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Philoctetes
Left alone on an island for ten years because his pain made people uncomfortable. If chronic illness has ever emptied your life, Philoctetes gets it.
Who it's for
Philoctetes, abandoned on a deserted island for ten years because his festering wound and screams were too much for his comrades, is one of very few ancient characters centred on chronic pain.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Sophocles' tragedy, first performed at the City Dionysia in 409 BCE where it won first prize, centres on the archer Philoctetes, abandoned on the island of Lemnos by his fellow Greeks after a snakebite left him with a painful, foul-smelling wound.
Where to find it
Public domain in older translations (e.g., F. Storr and R. C. Jebb, free online). Bryan Doerries's translation (in 'All That You've Seen Here Is God') and Carl Phillips's are in print and in libraries.
Before you start
Heads up: Severe pain and pleas for death.
Age: Ages 14+
I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.William Ernest Henley, “Invictus”
