believe it is for the better.
There, then, I release you—if in fact you believe it is for the better.
Philoctetes
Wide Earth, embrace me now on the verge of death!
This pain no longer lets me stand up.
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Wide Earth, embrace me now on the verge of death!
This pain no longer lets me stand up.
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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.
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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.
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Philoctetes. Sophocles. Richard Jebb (Translator). Cambridge. 1898.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.