[14] The management of the Chorus deserves notice. If Sophocles had followed the example of Aeschylus and Euripides, he would have composed it of Lemnians. He felt, probably, that it was better to avoid raising the question which was then suggested,—viz., why some effective succour had not been rendered to Philoctetes in the course of the ten years. But there was a further motive for the change. The attitude of a Lemnian Chorus would be that of a sympathetic visitor, leading Philoctetes to recount his sufferings, and speaking words of comfort in return; while, with respect to the scheme of Odysseus for bringing him to Troy, it would be neutral. But the dramatic effect of the situation is heightened by every circumstance that contributes to the isolation of the central figure. As in the
Antigone the heroine is the more forlorn because the Theban elders support Creon, so here the loneliness of Philoctetes becomes more complete when the Chorus is formed of persons attached to the Greek chiefs. In these ten years he has seen no human face, and heard no voice, save when some chance vessel put in at the coast, only to mock him with a gleam of delusive hope. And now he stands alone against all.
The key-note of the part played by the seamen is their wish to second the design of their master, Neoptolemus; but they also feel genuine pity for Philoctetes. This is powerfully expressed in the stasimon (676 ff.), where they are alone upon the scene; though, at the close of that ode, when the sufferer returns, they once more seek to deceive him with the belief that he is going home to Malis (718 f.). But there is one passage which is in startling discord with the general tone of their utterances: it is where they press Neoptolemus to seize the moment while Philoctetes sleeps, and to decamp with the bow (833 ff.). It would be a poor excuse to suggest that they regard his sleep as the presage of imminent death (861
ὡς Ἀΐδᾳ πάρα κείμενος
). The dramatic motive of this passage is, indeed, evident: it elicits a reproof from Neoptolemus, and illustrates his honourable constancy (839 ff.). As for the Chorus, it may at least be said that this jarring note is struck only once. The humane temper which they had shown up to that point reappears in the sequel.The Chorus of this play is essentially an active participator in the plot—aiding the strategy of Neoptolemus, and endeavouring to alter the purpose of Philoctetes (1081—1217). Hence it is natural that there should be only one stasimon. The other lyrics subsequent to the Parodos either form parentheses in the dialogue (391 ff., 507 ff.), or belong to the
κομμοί
. Introduction to Commentary on Sophocles: Philoctetes. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. 1932.
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