Philoctetes

Roles

• Neoptolemus - Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50), Male

About this piece

Neoptolemus tells Philoctetes why he hates Odysseus

Summary

In the background story of the play, during the Trojan war between Troy and Greece, the Greeks capture a Trojan seer who tells them they will need Philoctetes and Heracles' bow to win the war. When Heracles had died, in fact, Philoctetes had received his bow. Philoctetes is a Greek hero and soldier who, after being bitten by a snake, had been left on the deserted island of Lemnos by Odysseus. Odysseus now sails back to the island with Neoptolemus to try to convince Philoctetes to join the Trojan war, difficult task considering that Philoctetes now hates him. In the beginning of the play Odysseus and Neoptolemus arrive on the island. Odysseus decides to hide and convinces Neoptolemus to tell Philoctetes that he hates Odysseus as well since he has his father's armor (Neoptolemus is Achilles' son and Odysseus had received his armor after his death). In this scene we find Neoptolemus and Philoctetes. Neoptolemus pretends not to know who Philoctetes is and Philoctetes narrates his story and how he ended up on the island, abandoned by Odysseus after being bitten by a snake. In this monologue Neoptolemus tricks Philoctetes by telling him why he hates Odysseus as well, that is because he took his father's armor after he was slain by Apollo. Even if he told Odysseus that the armor was his by right of birth, he refused to give it to him.

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