The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles' Philoctetes is a verse adaptation by Seamus Heaney of Sophocles' play Philoctetes. It was first published in 1991.[1] The story comes from one of the myths relating to the Trojan War. It is dedicated in memory of poet and translator Robert Fitzgerald.[2]
The story takes place in the closing days of the Trojan War. Before the play begins, the Greek archer Philoctetes has been abandoned on the island of Lemnos by his fellows because of a foul-smelling wound on his foot, and his agonised cries. The play opens with verses from the Chorus and the arrival of Odysseus and Neoptolemus to the shore of Lemnos. Their mission is to devise a plan to obtain the mighty bow of Philoctetes, without which, it has been foretold, they cannot win the Trojan War.
At the beginning of the play, the protagonist Philoctetes has been abandoned on an island with a wound that will not heal. His suffering and exposure to the elements have made him animal-like, a quality he shares with other outcasts in Heaney's work, such as Sweeney.[3]
History says, Don't hope On this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme.
Joe Biden has also frequently quoted the passage,[6] including in his presidential acceptance speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention[7] and at the memorial service for Sean Collier, a campus police officer who was killed in the line of duty during the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.[8] In the opening chorus of the play, Heaney's translation emphasizes the role of poetry as "the voice of reality and justice"[9] in expressing "terrible events".[10]
At the time of its composition, Heaney saw themes of the Philoctetes as consonant with the contemporary political situation in South Africa, as the apartheid regime fell and Nelson Mandela was released from prison without a full-scale war. Heaney described Mandela's return as a similar overcoming of betrayal and a display of "the generosity of his coming back and helping with the city—helping the polis to get together again."[11]
Production history
The Cure at Troy was first performed in 1990 by the Field Day Theatre Company.[12] The cast included Seamus Moran as Odysseus, Sean Rocks as Neoptolemus, and Des McAleer as Philoctetes. It was directed by Stephen Rea and Bob Crowley.[13]
Cover of the first edition published by Field Day.
References
^Brendan Corcoran, "'Stalled in the Pre-articulate': Heaney, Poetry, and War," in The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry (Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 697.
^Heaney, Seamus (1990). The Cure at Troy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
^Conor McCarthy, Seamus Heaney and Medieval Poetry (D.S. Brewer, 2008), p. 137.
^McCarthy, Seamus Heaney and Medieval Poetry, p. 136.
^Bill Clinton, "Remarks to the Community in Derry," 30 November 1995 [1], retrieved 6 September 2013.
^Mark Memmott, "Boston Bombing Investigation: Wednesday's Developments," The Two-Way: Breaking News from NPR, 24 April 2013, update at 1:20 p.m. ET, NPR blog, retrieved 26 April 2013.
^The Cure at Troy, choral prologue, p. 2 in the 1991 edition of The Noonday Press of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
^Corcoran, "'Stalled in the Pre-articulate'," p. 700.
^Corcoran, "'Stalled in the Pre-articulate'," p. 701.
^McCarthy, Seamus Heaney and Medieval Poetry, p. 136.
^Heaney, Seamus (1990). The Cure at Troy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
