The Cure at Troy
A Version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes
SEAMUS HEANEY
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Characters
Performance note
The Cure at Troy
About the author
By the same author
Copyright
in memory of Robert Fitzgerald
poet and translator
1910–1985
‘O look, look in the mirror,
O look in your distress;
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.
O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbour
With your crooked heart.’
W. H. Auden
Characters
Odysseus
Neoptolemus
Philoctetes
Chorus
Attendants to Neoptolemus, at least three:
Chorus Leader
Sentry
Merchant (in disguise)
Hercules (in person of Chorus Leader)
The Cure at Troy was first performed at the Guildhall, Derry, on 1 October 1990. The cast included:
Odysseus Seamus Moran/Ian McElhinney
Neoptolemus Sean Rocks
Philoctetes Des McAleer
Chorus Veronica Duffy
Siobhan Miley
Zara Turner
Director Stephen Rea and Bob Crowley
Designer Bob Crowley
Lighting designer Rory Dempster
A sea shore. Spacious fetch of sea-light. Upstage right (from audience’s point of view) rocks piled, cliff-face, grass tufts, stunted bushes. A cave mouth/archway visible up there, with small acting area at that level. A sort of strewn pathway, coming downstage, forking towards acting area. Access to cave mouth possible from this point. Access to second entrance of cave is offstage, right. If a volcano can be suggested in background, all the better but it should not be overemphasised.
Chorus discovered, boulder-still, wrapped in shawls. All three in series stir and move, as it were seabirds stretching and unstiffening. The prologue can be divided between the three voices. By the end of the prologue, Chorus Leader has positioned herself where she will speak as Hercules at the end of the play.
Chorus
Philoctetes.
Hercules.
Odysseus.
Heroes. Victims. Gods and human beings.
All throwing shapes, every one of them
Convinced he’s in the right, all of them glad
To repeat themselves and their every last mistake,
No matter what.
People so deep into
Their own self-pity self-pity buoys them up.
People so staunch and true, they’re fixated,
Shining with self-regard like polished stones.
And their whole life spent admiring themselves
For their own long-suffering.
Licking their wounds
And flashing them around like decorations.
I hate it, I always hated it, and I am
A part of it myself.
And a part of you,
For my part is the chorus, and the chorus
Is more or less a borderline between
The you and the me and the it of it.
Between
The gods’ and human beings’ sense of things.
And that’s the borderline that poetry
Operates on too, always in between
What you would like to happen and what will –
Whether you like it or not.
Poetry
Allowed the god to speak. It was the voice
Of reality and justice. The voice of Hercules
That Philoctetes is going to have to hear
When the stone cracks open and the lava flows.
But we’ll come to that.
For now, remember this:
Every time the crater on Lemnos Island
Starts to erupt, what Philoctetes sees
Is a blaze he started years and years ago
Under Hercules’s funeral pyre.
The god’s mind lights up his mind every time.
Volcanic effects. Lurid flame-trembles, commotions and eruptions.
Then, a gradual, brightened stillness. The Chorus are now positioned as lookouts attending the entry of Odysseus and Neoptolemus.
Enter Neoptolemus and Odysseus.
Odysseus
Yes.
This is the place.
This strand.
This is Lemnos all right.
Not a creature!
And here we are then, Neoptolemus,
You and me.
Greeks with a job to do –
But neither of us nearly half the man
Your father was.
Achilles had nobility.
Achilles stood
Head and shoulders above everybody.
Yes. I left Philoctetes here.
Marooned him – but
Only because I had been ordered to.
I did it, all the same. I am the one
That dumped him, him and his cankered foot –
Or what had been a foot before it rotted
And ate itself with ulcers.
It was awful.
We couldn’t even get peace at the altar
Without him breaking out in these howling fits,
And slabbering and cursing.
He was putting us on edge.
He couldn’t be stopped.
Everybody’s nerves were getting raw.
Anyway.
That was then.
The thing is different now entirely – so
Go canny.
One false move
And everything is wrecked.
Somewhere here he has a sort of den,
An open-ended shelter that gets sun
In the wintertime and in the summer
Has a breeze that cools him.
And down a bit there, over to the left –
Unless the spring’s dried up, you should see water.
Go very easy now.
Study the lie of the land
And then we’ll plan the moves.
I can see the whole thing in my head
So all you’ll need to do is listen
And do the things I tell you.
Neoptolemus
Odysseus. For sure, sir. This is it.
This cave is the one that you remember
Odysseus
Whereabouts? I can’t see any cave.
Neoptolemus
Up here, above you. But there’s no sign of him.
Odysseus
Take care he’s not inside there, dozing.
Neoptolemus
There’s a pile of old leaves that somebody slept on.
Odysseus
And is that it? No other signs of life?
Neoptolemus
No: wait. There’s a mug or something, very rough,
Hagged out of a log. And bits of kindling.
Odysseus
All his earthly goods.
Neoptolemus
Aww! Look at this.
Aw! Rotten, rotten stuff. Bandage-rags.
Nothing but old dry pus and dirty clouts.
Odysseus
That’s it. That’s him:
So he has to be around.
With a foot like his, he’ll not be travelling far.
Out scavenging, likely,
Poking for things to eat, or maybe out
Gathering herbs to try to get relief.
Anyway, he’s going to be
back,
And something tells me, soon –
So get your lookout posted. We can take no risks.
I am the marked man here.
Of all the Greeks,
I am the one that Philoctetes wants.
Neoptolemus
This man here’s
Exit Attendant.
a watchman you can trust.
But now, you’re going to have to tell me more
About these moves you’re planning. What’s going on?
Odysseus
Neoptolemus. There’s a noble streak in you
And you’re a strong man.
Truly your father’s son.
But the job here can’t be faced head-on.
Force isn’t going to work.
So, if parts of this brief seem puzzling to you,
Just remember: you’re here to serve our cause.
Neoptolemus
What are the orders?
Odysseus
You are going to have to work out some way
Of deceiving Philoctetes with a story.
He’ll ask you who you are and where you’re from
And you’ll say, Achilles’ son, which will be true.
And that you’re on your voyage back from Troy,
Heading home in a rage against the Greeks.
You were insulted.
You’ll tell him
How the Greeks begged and coaxed you to join up
And leave your native place because you –
you and only you –
Were the man they absolutely needed.
Troy could not be taken without you.
Well then. You land at Troy. You naturally
Expect to be presented with the arms
Your father bore. You are Achilles’ son.
But Odysseus is the man who bears those arms.
Odysseus tricked you. Odysseus this and that!
You can let loose at me for all you’re worth.
The worse it is the better you’ll please me.
If I am not the lowest of the low
By the time you’re finished, the Greek cause is doomed.
For the old story actually is true:
Without you, Troy cannot be taken.
We need you.
To commandeer the bow from Philoctetes.
And always remember this:
you are the only one
That can approach him. You weren’t sworn in
On the first expedition, you didn’t sail
Under oath to anybody. Your slate is clean.
But if I was challenged, I could not deny
Any of that. And if he recognised me
And had his bow with him, I would be dead.
And you’d be dead for associating with me.
So the trick you’re going to have turn is this:
Sweet talk him and relieve him
Of a bow and arrows that are actually miraculous.
But, of course, son, I know what you are like.
I know all this goes against the grain
And you hate it. You’re a very honest lad,
But all the same: even you must enjoy
Coming out on top.
Do it my way, this once.
All right, you’ll be ashamed
but that won’t last.
And once you’re over it, you’ll have the rest of your life
To be good and true and incorruptible.
Neoptolemus
I hate hearing you say this
and hate more
The thought of having to do it.
It goes against
All I was ever brought up to believe.
It’s really low behaviour.
Why could we not
Go at him, man to man? If he’s so badly lamed
He’d never be a match for two of us.
We’re Greeks, so, all right, we do our duty.
I don’t think I could bear being called a traitor.
But in all honesty I have to say
I’d rather fail and keep my self-respect
Than win by cheating.
Odysseus
Neoptolemus,
As long as you’re alive
your father’s never going to be dead.
And in my day, I was the same as you.
I’d lift my hand before I’d use my brains.
But experience has taught me: the very people
That go mad at the slightest show of force
Will be eating from your hand if you take them right
And tell the story so as to just suit them.
Neoptolemus
Which boils down to a policy of lies.
Odysseus
Arguments wouldn’t work, no more than force.
Neoptolemus
So just how dangerous is this famous bow?
Odysseus
The arrows never miss and always kill.
Neoptolemus
But if you go at him close in, hand to hand?
Odysseus
Combat is out. We have to use the head here. I’ve told you.
Neoptolemus
You don’t think lying undermines your life?
Odysseus
Not if it will save life, and save the day.
Neoptolemus
You can look me in the eye and still say that?
Odysseus
Scruples are self-indulgence at this stage.
Neoptolemus
So what stage is it? Why must he go to Troy?
Odysseus
We need his weapons if we’re to take the town.
Neoptolemus
You said without me Troy would not be taken.
Odysseus
But not without his weapons.
Nor the weapons without you.
Neoptolemus
So be it.
The weapons are our target.
Odysseus
And once you have them, you’ll have triumphed twice.
Neoptolemus
In what way twice?
Is this more double-talk?
Odysseus
You’ll be praised for courage first.
Then for farsightedness.
Neoptolemus
Duplicity! Complicity!
All right.
I’ll do it.
Odysseus
Do you remember everything I told you?
Neoptolemus
I have said I am going to do it.
Trust me.
Odysseus
So. Well. What you do now is wait for him.
I’m going to have to leave in case he sees me.
And I’ll take that watchman with me.
But one last thing.
If I think you are being held up for what seems
A dangerously long time, I’ll send the man back.
He’ll be dressed up like a ship’s captain, you know,
All innocence and full of sailor-talk,
But you’ll be fit to read between the lines
For the message, whatever the message is.
Well, if there’s nothing else,
I’m away to the ship. It’s in your hands now.
Hermes that guides the go-betweens and dealers
Be your protector, and Athene too,
My own best patron.
Exit Odysseus.
Chorus
What are the likes of us to do?
We’re here and we’re supposed to help you,
But we’re in a maze.
We’re strangers and this place is strange.
We’re on shifting sand. It is all sea-change.
Clear one minute. Next minute, haze.
But you are blessed with special insight,
So tell us, son.
Give us our instructions.
Neoptolemus
Be very careful as you go.
Keep on t
he lookout for the creature,
But watch me too
In case I signal.
Chorus
We’ll do that. Don’t you worry, sir.
That’s what we are here for.
But what about this wild man on the loose?
Is his head away? Is he dangerous?
Does he live in a den or a house?
Neoptolemus
His shake-down is up there
In a sort of roofed-in place under the rocks.
Chorus
And where is he?
Neoptolemus
Out scavenging, somewhere near.
His old gifts as an archer
Stand him in good stead.
But all the same, it’s sad.
Him, the master bowman, the great name,
Dragging himself through bushes after game.
Festering inside and out.
Contrary, hard and proud.
Chorus
It’s a pity of him too
Afflicted like that,
Him and that terrible foot.
And not a one to talk to.
Like the last man left alive.
How does the being survive?
Human beings suffer
But not to this extent
You would wonder if it’s meant.
Why him more than another?
What is the sense of it?
Out in the open always,
Behaving like a savage.
Nothing but squeals and laments.
Nothing left but his instincts.
Howling wild like a wolf.
Neoptolemus
In one way, it does make sense.
It all had to happen – the snake-bite at the shrine.
And everything that happened since.
Fate works in its own time.
If he had sailed then