PHILOKTETES One of the many heroes who sailed againstTroy, Philoktetes had inherited the bow and arrows of Hercules, and on the way toTroy was bitten by a snake, his cries of pain so offputting to the Greeks that they determined to leave him on the island of Lemnos, where he had suffered his injury. He had later to be returned for though, as the oracle advised that the famous bow andarrows of Hercules would have to be used in the war, if the Greeks were to achievevictory. Odysseus sailed to Lemnos, got around Philoktetes to come to Troy withhim, where his snakebite injury was cured, and Philoktetes reconciled to the Greeks. There the bow and arrows were used to slay first Paris, then ensure the defeat ofTroy.