Where Did Philocetes Get His Bow?

Compared with the modern theater, ancient Greek tragedies employ few props.  Those that are used, however, are crucial: Creusa's basket, Clytemnestra's tapestries, the note in Phaedra's hand.  One of the most storied props in the classical theater is Philoctetes' bow.

According to Diodorus of Sicily, Philoctetes got the bow from Heracles when Philoctetes agreed to light Heracles' funeral pyre:

[4.38.4] Now when Iolaüs had carried out these orders and had withdrawn to a distance to see what would take place, Heracles, having abandoned hope for himself, ascended the pyre and asked each one who came up to him too put torch to the pyre. And when no one had courage to obey him Philoctetes alone was prevailed upon; and he, having received in return for his compliance the gift of the bow and arrows of Heracles, lighted the pyre. And immediately lightning also fell from the heavens and the pyre was wholly consumed.
[Library of History (4.38,4) translated by C.H. Oldfather
 http://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4B.html#35]

The bow - and its history - are central to the plot of Sophocles' Philoctetes. Soon after they land on Lemnos, Odysseus explains to young Neoptolemus the importance of retrieving the bow - without it, Troy cannot be taken.  A comrade later explains that Odysseus learned this from Helenus, the prophet son of Priam, whom Odysseus had captured.

Gradually won over by Neoptolemus' lying speech, Philoctetes grants Neoptolemus permission to touch the bow, then to hold it.  When he goes into a swoon, he hands the bow over to his new friend, asking him to guard it for him.  Then, consumed by pain, Philoctetes asks Neoptolemus to do for him what he had done for Heracles:

Boy, my good boy, take up this body of mine
and burn it on what they call the Lemnian fire.
I had the resolution once to do this for another,
the son of Zeus, and so obtained the arms
that you now hold.
  Philoctetes 798, David Grene translation

Neoptolemus, of course, does not end Philoctetes' life.  He waits through his sleep, repents his deception, and returns the bow to its owner, much to the chagrin of his captain, Odysseus.

As Neoptolemus and Philoctetes prepare to desert the Greek army for home, the spirit of Heracles intercedes, commanding them to return to Troy - Philoctetes to be healed and to kill Paris with his bow, and Neoptolemus to serve as his companion.

The spirit says that this will be the second time Troy falls to the bow and arrows of Heracles, but we must leave that tale to another time.

Glorious Victor Defeated in Battle of Words

When Clytemnestra welcomes Agamemnon back to Argos, she tells the servants to roll out the red carpet for his entrance into the palace.

He balks - for several reasons.

Such delicacies are womanish; not suitable for a soldier used to camp life. He does not want to be fawned over like some eastern potentate. This kind of display is more fitting for a god than a man; and Agamemnon is anxious not to invite divine jealousy. Being mortal, he thinks it dangerous to set foot on fineries. Besides, it is unnecessary. He wants to avoid such foolishness.

Clytemnestra is not to be denied, despite Agamemnon’s resolve to do nothing against his will. She hints that he has spoken from fear.

“What would Priam have done, if he had been victorious?” Clytemnestra asks.

“He probably would have walked on the tapestries,” Agamemnon replies.

“Then why worry about what people might say?” she asks.

“Because the people’s voice is powerful,’ he answers.

She presses on. “Anyone worthy of admiration is the subject of envy.”

Agamemnon has had enough of her combativeness and tells her to give up, but Clytemnestra reminds him that victors can afford to be gracious.

“Does winning mean so much to you?” he asks, walking right into her trap.

"I know you don't have to," she says, "but let me win just this once."

He didn’t stand a chance.

.

Who Took Orestes from Argos?

In each of the three versions of the return of Orestes in Greek tragedy, Orestes comes back from Phocis where he was taken as a baby, reunites with his sister Electra and kills his mother Clytemnestra.  Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides give differing accounts of who took him away.

**********************

In Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers, Clytemnestra says that she sent him away to trusted friends (913).

Orestes’ nurse, Cilissa, says that she took care of him as a baby, but does not mention how he was taken from her or where he went. When Orestes returns to Mycenae disguised as a Daulian, he tells Clytemnestra that he was sent by a stranger – a Phocian named Strophius – to tell Orestes’ parents that Orestes is dead. He makes a point of saying that he did not know the stranger, nor did the stranger know him. Right before he kills Clytemnestra, Orestes accuses her of throwing him away. She denies it, telling him that she sent him away “to trusted friends”, though she does not name them.

The trusted friend is most likely Strophius because it makes no sense for Orestes to name him unless he knows that Clytemnestra gave the baby to Strophius. He makes such a point about their being strangers to avoid questions that may lead to his identification.

**********************

In Sophocles’ Electra, Electra says that she sent him away to prevent his murder. (1132)

The tutor tells Orestes that he took him from the hands of his sister in order to save him. In conversation with Chrysothemis, Electra says that Clytemnestra accuses her (Electra) of stealing Orestes from her mother’s hands. Later on, thinking that she is holding the ashes of her brother in her hands, Electra recalls the day she stole him in order to save him from being murdered. Orestes went from the hands of his murderous mother, to the hands of Electra, who put him into the hands of the tutor. For a few moments, Electra thinks that Orestes had arrived back into her hands in the form of an urn full of ashes.

Strophius is mentioned once in the Electra. Orestes tells the tutor to pretend that they were sent by the Phocian Phanotheus, who is Clytemnestra and Aegisthus’ best friend. When the tutor presents himself to Clytemnestra he tells her that he was sent by Phanotheus, but when Orestes arrives disguised as a Phocian, he tells Electra that he was sent by ‘Old Strophius’.

**********************

In Euripides' Electra (17) the farmer says that Agamemnon’s ‘ancient servant’ took him away to prevent Aegisthus from killing him. 

The farmer says that the servant gave him to Strophius to bring up in the land of Phocis. When Electra talks with Orestes, who is still pretending to be a stranger, they agree that there is only one person who might recognize him - the old servant of Agamemnon.  When the old servant visits Electra, he mentions a cloth woven by Electra that he wrapped Orestes in to save him from death.  When Electra introduces the servant to Orestes, she affirms that this is the servant who saved Orestes from death.
.