“Go not yet, son of Pœas, before thou hearest what I shall say to thee. For ’tis Hercules whom thou seest and hearest; and I am come from my dwelling in heaven to declare to thee the will of Zeus. Know then that even as I attained to this blessedness after much toil, so shall it be with thee. For thou shalt go to the land of Troy; and first thou shalt be healed of thy grievous sickness, and afterwards thou shalt slay Paris with thine arrows, and shalt take the city of Troy, whereof thou shalt carry the spoils to thy home, even to Pœas thy father, having received from thy fellows the foremost prize for valor. But remember that all that thou winnest in this warfare thou must take as an offering to my tomb. And to thee, son of Achilles, I say; thou canst not take the city of Troy without this man, nor he without thee. Whereof, as two lions that consort together, guard ye each other. And I will send Asclepius to heal him of his sickness; for it is the will of the gods that Troy should yet again be taken by my bow. And remember this, when ye lay waste the land, to have the gods and that which belongeth to them in reverence.”
Then said Philoctetes, “O my master, whom I have long desired to hear and see, I will do as thou sayest.”
Then Philoctetes bade farewell to the island in these words:--
“Home that hast watched with me, farewell! And nymphs that haunt the springs or dwell In seaward meadows, and the roar Of waves that break upon the shore; Where often, through the cavern’s mouth, The drifting of the rainy South Hath coldly drenched me as I lay; And Hermes’ hill, whence many a day, When anguish seized me, to my cry Hoarse-sounding echo made reply. O fountains of the land, and thou, Pool of the Wolf, I leave you now; Beyond all hope I leave thy strand, O Lemnos, sea-encircled land! Grant me with favoring winds to go Whither the mighty Fates command, And this dear company of friends, And mastering Powers who shape our ends To issues fairer than we know.”
It fell out that at the last Troy was taken by a stratagem. Now the stratagem was this: The Greeks made a great Horse of wood, feigning it to be a peace-offering to the gods, that they might have a safe return to their homes.