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[Tecmessa]: For when we look on self made woe,
In which no hand but ours had part,
Thought of such griefs and whence they flow
Brings aching misery to the heart.
[Chorus]: Why vex thy heart with what is over and done?
Do what we may, this ne’er will alter not.
SOPHOCLES, AJAX, LINES 259-61, 377-78; LEWIS CAMPBELL TRANSLATION
Introduction
For the first time in a while, we come back to a story with its setting in the Trojan War. Ajax, by Sophocles, takes place after the events of the Iliad. This means the play takes place during the final year of the war.
There were two Ajax’ that fought on the Achaean (Greek) side during the war: Telamonian Ajax and Little Ajax. The play is focused on Telamonian Ajax, the second strongest Achaean warrior who wielded a giant shield. In the Iliad, Ajax was one of the few commanders who hadn’t gotten wounded, despite putting himself in danger more the most of them.
After the events of the Iliad, Achilles, the Achaeans’ strongest warrior and the slayer of Troy’s champion Hector, dies in the war. It was Ajax and Odysseus who fought off the Trojans and brought his body back to camp. Achilles’ famous armor, made by Hephaestus, the god of the forge, was to be given to one of them as a reward.1 Ajax, overall, did more to help secure Achilles’ body, plus he committed far more heroic feats in the war compared to Odysseus. However, Odysseus was a far better orator and was able to convince the Achaeans that he should get the armor. The events of Ajax takes place shortly after this.
If you joined me on my journey through the Odyssey, you already have an idea of what eventually happened. When Odysseus visits the land of the dead in the Odyssey, Book 11, to consult the blind prophet Tiresias,2 he encounters the ghosts of many men and women from the past—including Achilles, his best friend Patroclus, Antilochus (who got close to Achilles after Patroclus’ death)… and Telamonian Ajax. I’ll let Homer take it from here:
"The ghosts of other dead men stood near me and told me each his own melancholy tale; but that of Ajax son of Telamon alone held aloof- still angry with me for having won the cause in our dispute about the armour of Achilles. Thetis had offered it as a prize, but the Trojan prisoners and Minerva were the judges. Would that I had never gained the day in such a contest, for it cost the life of Ajax, who was foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus, alike in stature and prowess.
"When I saw him I tried to pacify him and said, 'Ajax, will you not forget and forgive even in death, but must the judgement about that hateful armour still rankle with you? It cost us Argives dear enough to lose such a tower of strength as you were to us. We mourned you as much as we mourned Achilles son of Peleus himself, nor can the blame be laid on anything but on the spite which Jove bore against the Danaans, for it was this that made him counsel your destruction- come hither, therefore, bring your proud spirit into subjection, and hear what I can tell you.'
"He would not answer, but turned away to Erebus and to the other ghosts; nevertheless, I should have made him talk to me in spite of his being so angry, or I should have gone talking to him, only that there were still others among the dead whom I desired to see.
From the Samuel Butler translation
As you can see, the events described by Homer are slightly different compared to other traditions, but the outcome is the same: the contest between Ajax and Odysseus over Achilles’ armor led to Ajax’ death.
We’ll be learning from Sophocles exactly how Ajax died.
All quotes from Ajax are from the Lewis Campbell translation which is in the public domain. I had to rely on the John Moore translation for line numbers, so they may not be 100% accurate.
As always, I encourage you to read Ajax for yourself. You can do it! Read the publicly available Campbell translation, which might be difficult if you’re not used to verse translations. If you prefer a modern translation, Richmond Lattimore and David Grene also translated and/or edited the plays of Sophocles (and other Greek playwrights) and compiled them into multiple volumes. Lastly, I just recently discovered a modern translation that the translator Ian Johnston offers for free! He’s also translated other ancient Greek works like the Iliad and the Odyssey. You can find them here.
Summary
The goddess Athena calls out to Odysseus as he approaches the camp of Ajax and asks him what he’s doing. Odysseus tells Athena he’s investigating an incident: for some reason, Ajax killed all the flocks and herds that were captured as spoils of war—along with the herdmen taking care of them. Athena confirms that Ajax indeed committed the crime. He was angry at Agamemnon, Menelaus, Odysseus, and the other commanders concerning the division of Achilles’ armor and sought to kill them all. However, Athena made him temporarily insane and he instead killed the flocks and herds and took some back to torture. Athena tells Odysseus she’ll hide him from Ajax’ senses so he can witness Ajax’ madness first hand.
Athena calls out to Ajax and Ajax exits his tent carrying a bloody sword. Athena asks Ajax if he’s killed Agamemnon and Menelaus and Ajax confirms it. Athena then asks if he’s already killed Odysseus. Ajax curses Odysseus and tells Athena he has him bound up inside the tent where he intends on torturing him. Athena tells Ajax to have fun and Ajax returns to his tent. Odysseus, shocked by what he just saw, feels sorry for Ajax, and leaves to make a report.
A Chorus of mariners from Salamis, where Ajax is from, approaches. They simply can’t believe the news about Ajax killing the war spoils and believe Odysseus to be spreading falsehoods. They’ve come to Ajax to implore him to leave his tent and refute the claims against him, if they happen to be untrue, as the rumors are spreading like wildfire and the Achaeans are disparaging him. Tecmessa, Ajax’ war prize and concubine, enters and confirms the rumors about Ajax. She witnessed Ajax killing some of the spoils and torturing others with a whip. The Chorus are mortified to hear this and fear that the Achaeans will retaliate against all who came from Salamis for Ajax’ crime. Tecmessa then tells the Chorus that Ajax has returned to his senses and is distraught by what he has done. In fact, she’s now worried that he’s going to do something rash and begs the Chorus to help Ajax.
Inside the tent, Ajax cries out in grief and calls first for his son, then his half-brother Teucer. Tecmessa opens the tent, revealing carnage Ajax wrought on the spoils, and Ajax calls out to the Chorus in his grief and asks one of them to kill him. The Chorus refuses and Ajax turns his anger toward Odysseus. Agamemnon and Menelaus decided to give the fallen Achilles’ armor to Odysseus rather than himself, even though he was the better man in the war. Ajax wishes he could kill Odysseus and then die himself. The Chorus tells Ajax not to talk like that, as the Salaminians at Troy need his leadership, but Ajax knows that what he did was grievous and the Achaeans may come to take his life—even if they have to hunt him down. Where is there for him to go? If he returns home, it would be in humiliation. How could he look his father in eye with everything that has happened? Ajax then recognizes that Athena had driven him insane and caused him to commit the crime. If even the gods are against him, what hope does Ajax have?
Tecmessa then begs Ajax to put away thoughts of dying. She, herself, used to be in a prominent family until Ajax killed her parents and destroyed her town. Now, she’s nothing more than his war prize and concubine. If Ajax dies, where would she and their infant son go? Who would take care of them?
Ajax acknowledges Tecmessa’s words and asks her to bring their son whom she hid in case Ajax tried to harm him in his insanity. Their son is brought out and Ajax blesses him. He asks everyone to leave his son to Teucer and ensure that his son inherits his armor, including his shield. Ajax then sends his son away and the Chorus and Tecmessa become very worried for Ajax, but Ajax dismisses them and has his tent shut.
As the Chorus worries more about the aftermath of Ajax’ actions, Ajax returns outside with a sword in hand. He’s decided to go into the meadows to bathe and purify himself, then bury the sword which Hector had given to Ajax since it caused jealousy with the other Achaeans. Lastly, he’s going to submit himself to Agamemnon and Menelaus since the more important thing right now is the war effort.
Ajax leaves and the Chorus are thrilled to hear his words and breathe a sigh of relief. A Messenger appears and lets everyone know that Teucer has returned from the battlefront and asks the Chorus where Ajax is. When the Chorus tells him he already left, the Messenger becomes worried. Teucer gave him explicit instructions to make sure Ajax never leaves his tent because the prophet Calchas said Athena is angry with him since he boasted he didn’t need the gods’ help to fight and win victory. If Ajax can remain alive today, he can be reconciled to the gods. The Chorus calls for Tecmessa, and when she hears out the Messenger she becomes distraught. She tells the Chorus that some of them need to get Teucer over to the tent right away while the rest search for Ajax. All of them leave to carry out their tasks.
In the meantime, Ajax, alone somewhere in a meadow, with Hector’s sword planted in the ground and the blade sticking up, prays one last time to the gods and falls on the sword. The Chorus enters searching frantically for Ajax. They hear Tecmessa cry out and find her mourning the dead Ajax. Tecmessa covers up Ajax so no one else will see him in his current state. Teucer appears and mourns over Ajax’ body. He tells Tecmessa to hurry and get Ajax’ son before someone else does and she leaves. Teucer uncovers Ajax’ body and continues to mourn not only Ajax’ death, but the fact that he will probably be spurned and exiled by his (and Ajax’) father since he’s a bastard child.
Menelaus approaches and orders Teucer to stop tending to Ajax’ body because of the crimes he’s committed. Ajax needs to be made an example of, so his body will be thrown on the beach and be the food of bird rather than receive a proper burial. Teucer refuses to obey, telling Menelaus he will bury Ajax whether he likes it or not. Menelaus threatens Teucer that he will use force if necessary and leaves.
Tecmessa returns with Ajax’ son and Teucer instructs him and the Chorus to guard Ajax’ body, then leaves to get everything necessary to bury Ajax. As the Chorus express how sick they are of the war, Teucer returns in a hurry because he saw Agamemnon, the commander of the Achaean army, coming near. Agamemnon approaches, confronting Teucer for his insubordination and insulting his social standing since his mother was a war prize and not a free woman. Teucer is shocked at how willing Agamemnon is to toss Ajax aside considering his feats in the war. He then declares that if Agamemnon tries to do anything with Ajax’ body, he’ll have to do it over his dead body.
Odysseus approaches in order to stop any potential bloodshed. He advises Agamemnon to allow Ajax to be buried. Even though him and Ajax were enemies, Odysseus still recognizes that, save for Achilles, he was the most valiant in the war. To deny Ajax’ a proper burial would be going against the laws of Heaven itself. Agamemnon argues with Odysseus that he would be letting Ajax off easily for his crimes, but Odysseus counters that the people would see the action favorably. Agamemnon concedes, but he refuses to have anything to do with the burial and leaves.
Teucer thanks Odysseus for standing up for Ajax. However, he requests that Odysseus not help with the burial rite as it would probably anger Ajax’ spirit. Odysseus honors Teucer’s decision and leaves. Teucer orders the Chorus to help him and they begin preparing a grave and Ajax’ body for burial.
The Deadly Rivalry (And a Personal Story)
It’s obvious there was some sort of rivalry between Ajax and Odysseus. It makes sense, considering that Ajax was the epitome of brawn while Odysseus was the epitome of brains. Ajax was a hulking man, second only to Achilles as a warrior, and wielded a giant shield. In the Iliad, Book 15, Ajax single-handedly defended a ship from being burned down by a wave of Trojans until one of the gods destroyed his spear and he was forced to retreat. Odysseus was the most cunning of the Achaeans and a great orator. In the Iliad, Book 10, he showed the power of his cunning when he tricked an ally on the Trojan side to spill all the information he had about the Trojan army.
While, as far as I can remember, the Iliad did not make explicit that Ajax and Odysseus were rivals, there is either an allusion to, or a foreshadowing of, their rivalry in Book 23 during the funeral games for Patroclus when they compete against each other in a wrestling match for a prize. Here’s what Homer wrote of the whole match:
Note: Ulysses is Odysseus’ Latin name.
Forthwith uprose great Ajax the son of Telamon, and crafty Ulysses, full of wiles rose also. The two girded themselves and went into the middle of the ring. They gripped each other in their strong hands like the rafters which some master-builder frames for the roof of a high house to keep the wind out. Their backbones cracked as they tugged at one another with their mighty arms- and sweat rained from them in torrents. Many a bloody weal sprang up on their sides and shoulders, but they kept on striving with might and main for victory and to win the tripod. Ulysses could not throw Ajax, nor Ajax him; Ulysses was too strong for him; but when the Achaeans began to tire of watching them, Ajax said to Ulysses, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall either lift me, or I you, and let Jove settle it between us."
He lifted him from the ground as he spoke, but Ulysses did not forget his cunning. He hit Ajax in the hollow at back of his knee, so that he could not keep his feet, but fell on his back with Ulysses lying upon his chest, and all who saw it marvelled. Then Ulysses in turn lifted Ajax and stirred him a little from the ground but could not lift him right off it, his knee sank under him, and the two fell side by side on the ground and were all begrimed with dust. They now sprang towards one another and were for wrestling yet a third time, but Achilles rose and stayed them. "Put not each other further," said he, "to such cruel suffering; the victory is with both alike, take each of you an equal prize, and let the other Achaeans now compete."From the Samuel Butler translation
Notice how Ajax used his might against Odysseus while Odysseus used his cunning against Ajax. Th results: brawn and brains fought to a stalemate.
However, the stalemate wouldn’t last. Odysseus would use his cunning to convince the Achaeans that he was most worthy of Achilles’ armor after him and Ajax brought Achilles’ dead body back to camp. This was the point the rivalry turned deadly and led to Ajax’ suicide.
The episode doesn’t paint Odysseus in a good light. Ajax was clearly the more worthy warrior to receive Achilles’ armor. His feats in the war, at least according to the Iliad, far exceeded Odysseus’.However, Odysseus took advantage of his cunning and rhetorical skills to convince his fellow Achaeans that he was more worthy of it—even if he truly wasn’t.
What Odysseus did to Ajax has always bothered me—perhaps because it touches on an uncomfortable reality. That reality is described by Agamemnon:
Not by bulky size,
Or shoulders’ breadth, the perfect man is known;
But wisdom gives chief power in all the world.Sophocles, Ajax, lines 1250-52; Lewis Campbell translation
The man who can use his intelligence and words has the clear edge in the world. The cunning man can even snatch away what he didn’t truly deserve from the one who did. We see this all the time in our modern world. The brown-noser getting the promotion over the hard worker. The smooth talker getting the woman over the “nice guy.” The sly salesman doing better than the honest one. The outgoing man drawing more attention and favorability than the stoic man.
What to do about this? You can either:
1) Complain about it to anyone willing to listen… or to the ether
2) Refuse to play the game and go your own way
3) Beat the game with a superior method
4) Join the game where you only have to play it better than one other person
It’s ridiculous that Ajax wasn’t given Achilles’ armor for his accomplishments. The world, however, is not that nice. What should Ajax have done instead when he was denied Achilles’ armor? That’s a question I’m not sure I could answer properly. My gut reaction would have been to flip everyone the bird and leave—but I’m not an ancient Greek. I wasn’t there fighting in the Trojan War.
For some reason, what Ajax went through reminds me of what I went through trying to get a teaching job back in the day.
I went to school to be a teacher from 2009-2011. Went into debt that took until 2021 to pay off.
A month after I graduated, I went to a job fair specifically catered to teachers. It was a complete waste of time. My professors told me to print off 40-50 resumes just in case. I don’t think I even handed out ten. I couldn’t tell you how many tables I approached and the people said “we aren’t hiring.” All these schools and companies showed up to a job fair, not to offer jobs, but to network or something. I never went to another one of those fairs again.
I applied for over three dozen teaching positions from when I graduated in March, 2011 until October, 2012 when I started driving a school bus. Never got an interview. The most I got was a letter from a school saying I wasn’t picked for the position. It came toward the end of my search for a teaching job. That letter crushed me because I thought that a school wouldn’t bother sending me one unless they were, at the very least, interested in interviewing me.
Once, I applied for a teaching position in a town of only a few hundred. I emailed the principal about it, expressing interest in getting the position and telling them their town looked like a great place to live. The principal responded that 70 people applied for that position.
I was not impressive enough to outshine 70 people.
Another time, I showed my desperation after I applied for a position at a private Christian school. I told them I would attend their church and help out any way I could if they would just give me a chance. They responded that the position had already been filled.
And don’t get me started on all the hardships I went through trying to do substitute teaching. Or my attempts to teach English overseas. Or get into tutoring. Or that one time I joined a company, that did remedial education for struggling students, that ended so disastrously (due to drama from the higher ups) that I told them don’t even bother paying me for what little work I had done already. I often forget that I had worked for this company—maybe because my mind has been trying to forget it.
It crushed me too every time I heard about another former classmate getting a teaching job or securing long term employment as a substitute. What did they have that I didn’t? What could they do that I couldn’t?
At first, I did nothing but complain about it. I had legitimate things I could point to (especially the first item):
-The Education sector was still reeling from the 2008 recession
-Education was getting increasingly political and right-wingers need not apply
-I was a straight white male who refused to acknowledge my “privilege”
-I found out my teaching program was a joke compared to others in my area
However, I could also blame myself. I could have applied for more positions. I could have made a better resume. I could have been more insistent toward schools I applied to work for. I could have worked harder and gotten endorsed in more than one subject. I could have worked to improve my knowledge. I could have learned to be a better communicator, to have more self-confidence, and to further improve my craft as an educator. I could have made myself more valuable as a tutor.
When I started this blog, I decided that I would stop complaining and instead go my own way. Instead of going through the education system, I would chart my own path and try to reach people directly.
One day, I hope, this path I am traveling will enable me to “beat the game.”
The Iliad and Sophocles
Reading through Ajax, it becomes very clear that Sophocles didn’t just hear about the stories recorded in the Iliad—he read the Iliad for himself. And not only does it appear Sophocles read the Iliad—he read it well. There are not only references to the Iliad in Ajax, but even themes and characteristics of the Iliad found as well. Here are three examples:
1) The vindictiveness of Athena
In the Iliad, the goddesses Hera and Athena had a major grudge against Troy because Paris, one of its princes, didn’t choose them as the winner in a beauty contest (instead, Paris chose Aphrodite… the goddess of beauty). Their grudge was so great that they complained every time Troy got any advantage in the war and refused to let the war end with a truce. Nothing short of Troy’s utter destruction would appease them. Athena even gleefully tricked Hector, the honorable champion of the Trojans, into confronting the raging Achilles and then abandoning him to his death. They came off as petulant, vindictive, and petty.
Sophocles carried on these characteristics of Athena in his play. It’s revealed that Ajax, before he left for the Trojan War, boasted that he didn’t need the gods’ help in battle—only the weak needed them. Later, during the war, Athena went to encourage him in battle, but Ajax told her to go encourage someone else as he didn’t need her. She’s had a grudge on Ajax ever since and therefore had no qualms ensuring he didn’t win Achilles’ armor, despite his obvious worthiness for that prize, and then driving him insane and causing him to commit the crimes he did.
It would have been one thing for Athena to simply back off and then Ajax dying in battle because he didn’t have the help and protection of the gods. It’s another thing to actively ruin him because of his boasts and denying their assistance.
2) Possible anti-war sentiments
You could argue that, throughout the Iliad, there were statements and passages that could be construed as anti-war—or, perhaps, anti-Trojan War. Alternatively, you could argue that Homer was just describing the realities of war, refusing to pull his punches on how grisly war is, rather than providing some sort of commentary on war. Homer is a storyteller after all, not a propagandist.
Here’s one example from the end of Book 4:
And now no man would have made light of the fighting if he could have gone about among it scatheless and unwounded, with Minerva leading him by the hand, and protecting him from the storm of spears and arrows. For many Trojans and Achaeans on that day lay stretched side by side downwards upon the earth.
From the Samuel Butler translation
The same can be said of a passage in Ajax. After Ajax commits suicide and things appear grim for everyone who came with him from Salamis (where they’re from), the Chorus expresses exasperation for the war:
When shall the tale of wandering years be done?
When shall arise our exile’s latest sun?
Oh, where shall end the incessant woe
Of troublous spear-encounter with the foe,
Through this vast Trojan plain,
Of Grecian arms the lamentable stain?Would he had gone to inhabit the wide sky,
Or that dark home of death where millions lie,
Who taught our Grecian world the way
To use vile swords and knit the dense array!
His toil gave birth to toil
In endless line. He made mankind his spoil.His tyrant will hath forced me to forgo
The garland, and the goblet’s bounteous flow:
Yea, and the flute’s dear noise,
And night’s more tranquil joys;
Ay me! nor only these,
The fruits of golden ease,
But Love, but Love – O crowning sorrow! –
Hath ceased for me. I may not borrow
Sweet thoughts from him to smooth my dreary bed,
Where dank night-dews fall ever on my head,
Lest once I might forget the sadness of the morrow.Sophocles, Ajax, lines 1185-1210; Lewis Campbell translation
That second verse really struck me, especially: His toil gave birth to toil in endless line. He made mankind his spoil.
Wow.
That is a powerful statement about war.
3) The relationship between Agamemnon and Odysseus
Also carried on from the Iliad is the way Agamemnon and Odysseus are portrayed in relationship to one another. Despite being the commander of the Achaean army, Agamemnon was a loose cannon and made mistakes in leadership as a result. Odysseus, on the other hand, was more level headed and often came off as a more competent leader. He was better able to rally troops where Agamemnon drove troops to abandon the war effort.
Odysseus also openly corrected Agamemnon and told him what he needed to do as a leader. In the Iliad, this was best on display in Book 19 when Odysseus told Agamemnon exactly what he needed to do to properly, and publicly, reconcile with Achilles after their feud (where Agamemnon was clearly in the wrong), and even tells Agamemnon quite plainly: next time, swallow your pride and apologize sooner.
We see this same thing play out in Ajax. It becomes very obvious that Agamemnon respects Odysseus’ opinion—even if he may not like Odysseus’ advice. Agamemnon at first argued with Odysseus when he told him to leave the matter of Ajax’ burial alone. Let Teucer and the other Salaminians bury Ajax. If Agamemnon refuses, he will not only offend the gods, but stand against the will of his troops. This is an obvious reference to Book 1 of the Iliad where Agamemnon spurned a priest of Apollo and drove him away—despite the fact that everyone around him told him to listen to the priest instead.
I think what Sophocles did here, with just these three examples, was quite an accomplishment. It’s no wonder he was considered one of the greats. You could even argue that he was a better playwright than Aeschylus.
That's all for Ajax.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
Buy my other books Revenge and its Discontents: My Journey Through the Iliad and 1001 Nights of the Soul: My Journey Through the Odyssey. Kindle and paperback versions available.
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Thumbnail: Ajax carrying the body of Achilles. Ancient Greek art c. 570-60 BC.
1The armor, along with the famous Shield of Achilles, is described in the Iliad, Book 18.
2Yes, the same Tiresias from Oedipus Rex and Antigone.