Philoctetes

Philoctetes, also spelled Philoctetes, is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the possessor of Heracles' bow and arrows. In most accounts he is described as the son of Poeas, a hero and king, and he is placed among the generation of Greek warriors who fought at Troy.

During the build-up to the Trojan War, Philoctetes sailed with the Greek coalition to Troy. On Lemnos, he was bitten by a venomous snake, and the wound from the bite festered; the Greeks abandoned him on Lemnos because of the odor and the severity, leaving him with Heracles' bow.

The Greeks could not take Troy without Heracles' bow, and Philoctetes' return was demanded by omens and divine will. Odysseus and Neoptolemus persuade him to return to the camp; upon his return, the bow is used to aid the Greeks and Troy falls in various versions of the myth.

Philoctetes is the subject of Sophocles' tragedy Philoctetes (late 5th century BCE), which centers on his suffering, isolation, and the ethical tensions surrounding deception and duty in wartime.

The name Philoctetes is typically interpreted as meaning "lover of the bow" in reference to his possession of Heracles' weapon. In classical literature, his story raises themes of exile, endurance, and the moral complexities of loyalty and justice in war.