Philoctetes

In the spring program of BIT Teatergarasjen the following is written about Philoctetes:

"Philoctetes is based on a text by the American playwright John Jesurum, paraphrasing the Greek myth of Philoctetes and the Sophocles tragedy by the same name. Sophocles tells of the Greek warrior Philoctetes who during the conquest of Troy was bitten by a snake and left at the island Lemnos by Odysseus. After ten years Odysseus returns to fetch Philoctetes, and the meeting between them is by Verdensteatret described as an autopsy of a dying person's life and an imperialist war having lost its direction."

Philoctetes (in Norwegian spelled Philoktetes, sometimes Filoktetes) was a Greek hero, known as an able archer during the Trojan War: He was the one who killed Paris. According to legend, he was so powerful because he had his bow and arrow from Heracles.

In addition to being mentioned in two plays by Sophocles he is also a character in plays by Euripides and Aeschylus. He is also mentioned in Homer's Iliad.

Sources:

Verdensteatret, verdensteatret.no, 14.11.2011, http://www.verdensteatret.com/philoktetes.html

The archive of Verdensteatret, donated by Verdensteatret, 05.10.2011

Spring program 1998, BIT Teatergarasjen

Store Norske Leksikon on Philoctetes, http://snl.no/Filoktetes