His Father’s Son?

Abstract

The play Philoctetes, by Sophocles, and the Aeneid, Vergil’s epic, are parts of the same homeric tradition; responses to ancient poetry afforded practically divine status. This paper is primarily interested in how these authors explore their reception of this tradition through Neoptolemus’ acceptance or rejection of his inheritance; what he may choose to emulate from the person of Achilles, and what they in turn wish to take from the work of Homer. This exploration is particularly concerned with the anxieties of their own times, and a uniting desire to consider conflict and its effect on culture and populace through literary forms. This paper was originally written for the honours course Homer and his readers, taught by Dr Hau and Dr Chadha of the Classics department, and seeks to engage with the same issues of historiography, intent and intertext.

Keywords

• Aeneid
• Philoctetes
• Sophocles
• Virgil
• Inheritance
• Neoptolemus