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Sophocles' Ajax, or Aias ( or ; Ancient Greek: Αἴας [a͜í.aːs], gen. Αἴαντος), is a Greek tragedy written in the 5th century BCE. Ajax may be the earliest of Sophocles' seven tragedies to have survived, though it is probable that he had been composing plays for a quarter of a century already when it was first staged. It appears to belong to the same period as his Antigone, which was probably performed in 442 or 441 BCE, when he was 55 years old. The play depicts the fate of the warrior Ajax, the second greatest hero at Troy (after Achilles), after the events of the Iliad but before the end of the Trojan War. Plot The play opens with a dialogue between Athena and Odysseus: After the great warrior Achilles had been killed in battle, there was a question as to who should receive his armor. As the man who now could be considered the greatest Greek warrior, Ajax felt he should be given Achilles' armor, but the two kings, Agamemnon and Menelaus, awarded it instead to Odysseus. Ajax became furious and decided to kill the three of them. However, Athena stepped in and deluded Ajax into instead killing the spoil of the Greek army, which includes cattle as well as the herdsman. Athena gave false visions to Ajax, making him see the animals as humans. Athena summons Ajax, who comes on stage and expresses his belief that he has slaughtered Agamemnon and Menelaus. He departs in order to hunt Odysseus. His concubine, Tecmessa, and the chorus discuss and describe Ajax's madness and terrible actions. They are interrupted by Ajax crying out from off-stage, as Ajax suddenly comes to his senses and realizes what he has done. Overwhelmed by shame, he decides to commit suicide. Tecmessa pleads for him not to leave her and their child, Eurysaces, unprotected. Ajax then gives his son his shield, and leaves the house saying that he is going out to purify himself and to bury the sword given to him by Hector. Teucer, Ajax's half-brother, arrives. Teucer has learned from the prophet, Calchas, that Ajax should not be allowed to leave his tent until the end of the day or he will die. Tecmessa and soldiers then try to find Ajax, but they are too late. Ajax has indeed buried his sword – by impaling himself upon it. Before his suicide, Ajax calls for vengeance against the sons of Atreus (Menelaus and Agamemnon) and the whole Greek army. Tecmessa is the first one to discover Ajax's body. Teucer then arrives and orders that Ajax's son be brought to him so that he will be safe from foes. Menelaus appears and orders the body not to be moved. The last part of the play is taken up with an angry dispute regarding what to do with Ajax's body. The two kings, Agamemnon and Menelaus, want to leave the body unburied for scavengers to ravage, while Teucer wants to bury it. Odysseus arrives and persuades Agamemnon and Menelaus to allow Ajax a proper funeral. Odysseus points out that even one's enemies deserve respect in death. The play ends with Teucer making arrangements for the burial. Ajax or Aias The original title of the play in the ancient Greek is Αἴας. Ajax is the romanized version, and Aias is the English transliteration from the original Greek. Proper nouns in Ancient Greek have conventionally been romanized before entering the English language, but it has been common for translations since the end of the 20th century to use direct English transliterations of the original Greek. The text of the play suggests the original pronunciation of Ajax's name in lines 430–432, Ajax (or Aias), the protagonist, states that it has an onomatopoeic resemblance to a wailing cry of lament: "aiai!" Translators have treated this passage in different ways: Critical reception and analysis Ajax, as he appears in this play, in the Iliad, and other myths, is a heroic figure, a "rugged giant", with strength, courage and the ability to think quickly well beyond the normal standards of mankind. He was considered a legendary character to the people of ancient Athens. Numerous Homeric myths describe him coming to the rescue of his fellow man in dire moments. Hugh Lloyd-Jones points out that many authorities consider Ajax an early play, but he suggests that if the text excludes material that he has bracketed, then it would seem to be a "mature masterpiece, probably not much earlier than Oedipus Tyrannus". Lloyd-Jones considers various lines that have been taken by critics interpreting the play, and finds that some consider that the Greek gods are being portrayed by Sophocles as just, and that when Ajax suffers it is a learning-experience for the character and the audience. Other interpretations of the play, according to Lloyd-Jones, instead consider that Ajax is being portrayed heroically in defiance of the unjust and capricious gods. Lloyd-Jones, notes that Ajax's murderous intentions in this play are not softened by the playwright, and the difficult aspects of his character are fully depicted, but in spite of that Sophocles shows profound sympathy for the greatness of Ajax, and appreciation for the bravery in Ajax's realization that suicide is the only choice – if he is to maintain his conception of honor and his sense of self. In another interpretation, Robert Bagg and James Scully point out that the play is composed in two distinct parts; the first part is steeped in the old world, a world of kings and heroes, and the second part resembles more the democratic world of Sophocles' Greece, and is marked by an imperfect debate of contending ideas. Bagg and Scully consider that the play, with its two parts, may be seen as an important epoch-spanning work that raises complex questions, including: How does 5th-century Greece advance from the old world into the new? Especially considering that Greece, in its stories and thoughts, clings and reveres the old world? And while clinging to the past, Greece considers that its new, democratic order is important and vital. As Bagg and Scully contend, Ajax, with his brute force has been a great warrior-hero of the old world, but the Trojan war itself has changed and become a quagmire; what's needed now is a warrior who is intelligent – someone like Odysseus. Ultimately, according to Bagg and Scully's interpretation, Ajax must still be respected, and the end of the play demonstrates respect and human decency with the promise of a proper burial. John Moore interprets the play as primarily a character study of Ajax, who, when he first appears covered in the blood of the animals that he in his madness has killed, presents an image of total degradation; the true action of the play, according to Moore, is how this image is transformed from degradation, as Ajax recovers his heroic power and humanity. The play, according to Moore, personifies in Ajax an affirmation of what is heroic in life. Translators Frederic Raphael and Kenneth McLeish called the work a "masterpiece", arguing that "Sophocles turned the almost comic myth of a bad loser into a tragedy of disappointment, folly, and divine part.... Discover the Sophocles David Raeburn popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sophocles David Raeburn books.