Philoctetes

American  

[fil-uhk-tee-teez] / ˌfɪl əkˈti tiz /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a noted archer and squire of Hercules. Bitten by a snake and abandoned on an island because of his festering wound, he was at length brought by the Greeks to Troy, where he recovered and later killed Paris.

2. (italics) a tragedy (408? b.c.) by Sophocles.

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Philoctetes British  

/ fɪˈlɒktɪˌtiːz, ˌfɪlɒkˈtiːtiːz /

noun

1. Greek myth a hero of the Trojan War, in which he killed Paris with the bow and poisoned arrows given to him by Hercules

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Philoctetes

Ten years later, it turns out that Troy cannot fall unless Philoctetes comes back to the fight and serves under those who abandoned him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026

But I did get to witness the enthralling Lesley Sharp, whose sinuous portrayal of the blustering Philoctetes had a crackling energy.

From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2021

At the 9/11 reading of the plays, David Strathairn, the Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actor, portrayed Philoctetes, an injured warrior abandoned on an island by his own forces.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 12, 2016

I am reminded of Philoctetes, the archer in Greek mythology whose shipmates abandoned him on an island because they were repelled by a wound that would not heal.

From National Geographic ● Aug. 7, 2015

These had been given when Hercules died to the Prince Philoctetes, the man who had fired his funeral pyre and who later had joined the Greek host when they sailed to Troy.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton