PHILOKTETES
O blessed day and dearest of men, and you, friend sailors, how can I make it clear to you, how closely you have bound me in your friendship. Let us go, my son. But first let us bow down and kiss the earth in gratitude, the earth of my home that is no home. Look inside and you will see how brave I must be by my very nature. To endure even the sight of such a place would have been too much for most men. But I have had to learn to withstand its evils.