Odysseus Tragic Hero In Homer's Odyssey

In Sophocles’ tragic Philoctetes the Greek soldier Philoctetes was left behind by his fellow warriors on their to Troy to finally end the war after many long years of fighting. Philoctetes was left behind due to his injury, a venomous snake bite that has brought waves of pain upon him as well. Unfortunately the snake bite had made him more of a detriment than an asset, and as a result his fellow Greeks especially Odysseus decided to leave him behind on the desert Island of Lemnos. However after sometime fighting in Troy it is found that the war will not be won without Philoctetes and his bow, the former bow of Heracles. The play opens with Odysseus returning to the island of Lemnos along with Neoptolemus, the son of the famous warrior Achilles.

Their mission is to retrieve the bow they need that Philoctetes holds, they must perform this shameful act in order to achieve glory on the battlefield. At first Odysseus hides while Neoptolemus has the job of tricking Philoctetes. Eventually Odysseus reveals himself and tries to convince Philoctetes to come to fight in Troy, however a huge argument arises and Odysseus is forced to flee due to Philoctetes and his grudge he holds against him. At this point it is only Neoptolemus and Philoctetes left on the island, while Neoptolemus still tries to convince Philoctetes to come fight in the war.
Neoptolemus tries to convince Philoctetes to come back with him on his own free will and join the fight, he does this by speaking of the prophecy which speaks of the two of them being instrumental in victory at Troy.

He is unsuccessful in doing so and agrees to bring Philoctetes back to his home in Greece, until the great Heracles appears high above them. The great Heracles speaks to them, “I am the voice of Heracles in your ears; I am the shape of heracles before you. It is for your sake I come and leave my home in the heavens. I come to tell you the plans of Zeus,”. Heracles here appears as deus ex machina, to offer a divine hand to the Greeks so that the prophecy may be fulfilled. He goes on to tell Philoctetes “Go with this man to the city of Troy. First, you shall find there the cure of our cruel sickness, and then be adjudged best warrior among the Greeks. Paris, the cause of all this evil, you shall kill with the bow that was mine.” Here Heracles acts at the divine guardian of Philoctetes, he advises him on how to heal his foot, as well as how he can achieve glory on the battlefield, by killing the Trojan prince Paris with Heracles’ former bow. By reminding him of the glory and spoils of war he is fated to earn from battle, Heracles is able to convince Philoctetes into going to

Troy. Without the help of Heracles, there would be no chance of Philoctetes going to fight in the war at Troy. After his talk with Philoctetes Heracles turns his attention towards Neoptolemus, “Son of Achilles, I have the same words for you. You shall not have the strength to capture Troy without this man, nor he without you, but, like twin lions hunting together, he shall guard you, you him.”. Heracles being a great warrior himself appeals to Neoptolemus because of his father, the great Achilles. He gives him advice on how to have success in the war, Neoptolemus and Philoctetes must work together and protect one another if they are to succeed in the war. Heracles divine appearance in the end is what convinces Philoctetes to let go of his differences with the rest of the greek soldiers and fight in Troy. It could be said that without this intervention Philoctetes would have refused to fight, and had been on his way home to Greece. This may have been a message from Sophocles that mankind cannot resolve it differences without this sort of Divine intervention, perhaps it is human nature for people like Neoptolemus to hold grudges. Or maybe it is human nature for a group of people to pick on the weakest link and expel that weakness, like how Neoptolemus was abandoned. Whatever Heracles purpose was for, his appearance in the play is nothing short of awesome.