The Cure at Troy

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by Seamus Heaney


  So say a prayer that you’ll come through this better

  Than I did, and the man that gave them to me.

  Neoptolemus

  I will pray for that.

  But I also pray

  That the gods’ intentions and our destination

  Won’t be at odds, and they speed us on our journey.

  Philoctetes

  O son, take care I am not a stumbling block

  To this prayer of yours. I’m all blood again.

  I’m open deeper than ever. It’s pouring out.

  It’s here again. Circling for a kill.

  Why me? Gods curse this foot.

  Oh. Ahhhhhh.

  No, wait. Don’t go. Don’t let me scare you.

  Shout instead. Shout hard. Shout their names.

  Odysseus. Agamemnon. Menelaus.

  I’ll be the death of them. Let me smit them all.

  O son, my body’s burning.

  Could you not

  Carry me up to the crater of Lemnos

  And burn me right?

  What I did for Hercules

  You should do for me.

  Throw me into the fire

  And keep the bow.

  Are you there, son?

  Say something.

  Where are you?

  Neoptolemus

  I’m here. I’m here.

  But I’m useless.

  I know it’s desperate.

  Philoctetes

  As long as you are there, that does me good.

  And it’s going to go soon, all of a sudden,

  Just the way it came.

  Neoptolemus

  We’re staying with you.

  Don’t worry about that.

  Philoctetes

  You’re going to stay?

  Neoptolemus

  I promise.

  Philoctetes

  Promise. What use is promise?

  Swear it to me.

  But no. Swear nothing.

  Son,

  I am astray. What am I saying?

  Neoptolemus

  I tell you, Philoctetes, I am bound

  To you, and bound to take you.

  Philoctetes

  So. Give me your hand.

  Neoptolemus

  Gladly. Here. We are well and truly pledged.

  Philoctetes

  Good. Good. Now the way is open.

  Neoptolemus

  What way? Where?

  Philoctetes

  Up there. Into the sky world. High beyond.

  Neoptolemus

  He’s raving now again. What do you see?

  Philoctetes

  Let me go. Don’t touch me. Stay away!

  Neoptolemus

  I will. But you stay calm.

  That’s right. Stretch out.

  Philoctetes

  From now on, I am going to belong

  Entirely to the earth. Be earth’s for the taking.

  I’ll lie on top here first, and then lie under.

  Neoptolemus

  This man’s bound to sleep now, very soon.

  He’s sweated out, the head is down, and his whole

  Body is exhausted.

  The flux has stopped,

  There’s hardly any issue from his foot.

  We should leave him quiet, friends, to get some rest.

  (If there is to be an interval, it occurs now.)

  Chorus

  Sleep is the god-sent cure.

  Deep-reaching, painless, sure.

  Its touch is certain.

  The light of paradise

  Creeps into sleepers’ eyes

  As through a curtain.

  But you, sir, must wake up.

  Don’t let this moment slip.

  Hold off no longer.

  Now that the coast is clear

  You have to do and dare.

  You were never stronger.

  Neoptolemus

  Obviously now we could steal away with the bow.

  That would be easy. But easy and meaningless. No.

  It’s to this wounded man the triumph has to be due.

  He has earned it. The oracle said it. I see it all now.

  Without him the cause will be shamed and our victory hollow.

  Chorus

  Oracles are devious,

  Beyond the likes of us.

  We don’t inquire too deep.

  And we keep our voices down

  For sick men have been known

  To hear things in their sleep.

  Take care. Chances like this

  You can’t afford to miss.

  Even a fool can see

  There’s trouble brewing.

  So move. Immediately.

  The man is at death’s door.

  You couldn’t ask for more.

  The winds are for us.

  Before the birds can scare

  Wise huntsmen draw the snare

  And the noose closes.

  Neoptolemus

  Quiet. This is nonsense. Give it over.

  There’s a flicker in the eyes there. His head’s moving.

  Philoctetes

  The light.

  Sunlight.

  And you still here, my friends.

  I never thought I’d waken up like this.

  I never thought you’d stand your ground with me.

  I didn’t think you’d have the heart for it.

  It was different, I tell you, the first time here.

  But, Neoptolemus, you are no betrayer.

  You’re no Odysseus, and couldn’t be.

  You have it in you from both sides, straight and true

  By nature. You made light of everything,

  The reeks and roars and the whole mess of me.

  But that’s all over now. So, help me up.

  Put me on my feet here. Stand me straight

  And once I’m steadied right, then everybody

  Can go down to the boat, and all set sail.

  Neoptolemus

  This is more than I expected. It’s great

  You’ve come round again, that you’re alive

  And out of danger.

  Up you get!

  Or if you’d rather, we could carry you.

  These men are fit for that. Whatever you like.

  Philoctetes

  That’s a real friend’s thought. And since you thought it,

  Lift me, you yourself. Don’t bother them.

  They’ll all be sickened of me soon enough

  Once we’re on board.

  Neoptolemus

  So. On your feet then.

  Get yourself together.

  Philoctetes

  All right. All right.

  I’ll be

  Into my stride in no time.

  Neoptolemus

  What’s to become of me now anyway?

  Philoctetes

  What’s to become of who?

  What is it, child?

  Neoptolemus

  I’m all throughother.

  This isn’t me.

  I’m sorry.

  Philoctetes

  What has upset you now? Don’t be afflicted.

  Neoptolemus

  I’m an affliction to myself, that’s all I am.

  Philoctetes

  Have you changed your mind? Can you not face the thing?

  Does having to ship with me disgust you that much?

  Neoptolemus

  It’s more like self-disgust. No. One false move,

  One move that’s not your own, and everything

  Goes to the bad.

  Philoctetes

  This is not you. Who, son,

  Was ever more like himself or them before him?

  Neoptolemus

  I’ll be seen for what I am.

  I just can’t face it.

  Philoctetes

  Face what? What false move? What do you mean?

  Neoptolemus

  Zeus, you must help me now. There’s no way out.
<
br />   If I tell or if I don’t tell, it’s still disgrace.

  Philoctetes

  Unless I’m wrong, I think – but no – not him –

  I think he’s for sailing on without me!

  Neoptolemus

  Oh no. I won’t be leaving you. And more’s the pity.

  We’ll both rue that.

  Philoctetes

  There’s no sense in this.

  Neoptolemus

  There is sense in it all right, Philoctetes.

  The real story is this: you will be sailing,

  Sailing to Troy to connect up with the Greeks.

  Philoctetes

  What?

  What?

  What sort of talk is this?

  Neoptolemus

  Quiet. Hold on. Listen.

  There’s a meaning to it.

  Philoctetes

  Meaning? What meaning? How could there be meaning?

  Neoptolemus

  I have to take you from this plight you’re in.

  You have to go with me and level Troy.

  Philoctetes

  Never.

  Never.

  That will never happen.

  Neoptolemus

  None of us can dictate the shape of things.

  It’s all laid out. I’m not the one to blame.

  Philoctetes

  You’re as two-faced as the rest. Why did you do it?

  Who are you?

  Give me back my bow.

  Neoptolemus

  I cannot.

  There’s a cause, a plan, big moves,

  And I’m a part of them. I’m under orders.

  Philoctetes

  Burnt bones!

  Sears and blisters!

  There was more left

  Of Hercules on the pyre than’s left of me.

  The salamanders have me. I’m scorched to nothing.

  I kneeled to him. How can he bear to do it?

  Steal the bow and leave me as good as dead?

  And still not say a word. Not meet my eye.

  Hard little two-faced crab. He knows. He knows

  He’s reneging on doing the right thing.

  What will I do? What’s left here now but me

  And the place itself? The island’s all there is

  That’ll stand to me. If I turn and leave,

  The cliffs and caves and bays will still be there

  When I come back. If I shout for sympathy

  To animals and birds, they’ll answer me.

  There’s more nature in their dens and nests

  Than there is in you, you sacrilegious

  Heartbreaking little coward.

  But the man you tricked

  Was never the man you came to snatch away.

  You’ll be showing off a phantom to the Greeks

  And your big name and fame will always be

  Hollow to the core.

  You faced nothing here.

  You overpowered a cripple without weapons,

  And even then, you did it underhand.

  O son, be yourself again. This isn’t you.

  Give me the bow.

  Still nothing.

  He’s condemning me to a death by hunger.

  I’m going to be a ghost before my time.

  The birds and brutes

  I slaughtered with the bow, they’re closing in.

  I can see their beaks and muzzles crowding up

  Both ends of the cave. They’ll pick me clean.

  My life for theirs, eye and tooth and claw.

  Look at him there!

  Any kind of trust is a mistake!

  Oh, but, son, you don’t want to believe

  That’s how it is. Change things back again

  And change your mind. My tongue could hardly bear

  To curse you after all I felt for you.

  Chorus

  Why are we listening to this now, sir? Are we

  On our way or not? What are you thinking?

  Neoptolemus

  I can’t help it. There’s something in me he touched

  From the very start. I can’t just cut him off.

  Philoctetes

  The gods have their eyes on him and that’s why

  He can’t get off the hook. He knows all this

  Solidarity with the Greeks is sham.

  The only real thing is the thing he lives for:

  His own self-respect.

  Neoptolemus

  How did I end up here? Why did I go

  Behind backs ever?

  Philoctetes

  You did it because

  You had agreed to do it. Somebody else

  Rehearsed you. It has to be. There’s nothing low

  Or crooked in you at all. Come on, child.

  Give me the bow.

  Neoptolemus

  Well, friends, where are we now?

  Neoptolemus moves, Philoctetes reaches, the body language and handling of the bow suggest that their original mutual rite of exchange will now be repeated. It is a slightly somnambulant movement, which Odysseus interrupts, coming between them suddenly, his back to Philoctetes.

  Odysseus

  Now who’s the bow for, Neoptolemus?

  Hand it over! A traitor can’t expect

  To carry weapons.

  Philoctetes

  Odysseus! That voice!

  It has to be.

  Odysseus

  Odysseus

  That was and is!

  Philoctetes

  And when else but now?

  Hangmen and betrayers never show

  Till the moment’s ripe.

  Odysseus

  That I don’t deny.

  Philoctetes

  Return my bow, now, boy. You nearly did.

  Odysseus

  He nearly did but now he never will,

  And you have your marching orders. Understand:

  The bow goes, and you with it, with these men.

  Philoctetes

  Are you going to herd me like a wild animal?

  Odysseus

  That’s up to you. Everybody else

  Wants you to come back of your own free will.

  Philoctetes

  Ground of my island, be with me here and now.

  And Vulcan, lord of forge-fire, volcano god,

  Scorch the earth and brand the hills of Lemnos

  With the mark of my ordeal at his hands.

  Odysseus

  My hands, Philoctetes, are in the hands

  Of Zeus. Zeus and his thunderbolts

  Rule Vulcan even. Zeus is the Lord of Lemnos.

  Philoctetes

  Anything that comes out of your mouth

  Just turns to dirt. Don’t foul the name of Zeus.

  No god could stoop as low as Odysseus.

  Odysseus

  What do gods care? It’s what they say that matters

  And they say you’ll march.

  Philoctetes

  I say not.

  Odysseus

  Say what you like, but you’ll obey and move.

  Philoctetes

  Like a slave in chains. Oh weep for the free man

  That’s broken here.

  Odysseus

  No. Wrong. The free man here

  Is being raised up. These are his first steps

  Towards Troy and triumph.

  Philoctetes

  Never. Not while earth

  Is under me and the rocks above.

  Odysseus

  What blather’s this?

  Philoctetes

  I can throw myself

  From any cliff or headland on this island.

  Odysseus

  There! Get him by the arms. He’s asking for it.

  Philoctetes

  Odysseus, you have taken everything I ever had and was. The best years of my life, my means of self-defence, my freedom, the use of my two hands. Everything that made me my own self, you’ve stripped away. And now you’re going to take my second self.
This boy. He’s your accomplice but he was my friend. With you he does what he is told, with me he did what his nature told him. I made him free, you only fouled him up. Look at him there, he can’t look me in the eye, he knows he’s contaminated. My body may be corrupting but with him it is the mind, and you did that. You spread death-in-life. Here I am, like a lost soul bound for Hades, being led away out of the house of life and light and friendship.

  I curse you. I have cursed you always. It changes nothing. I’m chaff and you’re the flail. I’m beaten to nothing. I’m gone out of mind now like a man that’s dead.

  So why, why are you tearing me up out of the grave? Has the bad smell left me? Will you not start vomiting all over the altar now again? Will I not make you get sick into the holy vessels this time? That was your excuse, don’t you forget. That was why you dumped me.

  But the wheel is turning, the scales are tilting back. Justice is going to waken up at last. The gods were only biding time and the time has gone. It wasn’t love of me that brought you to this island, there’s a shape to this that’s bigger than you could know. Your eye’s so jaundiced, you can’t see the balance shifting and weighing down against you – but I see it and my heart is singing. I’d give the whole agony of my life just to see you cut down in the end, and your tongue ripped out of you like a bleeding ox-tongue.

 

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