Philoctetes Being Bitten by the Snake 1575 - 1635

Gotthard Ringgli created this pen and wash drawing of Philoctetes, an archer from Greek mythology, sometime in the late 16th or early 17th century. Ringgli gives us a snapshot of Philoctetes drawing his bow, unaware of the snake biting his ankle. The story of Philoctetes was often told in this period as a story of abandonment. On his way to the Trojan War, Philoctetes received a snake bite that festered and smelled so bad that his comrades abandoned him on an island. The political implications of this story of abandonment may have resonated in Switzerland, where Ringgli was working, as it was a land of mercenary soldiers, often abandoned by their employers. To better understand Ringgli's telling of the Philoctetes myth, we can consult printed emblem books, collections of myths and fables, and histories of mercenary soldiering during the period. The meaning of an artwork is always contingent on its social and institutional context.