So say a prayer that you’ll come through this better
Than I did, and the man that gave them to me.
Neoptolemus
I will pray for that.
But I also pray
That the gods’ intentions and our destination
Won’t be at odds, and they speed us on our journey.
Philoctetes
O son, take care I am not a stumbling block
To this prayer of yours. I’m all blood again.
I’m open deeper than ever. It’s pouring out.
It’s here again. Circling for a kill.
Why me? Gods curse this foot.
Oh. Ahhhhhh.
No, wait. Don’t go. Don’t let me scare you.
Shout instead. Shout hard. Shout their names.
Odysseus. Agamemnon. Menelaus.
I’ll be the death of them. Let me smit them all.
O son, my body’s burning.
Could you not
Carry me up to the crater of Lemnos
And burn me right?
What I did for Hercules
You should do for me.
Throw me into the fire
And keep the bow.
Are you there, son?
Say something.
Where are you?
Neoptolemus
I’m here. I’m here.
But I’m useless.
I know it’s desperate.
Philoctetes
As long as you are there, that does me good.
And it’s going to go soon, all of a sudden,
Just the way it came.
Neoptolemus
We’re staying with you.
Don’t worry about that.
Philoctetes
You’re going to stay?
Neoptolemus
I promise.
Philoctetes
Promise. What use is promise?
Swear it to me.
But no. Swear nothing.
Son,
I am astray. What am I saying?
Neoptolemus
I tell you, Philoctetes, I am bound
To you, and bound to take you.
Philoctetes
So. Give me your hand.
Neoptolemus
Gladly. Here. We are well and truly pledged.
Philoctetes
Good. Good. Now the way is open.
Neoptolemus
What way? Where?
Philoctetes
Up there. Into the sky world. High beyond.
Neoptolemus
He’s raving now again. What do you see?
Philoctetes
Let me go. Don’t touch me. Stay away!
Neoptolemus
I will. But you stay calm.
That’s right. Stretch out.
Philoctetes
From now on, I am going to belong
Entirely to the earth. Be earth’s for the taking.
I’ll lie on top here first, and then lie under.
Neoptolemus
This man’s bound to sleep now, very soon.
He’s sweated out, the head is down, and his whole
Body is exhausted.
The flux has stopped,
There’s hardly any issue from his foot.
We should leave him quiet, friends, to get some rest.
(If there is to be an interval, it occurs now.)
Chorus
Sleep is the god-sent cure.
Deep-reaching, painless, sure.
Its touch is certain.
The light of paradise
Creeps into sleepers’ eyes
As through a curtain.
But you, sir, must wake up.
Don’t let this moment slip.
Hold off no longer.
You have to do and dare.
You were never stronger.
Neoptolemus
Obviously now we could steal away with the bow.
That would be easy. But easy and meaningless. No.
It’s to this wounded man the triumph has to be due.
He has earned it. The oracle said it. I see it all now.
Without him the cause will be shamed and our victory hollow.
Chorus
Oracles are devious,
Beyond the likes of us.
We don’t inquire too deep.
And we keep our voices down
For sick men have been known
To hear things in their sleep.
Take care. Chances like this
You can’t afford to miss.
Even a fool can see
There’s trouble brewing.
So move. Immediately.
The man is at death’s door.
You couldn’t ask for more.
The winds are for us.
Before the birds can scare
Wise huntsmen draw the snare
And the noose closes.
Neoptolemus
Quiet. This is nonsense. Give it over.
There’s a flicker in the eyes there. His head’s moving.
Philoctetes
The light.
Sunlight.
And you still here, my friends.
I never thought I’d waken up like this.
I never thought you’d stand your ground with me.
I didn’t think you’d have the heart for it.
It was different, I tell you, the first time here.
But, Neoptolemus, you are no betrayer.
You’re no Odysseus, and couldn’t be.
You have it in you from both sides, straight and true
By nature. You made light of everything,
The reeks and roars and the whole mess of me.
But that’s all over now. So, help me up.
Put me on my feet here. Stand me straight
And once I’m steadied right, then everybody
Can go down to the boat, and all set sail.
Neoptolemus
This is more than I expected. It’s great
You’ve come round again, that you’re alive
And out of danger.
Up you get!
Or if you’d rather, we could carry you.
These men are fit for that. Whatever you like.
Philoctetes
That’s a real friend’s thought. And since you thought it,
Lift me, you yourself. Don’t bother them.
They’ll all be sickened of me soon enough
Once we’re on board.
Neoptolemus
So. On your feet then.
Get yourself together.
Philoctetes
All right. All right.
I’ll be
Into my stride in no time.
Neoptolemus
What’s to become of me now anyway?
Philoctetes
What’s to become of who?
What is it, child?
Neoptolemus
I’m all throughother.
This isn’t me.
I’m sorry.
Philoctetes
What has upset you now? Don’t be afflicted.
Neoptolemus
I’m an affliction to myself, that’s all I am.
Philoctetes
Have you changed your mind? Can you not face the thing?
Does having to ship with me disgust you that much?
Neoptolemus
It’s more like self-disgust. No. One false move,
One move that’s not your own, and everything
Goes to the bad.
Philoctetes
This is not you. Who, son,
Was ever more like himself or them before him?
Neoptolemus
I’ll be seen for what I am.
I just can’t face it.
Face what? What false move? What do you mean?
Neoptolemus
Zeus, you must help me now. There’s no way out.
If I tell or if I don’t tell, it’s still disgrace.
Philoctetes
Unless I’m wrong, I think – but no – not him –
I think he’s for sailing on without me!
Neoptolemus
Oh no. I won’t be leaving you. And more’s the pity.
We’ll both rue that.
Philoctetes
There’s no sense in this.
Neoptolemus
There is sense in it all right, Philoctetes.
The real story is this: you will be sailing,
Sailing to Troy to connect up with the Greeks.
Philoctetes
What?
What?
What sort of talk is this?
Neoptolemus
Quiet. Hold on. Listen.
There’s a meaning to it.
Philoctetes
Meaning? What meaning? How could there be meaning?
Neoptolemus
I have to take you from this plight you’re in.
You have to go with me and level Troy.
Philoctetes
Never.
Never.
That will never happen.
Neoptolemus
None of us can dictate the shape of things.
It’s all laid out. I’m not the one to blame.
Philoctetes
You’re as two-faced as the rest. Why did you do it?
Who are you?
Give me back my bow.
Neoptolemus
I cannot.
There’s a cause, a plan, big moves,
And I’m a part of them. I’m under orders.
Philoctetes
Burnt bones!
Sears and blisters!
There was more left
Of Hercules on the pyre than’s left of me.
The salamanders have me. I’m scorched to nothing.
I kneeled to him. How can he bear to do it?
Steal the bow and leave me as good as dead?
And still not say a word. Not meet my eye.
Hard little two-faced crab. He knows. He knows
He’s reneging on doing the right thing.
What will I do? What’s left here now but me
And the place itself? The island’s all there is
That’ll stand to me. If I turn and leave,
The cliffs and caves and bays will still be there
When I come back. If I shout for sympathy
To animals and birds, they’ll answer me.
There’s more nature in their dens and nests
Than there is in you, you sacrilegious
Heartbreaking little coward.
But the man you tricked
Was never the man you came to snatch away.
You’ll be showing off a phantom to the Greeks
And your big name and fame will always be
Hollow to the core.
You faced nothing here.
You overpowered a cripple without weapons,
And even then, you did it underhand.
O son, be yourself again. This isn’t you.
Give me the bow.
Still nothing.
He’s condemning me to a death by hunger.
I’m going to be a ghost before my time.
The birds and brutes
I slaughtered with the bow, they’re closing in.
I can see their beaks and muzzles crowding up
Both ends of the cave. They’ll pick me clean.
My life for theirs, eye and tooth and claw.
Look at him there!
Any kind of trust is a mistake!
Oh, but, son, you don’t want to believe
That’s how it is. Change things back again
And change your mind. My tongue could hardly bear
To curse you after all I felt for you.
Chorus
Why are we listening to this now, sir? Are we
On our way or not? What are you thinking?
Neoptolemus
I can’t help it. There’s something in me he touched
From the very start. I can’t just cut him off.
Philoctetes
The gods have their eyes on him and that’s why
He can’t get off the hook. He knows all this
Solidarity with the Greeks is sham.
The only real thing is the thing he lives for:
His own self-respect.
Neoptolemus
How did I end up here? Why did I go
Behind backs ever?
Philoctetes
You did it because
You had agreed to do it. Somebody else
Rehearsed you. It has to be. There’s nothing low
Or crooked in you at all. Come on, child.
Give me the bow.
Neoptolemus
Well, friends, where are we now?
Neoptolemus moves, Philoctetes reaches, the body language and handling of the bow suggest that their original mutual rite of exchange will now be repeated. It is a slightly somnambulant movement, which Odysseus interrupts, coming between them suddenly, his back to Philoctetes.
Odysseus
Now who’s the bow for, Neoptolemus?
Hand it over! A traitor can’t expect
To carry weapons.
Philoctetes
Odysseus! That voice!
It has to be.
Odysseus
Odysseus
That was and is!
Philoctetes
And when else but now?
Hangmen and betrayers never show
Till the moment’s ripe.
Odysseus
That I don’t deny.
Philoctetes
Return my bow, now, boy. You nearly did.
Odysseus
He nearly did but now he never will,
And you have your marching orders. Understand:
The bow goes, and you with it, with these men.
Philoctetes
Are you going to herd me like a wild animal?
Odysseus
That’s up to you. Everybody else
Wants you to come back of your own free will.
Philoctetes
Ground of my island, be with me here and now.
And Vulcan, lord of forge-fire, volcano god,
Scorch the earth and brand the hills of Lemnos
With the mark of my ordeal at his hands.
Odysseus
My hands, Philoctetes, are in the hands
Of Zeus. Zeus and his thunderbolts
Rule Vulcan even. Zeus is the Lord of Lemnos.
Philoctetes
Anything that comes out of your mouth
Just turns to dirt. Don’t foul the name of Zeus.
No god could stoop as low as Odysseus.
Odysseus
What do gods care? It’s what they say that matters
And they say you’ll march.
Philoctetes
I say not.
Odysseus
Say what you like, but you’ll obey and move.
Philoctetes
Like a slave in chains. Oh weep for the free man
That’s broken here.
Odysseus
No. Wrong. The free man here
Is being raised up. These are his first steps
Towards Troy and triumph.
Philoctetes
Never. Not while earth
Is under me and the rocks above.
Odysseus
What blather’s this?
Philoctetes
I can throw myself
From any cliff or headland on this island.
Odysseus
There! Get him by the arms. He’s asking for it.
Philoctetes
Odysseus, you have taken everything I ever had and was. The best years of my life, my means of self-defence, my freedom, the use of my two hands. Everything that made me my own self, you’ve stripped away. And now you’re going to take my second self.
This boy. He’s your accomplice but he was my friend. With you he does what he is told, with me he did what his nature told him. I made him free, you only fouled him up. Look at him there, he can’t look me in the eye, he knows he’s contaminated. My body may be corrupting but with him it is the mind, and you did that. You spread death-in-life. Here I am, like a lost soul bound for Hades, being led away out of the house of life and light and friendship.
I curse you. I have cursed you always. It changes nothing. I’m chaff and you’re the flail. I’m beaten to nothing. I’m gone out of mind now like a man that’s dead.
So why, why are you tearing me up out of the grave? Has the bad smell left me? Will you not start vomiting all over the altar now again? Will I not make you get sick into the holy vessels this time? That was your excuse, don’t you forget. That was why you dumped me.
But the wheel is turning, the scales are tilting back. Justice is going to waken up at last. The gods were only biding time and the time has gone. It wasn’t love of me that brought you to this island, there’s a shape to this that’s bigger than you could know. Your eye’s so jaundiced, you can’t see the balance shifting and weighing down against you – but I see it and my heart is singing. I’d give the whole agony of my life just to see you cut down in the end, and your tongue ripped out of you like a bleeding ox-tongue.