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Ajax (Sophocles)
Encyclopedia
Sophocles
's Ajax is a Greek tragedy written in the 5th century BC. The date of Ajax's first performance is unknown, but most scholars regard it as an early work, circa 450 - 430 B.C. (J. Moore, 2). It chronicles the fate of the warrior Ajax
after the events of the Iliad
, but before the end of the Trojan War
.
is enraged because Achilles
' armor was awarded to Odysseus
, rather than to him. He vows to kill the Greek leaders who disgraced him. Before he can enact his revenge, though, he is tricked by the goddess Athena into believing that the sheep and cattle that were taken by the Achaeans as spoil are the Greek leaders. He slaughters some of them, and takes the others back to his home to torture, including a ram which he believes to be his main rival, Odysseus.
Ajax realizes what he has done and is in agony over his actions. Ajax’s pain is not because of his wish to kill Agamemnon and Odysseus. He is extremely upset that Athena fooled him and is sure that the other Greek warriors are laughing at him. Ajax contemplates ending his life due to his shame. His wife and captive, Tecmessa
, pleads for him not to leave her and her child unprotected. Ajax then gives his son, Eurysaces
, his shield. Ajax leaves the house saying that he is going out to purify himself and bury the sword given to him by Hector. Teucer
, Ajax’s brother, arrives in the Greek camp to taunting from his fellow soldiers. Calchas
warns that Ajax should not be allowed to leave his tent until the end of the day or he will die. Teucer sends a messenger to Ajax’s campsite with word of Calchas’ prophesy. Tecmessa and soldiers try to track him down, but are too late. Ajax had indeed buried the sword, but has left the blade sticking out of the ground and has impaled himself upon it.
Sophocles lets us hear the speech Ajax gives immediately before his suicide (which, unlike in most Greek tragedies, where action and death are reported, is called for to take place onstage), in which he calls for vengeance against the sons of Atreus (Menelaus
and Agamemnon
) and the whole Greek army. Ajax also wishes for the first to find his body to be Teucer, so that he is not found by an enemy and his body left without a proper burial. Tecmessa is the first to discover Ajax impaled on his sword, with Teucer arriving shortly after. He orders that Eurysaces be brought to him so that he will be safe from Ajax’s foes. Menelaus appears on the scene and orders the body not to be moved.
The last part of the play revolves around the dispute over what to do with Ajax's body. Ajax's half brother Teucer intends on burying him despite the demands of Menelaus and Agamemnon that the corpse is not to be buried. Odysseus, although previously Ajax's enemy, steps in and persuades them to allow Ajax a proper funeral by pointing out that even one's enemies deserve respect in death, if they were noble. The play ends with Teucer making arrangements for the burial (which is to take place without Odysseus, out of respect for Ajax).
, another early play by Sophocles.
Another possible theme is the degeneration and rehabilitiation of the hero.
Another Sophoclean tragedy of the old ethic being replaced by the new, Ajax of strength being replaced by Odysseus of wit.
The Ajax we see here is quite different than the one presented in Homer's Iliad. In the Iliad, Ajax is fearless, reliable, feared, respected, and a pragmatic leader. In Sophocles' play Ajax becomes so enraged by his shame of not winning the armor, that he becomes irrationally violent and no longer respected in the way he was in the Iliad. Ajax killing himself is then a product of the shame he felt towards his actions, which was also brought on by shame. Due to the societies values of a shame culture, Ajax chooses to kill himself.
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
's Ajax is a Greek tragedy written in the 5th century BC. The date of Ajax's first performance is unknown, but most scholars regard it as an early work, circa 450 - 430 B.C. (J. Moore, 2). It chronicles the fate of the warrior Ajax
Ajax (mythology)
Ajax or Aias was a mythological Greek hero, the son of Telamon and Periboea and king of Salamis. He plays an important role in Homer's Iliad and in the Epic Cycle, a series of epic poems about the Trojan War. To distinguish him from Ajax, son of Oileus , he is called "Telamonian Ajax," "Greater...
after the events of the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, but before the end of the Trojan War
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
.
Plot
At the onset of the play, AjaxAjax (mythology)
Ajax or Aias was a mythological Greek hero, the son of Telamon and Periboea and king of Salamis. He plays an important role in Homer's Iliad and in the Epic Cycle, a series of epic poems about the Trojan War. To distinguish him from Ajax, son of Oileus , he is called "Telamonian Ajax," "Greater...
is enraged because Achilles
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
' armor was awarded to Odysseus
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
, rather than to him. He vows to kill the Greek leaders who disgraced him. Before he can enact his revenge, though, he is tricked by the goddess Athena into believing that the sheep and cattle that were taken by the Achaeans as spoil are the Greek leaders. He slaughters some of them, and takes the others back to his home to torture, including a ram which he believes to be his main rival, Odysseus.
Ajax realizes what he has done and is in agony over his actions. Ajax’s pain is not because of his wish to kill Agamemnon and Odysseus. He is extremely upset that Athena fooled him and is sure that the other Greek warriors are laughing at him. Ajax contemplates ending his life due to his shame. His wife and captive, Tecmessa
Tecmessa
The name Tecmessa refers to the following characters in Greek mythology:*Tecmessa was the daughter of Teuthras, king of Teuthrania in Mysia, or Teleutas, king of Phrygia. During the Trojan War, Telamonian Ajax kills Tecmessa's father and takes her captive; his reason for doing so may have been, as...
, pleads for him not to leave her and her child unprotected. Ajax then gives his son, Eurysaces
Eurysaces
Eurysaces in Greek mythology was the son of the Telemonian Ajax and the former-princess captive-slave girl Tecmessa. He was venerated in Athens. Eurysaces was named after his father's famous shield...
, his shield. Ajax leaves the house saying that he is going out to purify himself and bury the sword given to him by Hector. Teucer
Teucer
In Greek mythology Teucer, also Teucrus or Teucris , was the son of King Telamon of Salamis Island and his second wife Hesione, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy. He fought alongside his half-brother, Ajax, in the Trojan War and is the legendary founder of the city Salamis on Cyprus...
, Ajax’s brother, arrives in the Greek camp to taunting from his fellow soldiers. Calchas
Calchas
In Greek mythology, Calchas , son of Thestor, was an Argive seer, with a gift for interpreting the flight of birds that he received of Apollo: "as an augur, Calchas had no rival in the camp"...
warns that Ajax should not be allowed to leave his tent until the end of the day or he will die. Teucer sends a messenger to Ajax’s campsite with word of Calchas’ prophesy. Tecmessa and soldiers try to track him down, but are too late. Ajax had indeed buried the sword, but has left the blade sticking out of the ground and has impaled himself upon it.
Sophocles lets us hear the speech Ajax gives immediately before his suicide (which, unlike in most Greek tragedies, where action and death are reported, is called for to take place onstage), in which he calls for vengeance against the sons of Atreus (Menelaus
Menelaus
Menelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria.*Menelaus , brother of Ptolemy I Soter...
and Agamemnon
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...
) and the whole Greek army. Ajax also wishes for the first to find his body to be Teucer, so that he is not found by an enemy and his body left without a proper burial. Tecmessa is the first to discover Ajax impaled on his sword, with Teucer arriving shortly after. He orders that Eurysaces be brought to him so that he will be safe from Ajax’s foes. Menelaus appears on the scene and orders the body not to be moved.
The last part of the play revolves around the dispute over what to do with Ajax's body. Ajax's half brother Teucer intends on burying him despite the demands of Menelaus and Agamemnon that the corpse is not to be buried. Odysseus, although previously Ajax's enemy, steps in and persuades them to allow Ajax a proper funeral by pointing out that even one's enemies deserve respect in death, if they were noble. The play ends with Teucer making arrangements for the burial (which is to take place without Odysseus, out of respect for Ajax).
Themes
An argument over whether to deny the burial of a disgraced man is the subject of AntigoneAntigone (Sophocles)
Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first...
, another early play by Sophocles.
Another possible theme is the degeneration and rehabilitiation of the hero.
Another Sophoclean tragedy of the old ethic being replaced by the new, Ajax of strength being replaced by Odysseus of wit.
The Ajax we see here is quite different than the one presented in Homer's Iliad. In the Iliad, Ajax is fearless, reliable, feared, respected, and a pragmatic leader. In Sophocles' play Ajax becomes so enraged by his shame of not winning the armor, that he becomes irrationally violent and no longer respected in the way he was in the Iliad. Ajax killing himself is then a product of the shame he felt towards his actions, which was also brought on by shame. Due to the societies values of a shame culture, Ajax chooses to kill himself.
Translations
- Thomas FrancklinThomas Francklin-Life:Francklin was the son of Richard Francklin, bookseller near the Piazza in Covent Garden, London, who printed William Pulteney's paper ‘The Craftsman.’ He was admitted to Westminster School in 1735. On the advice of Pulteney he was educated for the church: but Pulteney gave him no subsequent...
, 1759 - verse - Edward H. PlumptreEdward Hayes PlumptreEdward Hayes Plumptre was an English divine and scholar, and was born in London.-Life:This son of E.H. Plumptre was born in London. A scholar of University College, Oxford, he graduated with a double-first class degree in 1844. In the same year he was elected Fellow of Brasenose College. Married...
, 1865 - verse - Richard C. Jebb, 1904 - prose: full text
- Francis Storr, 1912 - verse
- Robert C. TrevelyanR. C. TrevelyanRobert Calverly Trevelyan was an English poet and translator, of a traditionalist sort, and a follower of the lapidary style of Logan Pearsall Smith.-Life:...
, 1919 - verse: full text - John Moore, 1957 - verse
- Peter Meineck and Paul Woodruff, 2007 - prose
- G.Theodoridis 2009 full text, prose: http://bacchicstage.wordpress.com/
- Stephen Esposito, 2010 full text with notes
Adaptations
- Robert Auletta, 1986 - prose
- Paul Roche, 2001 - prose
- John Tipton, 2008 - metrical form of one English word for every metrical foot in the Greek, which Tipton calls "a counted line." ISBN 978-0-9787467-5-9. The Nation review accessed 2008-08-31.