Philoctetes

Summary

«Philoctetes» is a tragedy by Sophocles that tells the story of the Greek hero Philoctetes, who was abandoned on the island of Lemnos due to an incurable wound. The Greeks, needing his help to conquer Troy, send Odysseus and Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, to bring him back. Neoptolemus, initially through deceit and then sincerely, persuades Philoctetes to return. Ultimately, the intervention of Heracles, appearing as a deity, convinces Philoctetes to join the Greeks and participate in the Trojan War.