Chapter 16, The Trojan War
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♠ ApE 5.8 – Apollodoros, Epitome
When the war had already lasted ten years, and the Greeks were despondent, Calchas prophesied to them that Troy could not be taken unless they had the bow and arrows of Hercules fighting on their side. On hearing that, Ulysses went with Diomedes to Philoctetes in Lemnos, and having by craft got possession of the bow and arrows he persuaded him to sail to Troy. So he went, and after being cured by Podalirius, he shot Alexander. Greek Text
♠ Lesches, Ilias Mikra (Little Iliad) Argomentum PEG – Poetae Epici Graeci 1, p. 74, ed. A. Bernabé. Leipzig 1987.
♠ Dik 4.19 – Diktis, Ephemeris Belli Troiani (Diory Of the Trojan War)
Philoctetes advanced against Alexander and challenged him to fight, if he dared, a duel with the bow. Alexander agreed, and thus Ulysses and Deiphobus marked off a place for the contest. Alexander was the first to shoot and missed. Thereupon Philoctetes hit Alexander in the left hand, and then – he was howling with pain – struck his right eye, and then – he was trying to flee – pierced both his feet, and finally finished him off. Philoctetes’ arrows had once been Hercules’, and the Hydra’s lethal blood had stained their points. Latin Text
♠ Σ Lyk 911 – Scholia to Lykophron, Alexandra – Lykophronis Alexandra, vol. 2, pp. 293-94, ed E. Scheer. Berlin 1908.
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Edited by Elena Bianchelli, Retired Senior Lecturer of Classical Languages and Culture, Univ. of Georgia, February 2023
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