Philoctetes. Drawing from Etruscan urn. Philoctetes, Diomedes, and Odysseus. Paris and Trojans on right. The Trojans are trying to solicit Philoctetes, while Odysseus and Diomedes anxiously listen behind Philoctetes' back. This is probably an illustration from Euripides' Philoctetes, which Dio Chrysostom (40-120 CE) imitates in his Discourses. The Trojans sought to bribe Philoctetes not to fight them;. He is dressed in wild animal skins. In Euripides' version, Odysseus enters the cave with Philoctetes and accepts modest hospitality, seeing his bow, wound wrappings polluted with the filth and tokens of his malady. The Trojans appear while Odysseus is in the cave. Odysseus, inside, overhears the Trojans outside trying to bribe Philoctetes. Odysseus comes out and convinces Philoctetes to reject the offer. The Trojans leave. Actor, the Lemnian who usually helps Philoctetes, then enters. When the pain hits Phil., Odysseus gives the bow to Diomedes, who takes it away. Odysseus confronts Phil, who eventually is persuaded to go to Troy. All is ratified by Athena or another divine character.

Some Recent Articles on Philoctetes. With Links.

Sophocles' Philoctetes and Odyssey 9: Odysseus vs. the Cave Man.

Daniel B. Levine

Scholia Vol. 12 (2003) 3-26.

Stable URL: http://www.otago.ac.nz/classics/scholiagfx/v12p003.html

Sophocles' Philoctetes and the Teachings of the Sophists

Peter W. Rose

Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 80. (1976), pp. 49-105.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0073-0688%281976%2980%3C49%3ASPATTO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R

One Ship or Two at Lemnos?

Harry C. Avery

Classical Philology, Vol. 97, No. 1. (Jan., 2002), pp. 1-20.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0009-837X%28200201%2997%3A1%3C1%3AOSOTAL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q

Telemachus Transformed? The Origins of Neoptolemus in Sophocles' 'Philoctetes'

Mary Whitby

Greece & Rome, 2nd Ser., Vol. 43, No. 1. (Apr., 1996), pp. 31-42.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0017-3835%28199604%292%3A43%3A1%3C31%3ATTTOON%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W

Different Stories: Sophoclean Narrative(s) in the Philoctetes

Deborah H. Roberts

Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), Vol. 119. (1989), pp. 161-176.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0360-5949%281989%29119%3C161%3ADSSNIT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B

Sophocles' Philoctetes and the Homeric Embassy

Charles Rowan Beye

Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 101. (1970), pp. 63-75.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0065-9711%281970%29101%3C63%3ASPATHE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E

Sight, Sound, and Rhetoric: Philoctetes 29ff.

Eva Inoue

The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 100, No. 2. (Summer, 1979), pp. 217-227.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9475%28197922%29100%3A2%3C217%3ASSARP2%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K

Bow, Oracle, and Epiphany in Sophocles' 'Philoctetes'

Christopher Gill

Greece & Rome, 2nd Ser., Vol. 27, No. 2. (Oct., 1980), pp. 137-146.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0017-3835%28198010%292%3A27%3A2%3C137%3ABOAEIS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Z

The 'Phusis' of Neoptolemus in Sophocles' 'Philoctetes'

Mary Whitlock Blundell

Greece & Rome, 2nd Ser., Vol. 35, No. 2. (Oct., 1988), pp. 137-148.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0017-3835%28198810%292%3A35%3A2%3C137%3AT%27ONIS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q

Neoptolemos' Story in the Philoctetes

Richard Hamilton

The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 96, No. 2. (Summer, 1975), pp. 131-137.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9475%28197522%2996%3A2%3C131%3ANSITP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7

Sophocles and the Cult of Philoctetes (in Notes)

S. J. Harrison

The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 109. (1989), pp. 173-175.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0075-4269%281989%29109%3C173%3ASATCOP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R

The Name of Philoctetes: Philoctetes 670-73 (in Interpretations)

James Daly

The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 103, No. 4. (Winter, 1982), pp. 440-442.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9475%28198224%29103%3A4%3C440%3ATNOPP6%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7

Therapeutic Touch and Sophokles' Philoktetes

Jennifer Clarke Kosak

Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 99. (1999), pp. 93-134.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0073-0688%281999%2999%3C93%3ATTASP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A

Neoptolemus and the Bow: Ritual thea and Theatrical Vision in Sophocles' Philoctetes (in Notes)

Ismene Lada-Richards

The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 117. (1997), pp. 179-183.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0075-4269%281997%29117%3C179%3ANATBRT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C