Jan 2, 2010

Philoctetes | Philoctetes

At a glance:

Author: Sophocles
First Published: 409
Type of Work: Drama
Type of Plot: Tragedy
Time of Work: Antiquity
Genres: Drama, Tragedy
Subjects: Mythology or myths, War, Islands, Gods or goddesses, Heroes or heroism, Soldiers, Greek or Roman times, Greece or Greek people, Trojan War
Locales: Islands, Greece, ancient, Lemnos, ancient, Euboea

Places Discussed

*Lemnos. Barren volcanic island in the north Aegean Sea, across from Troy. There, Odysseus abandons Philoctetes after the Greek warrior is bitten on the foot by a snake while preparing to make a sacrifice at the shrine on the island of Chrysa. Philoctetes’ wound never heals, and the smell it emits and Philoctetes’ groans are the reasons Odysseus gives for making him an outcast. The play makes Lemnos appear to be far more isolated from the Greek world than the real Lemnos actually was. The island’s exaggerated isolation strengthens the play’s theme of...

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Philoctetes | Philoctetes

At a glance:

Places Discussed

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