ODYSSEUS.
NEOPTOLEMUS.
CHORUS _of Mariners_.
PHILOCTETES.
Messenger, _disguised as a Merchantman_.
HERACLES, _appearing from the sky_.
SCENE. A desert shore of the Island of Lemnos.
It was fated that Troy should be taken by Neoptolemus, the son of
Achilles, assisted by the bow of Heracles in the hands of Philoctetes.
Now Philoctetes had been rejected by the army because of a trouble in
his foot, which made his presence with them insufferable; and had been
cast away by Odysseus on the island of Lemnos.
But when the decree of fate was revealed by prophecy, Odysseus
undertook to bring Philoctetes back, and took with him Neoptolemus,
whose ambition could only be gratified through the return of
Philoctetes with the bow.
Philoctetes was resolutely set against returning, and at the opening
of the drama Neoptolemus is persuaded by Odysseus to take him with
guile.
But when Philoctetes appears, the youth's ingenuous nature is so
wrought upon through pity and remorse, that his sympathy and native
truthfulness at length overcome his ambition.
When the inward sacrifice is complete, Heracles appears from heaven,
and by a few words changes the mind of Philoctetes, so that all ends
well.