Blog for Philoctetes
Odysseus is coming off as a jerk in this play. After leaving his fellow comrade stranded on a island alone for 10 years to suffer... he wants to return to take his only prize and possession away from him. The bow was Phils only way to capture food, and Odysseus gives him the worse ultimatum ever. Either go to troy and help them (boo) or stay on the island to basically die.
He definitely has been cast as a sort of "villain," but I think it is important to note the reasons for which he abandoned Philoctetes on the island - he was disturbing their sacrifices, their peace, and he would have been a liability on the campaign. To some extent, Odysseus is a man who believes in expediency, however questionable that is. Odysseus is what one might call a "pragmatic." It is in this play, however, that his pragmatism comes against the moral and ideological scruples of a young man like Neoptolemus.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree . Odysseus is clearly being inconsiderate here . To take away the one thing that allows someone to survive is just absurd.
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