Classic Book Reader
Cover of Philoktetes

Philoktetes

by Sophocles (-496–-406)

  • Free to read
  • 40 min read
  • 48 chapters
  • Reading level: 5th grade

"Philoktetes" by Sophocles is a tragedy first performed in 409 BC. The play unfolds during the final year of the Trojan War, when the Greeks learn they need the master archer Philoctetes and his legendary bow to win. Abandoned on a desolate island years earlier after a snake bite, Philoctetes bitterly hates those who left him. Now Odysseus and young Neoptolemus must retrieve him through deception, forcing questions about honor, duty, and the conflict between individual suffering and collective need.

Read free now No app, no sign-up. Your place is saved automatically. Or download for your e-reader ↓
  • Tragedies (Drama)
  • Trojan War
  • Philoctetes (Mythological character)

Read the opening

Philoktetes

Translated by Gregory McNamee

Originally published by Copper Canyon Press (Port Townsend, Washington) in 1986.

Copyright (c) 1986, 1997 by Gregory McNamee
All Rights Reserved

This translation is made in loving memory of Scott Douglas Padraic McNamee (1963-1984)

Todavia
Estoy vivo
En el centro
de una herida todavia fresca.

Keep reading Philoktetes →

Contents

Show all 48 chapters
  1. Philoktetes
  2. Introduction
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Odysseus
  5. Odysseus
  6. Neoptolemos
  7. Odysseus
  8. Chorus
  9. Chorus
  10. Chorus
  11. Neoptolemos
  12. Chorus
  13. Philoktetes
  14. Philoktetes
  15. Neoptolemos
  16. Chorus
  17. Philoktetes
  18. Philoktetes
  19. Neoptolemos
  20. Philoktetes
  21. Chorus
  22. Neoptolemos
  23. Philoktetes
  24. Trader
  25. Trader
  26. Philoktetes
  27. Philoktetes
  28. Philoktetes
  29. Philoktetes
  30. Philoktetes
  31. Chorus
  32. Neoptolemos
  33. Chorus
  34. Philoktetes
  35. Philoktetes
  36. Philoktetes
  37. Odysseus
  38. Philoktetes
  39. Philoktetes
  40. Philoktetes
  41. Philoktetes
  42. Chorus
  43. Philoktetes
  44. Neoptolemos
  45. Philoktetes
  46. Herakles
  47. Philoktetes
  48. Chorus

Download for your e-reader

Files are provided by Project Gutenberg. On a Kindle, the simplest route is to send the EPUB with Amazon’s Send to Kindle. Downloaded copies don’t sync with your place on Classic Book Reader.

About this edition

This free edition of Philoktetes by Sophocles comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #806, released 1997-02-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Plays/Films/Dramas, Mythology, Legends & Folklore, Classics of Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

More by Sophocles