Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/333

 NEOPTOLEMUS AT TROY 301 the commencement of the expedition, and had spent ten years 1 in misery on that desolate island ; but he still possessed the peerless bow and arrows of Herakles, which were said to be essential to the capture of Troy. Diomedes fetched Philoktetes from Lem- nus to the Grecian camp, where he was healed by the skill of Machaon, 2 and took an active part against the Trojans en- gaging in single combat with Paris, and killing him with one of the Herakleian arrows. The Trojans were allowed to carry away for burial the body of this prince, the fatal cause of all their suf- ferings ; but not until it had been mangled by the hand of Mene- laus. 3 Odysseus went to the island of Skyrus to invite Neoptole- mus to the army. The untried but impetuous youth gladly obey- ed the call, and received from Odysseus his father's armor, while on the other hand, Eurypylus, son of Telephus, came from Mysia as auxiliary to the Trojans and rendered to them valuable service turning the tide of fortune for a time against the Greeks, and killing some of their bravest chiefs, amongst whom was numbered Peneleos, and the unrivalled leech Machaon. 4 Tho exploits of 1 Soph. Philokt. 703. '2 /ie/lea V v "> "Of W"' olvo^vrov Tro/^arof " fTc/Cf TT] XPOVOV, etC. In the narrative of Diktys fii. 47), Philoktetes returns from Lemnus to Troy much earlier in the war before the death of Achilles, and without any assigned cause. y According to Sophoklts. Herakles sends Asklepius to Troy to heal Philok tetes (Soph. Philokt. 1415). The subject of Philoktetes formed the subject of a tragedy both by JEsch y Ins and by Euripide's (both lost) as well as by Sophokles. 3 Argument. Iliad. Minor. Diintz. 1. c. Kal TOV vetcpbv viroMevehuov Karat- KicrdevTa ave%.6/j.evoi ftd-Krovaiv ol Tp&ef. See Quint. Smyrn, x. 240 : he differs here in many respects from the arguments of the old poems as given by Proclus, both as to the incidents and as to their order in time (Diktys, iv. 20). The wounded Paris flees to CEnone, whom he had deserted in order to follow Helen, and entreats her to cure him by her skill in simples : she re-- fuses, and permits him to die ; she is afterwards stung with remorse, and hangs herself (Quint. Smyrn. x. 285-331; Apollodor. iii. 12, 6; Conon. Narrat. 23 ; see Bachet tie Meziriac, Comment, sur les Epitres d'Ovide, t. i. p. 456J. The story of (Enone is as old as Hellanikus and Kephalon of Ger- gis (see Hellan. Fragm. 126, Didot). 4 To mark the way in which these legendary events pervaded and became embodied in the local worship, I may mention the received practice in the great temple of Asklpius (father of Machaon) at Pergamus, even in th