# Philoctetes — Character guide

> Key figures in Philoctetes by Sophocles.

- [Philoctetes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/philoctetes_se/characters/philoctetes.md): A crippled Greek archer marooned nine years on a barren island, he guards Heracles' bow — the one weapon Troy cannot fall without.
- [Odysseus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/philoctetes_se/characters/odysseus.md): The Greek army's most cunning strategist, sent to pry a wounded hero and his sacred bow off a deserted island by force or fraud.
- [Neoptolemus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/philoctetes_se/characters/neoptolemus.md): Achilles' young son, newly arrived at Troy, ordered to lie to a suffering stranger — and discovering what his honesty is worth.
- [Heracles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/philoctetes_se/characters/heracles.md): The deified hero whose bow Philoctetes carries, he descends from Olympus to speak the will of Zeus over the play's final deadlock.
- [Sailor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/philoctetes_se/characters/sailor.md): Crew member who assists Odysseus and Neoptolemus in their mission.
- [Achilles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/philoctetes_se/characters/achilles.md): Deceased Greek hero, father of Neoptolemus, referenced as a legacy figure.
- [Zeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/philoctetes_se/characters/zeus.md): King of the gods, invoked in oaths and prayers by characters.
- [Laertes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/philoctetes_se/characters/laertes.md): Father of Odysseus, mentioned as part of Neoptolemus' patronymic.

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