Part 8

PHILOKTETES

So Ajax, too, is dead.

NEOPTOLEMOS

Dead. Think of it.

PHILOKTETES

It saddens me. But the son of Tydeus, and Odysseus, whom Sisyphos, I have heard, sold to Laertes, they who merited death are still alive.

NEOPTOLEMOS

You are right, of course. They are flourishing. They live in high glory among the Greeks.

PHILOKTETES

And my old friend, that honest man, Nestor of Pylos? Does he still live? He used to contain their evil with his wise counsel.

NEOPTOLEMOS

Nestor has fallen on evil times. His son, Antilochos, who was with him, is dead.

PHILOKTETES

O! You have told me of two deaths that hurt me most. What can I hope for, now that Ajax and Antilochos are dead and in the ground, while Odysseus walks, while he should be the one who is dead?

NEOPTOLEMOS

That one is a clever wrestler. Still, even the clever stumble.

PHILOKTETES

Tell me, by the gods, how was it with Patroklos, your father's most beloved friend?

NEOPTOLEMOS

He was dead, too. I will tell you in a word what happened: War never takes a bad man on purpose, but good men always.

PHILOKTETES

You are right. Let me ask you, then, of one who is worthless, but cunning and clever with the words he uses.

NEOPTOLEMOS

You can mean only Odysseus.

PHILOKTETES

No, not him. I mean Thersites, who was never content to speak just once, although no one allowed him to speak at all. Is he alive?

NEOPTOLEMOS

I do not know him, but I have heard that he lives.