Philoctetes lives in a cave on a desolate island: the wartime hero is now a wounded outcast. Stranded for ten years, he sees a chance of escape when a young solider appears with tales of Philoctetes' past glories. But with hope comes suspicion - and, as an old enemy emerges, he is faced with an even greater temptation: revenge. Kate Tempest is now widely acknowledged as a revolutionary force in contemporary British poetry; she has also distinguished herself as musician and a dramatist, and continues to expand the range of her work with a new version of Sophocles' Philoctetes in a bold new translation. Like Brand New Ancients before it, Paradise shows Tempest's gift for lending the old tales an immediate contemporary relevance - and will find this timeless story a wide new audience. 'Kate Tempest has a gift for shattering and transcending convention.' New York Times