Philoctetes

Also known as: Poeas' son / Poeas' valiant son / renowned Poeas' valiant son / the son of Poeas · Family: The Greeks · Role: warrior · First appears: Book V · Part 2

On Lemnos, Philoctetes, son of Poeas, was found by Odysseus and Diomedes, whose earlier abandonment had left him there in pain. As he looked at them, Athena caused his anger to melt away, and they took him and his bow to the Greek host. Podaleirius healed his wound, and Agamemnon offered gifts and honour; Philoctetes forgave him and the others who had wronged him, then urged the Argives to prepare for war.

In the fighting, Philoctetes killed Deioneus and Acamas, wounded Paris with an arrow, and struck Peirasus as he fled. At the tower, he aimed at Aeneas, but Aphrodite turned aside the shaft, which killed Medon instead. When Zeus’s thunderbolt frightened him and Neoptolemus, they obeyed Calchas’s counsel. Long before the events at Troy, Hercules had entrusted his arms to Philoctetes, “Most near of friends and dear”.