Odysseus in Greek Tragedy: Sophocles’ Philoctetes

When modern authors and filmmakers like Christopher Nolan adapt ancient myths and characters, they are following an old and well-worn precedent. In this episode, Emily and Cam explore how the Athenian playwright Sophocles adapted a well-known story about Odysseus and used it in his play, Philoctetes, to explore questions about deception, persuasion, and intractable situations.

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Links to our episodes dealing with the Odyssey:

• Our overview of Homer’s Odyssey.
• Our episode about Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey.
• Our episode about the “The Return”, Uberto Passolini’s splendid 2024 adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey.

Links to our other episodes touching on ancient drama (or adaptations thereof):

• Aeschylus’ Persians: The OG Greek Tragedy.
• Something for everyone! Plautus and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”.

Cover image: Lekythos depicting Philoctetes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (56.171.58); adapted from a photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen, Wikimedia Commons.

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00:11 - Introduction

02:50 - Sophocles’ Philoctetes

• 02:55 - The performance: 409, at the end of the Peloponnesian War
• 03:07 - Athenian Tragedy in the late 5th century: actors and the chorus
• 05:37 - The competitive context

07:26 - The Myth of Philoctetes

• 07:39 - Son of Poias
• 07:57 - Philoctetes, the Trojan War, and Lemnos
• 09:37 - Philoctetes and the Bow of Herakles

10:30 - Philoctetes: Plot Summary

• 10:43 - The opening scene: a plot is hatched
• 13:22 - The encounter with Philoctetes
• 15:10 - The “merchant” enters the scene
• 18:00 - Philoctetes’ seizure and Neoptolemus’ moral crisis
• 18:57 - Odysseus’ surprise entry
• 20:21 - Odysseus and Neoptolemus have a spat
• 21:35 - The epiphany

22:17 - Sophocles’ innovations

• 22:54 - Lemnos: a deserted island
• 23:25 - Neoptolemus replaces Diomedes
• 24:36 - A digression on other plays about Philoctetes: Aeschylus and Euripides

25:57 - Odysseus in Philoctetes

• 26:10 - Odysseus as trickster
• 27:14 - The Homeric precedent
• 28:23 - Sophocles’ move: Odysseus, disguise, and a destabilization of trust: are the minor characters who they say they are?

35:26 - Deception in Philoctetes

• 35:35 - Is Odysseus the play’s “bad guy”?
• 38:43 - The chorus has a different view!
• 39:10 - Philoctetes isn’t a straightforward “good guy”!
• 40:48 - Neoptolemus: is deception good when you do it to help someone else?
• 43:57 - Sophocles doesn’t give us easy lessons

44:43 - Intractable Problems

• 45:04 - The impasse
• 46:33 - The epiphany of Heracles and what it might mean
• 48:47 - A happy ending for Philoctetes—and for Odysseus!
• 50:15 - The value of deception: an open question (and Sophocles’ brilliance)

51:21 - Wrap-up