Sophocles
Ajax
c.
447 BC
This translation, which has been prepared by Ian Johnston of Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC, Canada, is in the public domain and may be used by anyone for any purpose, in whole or in part, without permission and without charge, provided the source is acknowledged. Released September 2004.
In the following text the numbers in square brackets indicate the lines in the Greek text. The numbers without brackets refer to this text. The asterisks mark links to explanatory endnotes provided by the translator.
The translator would like to acknowledge the extremely valuable help of W. B. Stanford's commentary on the play and the translation of Sir Richard Jebb.
For questions, comments, and suggestions for improvements please contact Ian Johnston. For other online translations in this series use the following link: johnstonia.
Introductory Note
When
Achilles, the finest of all the warriors in the Achaean army, was killed in the
Trojan War, there was a dispute about which warrior should receive the high
honour of getting Achilles' weapons. There were two main claimants,
Odysseus and Ajax. The latter was, according to Homer, the best warrior
after Achilles. However, as a result of voting among the leading warriors,
the weapons were awarded to Odysseus. The action of Sophocles' Ajax
takes place the day after this decision.
Ajax
Dramatis Personae
ATHENA:
divine daughter of Zeus, goddess of war and wisdom.
ODYSSEUS: king of Ithaca, an important warrior leader in the Argive
forces at Troy.
AJAX: king of Salamis, the most powerful Argive warrior after Achilles.
CHORUS: Sailors from Salamis under the command of Ajax, their king.
TECMESSA: daughter of the king of Phrygia, captured by Ajax, his
concubine.
MESSENGER: a soldier.
TEUCER: a Greek warrior, half brother of Ajax.
MENELAUS: one of the commanders of the Argive forces at Troy.
AGAMEMNON: brother of Menelaus, senior commander of Argive forces at
Troy.
EURYSACES: young son of Ajax and Tecmessa.
ATTENDANTS, SERVANTS, SOLDIERS
Note that Sophocles calls the Greek forces the Argives, Achaeans, or Danaans, as in Homer, and occasionally the Hellenes (Greeks).
[The action takes place during the last year of the Trojan War. The scene is one end of the Argive camp beside the sea, outside Ajax's hut. The hut is a substantial building with main doors facing the audience and some side doors. There are some steps leading up a platform outside the main doors. It is early in the morning, without very much light yet. ODYSSEUS enters slowly, tracking footprints in the sand and trying to look through the partially open door into the hut. The goddess ATHENA appears and speaks to ODYSSEUS.]
ATHENA:
Odysseus, I keep seeing you prowl around,
seeking by stealth to gain the upper hand
against your enemies. And now, by these
huts
at one end of the army, where Ajax
has his camp beside the ships, for some time
I've been observing as you track him down,
keeping your eyes fixed on his fresh-made trail,
to find out whether he's inside or not.*
Like a keen-nosed Spartan hunting dog,
your path is taking you straight to your goal—
10
the man has just gone in, his head and arms
dripping with sweat after the
butchery
[10]
he's just carried out with his own sword.
So you don't need to peer inside the doors.
What are you so eager to discover here?
Why not tell me? I could know the answer.
ODYSSEUS:
[looking up but he cannot see Athena]
Ah, Athena's voice, of all the gods
the one I cherish most. How clear you
sound.
I can't see you, but I do hear your words—
my
mind can grasp their sense, like the bronze
call
20
of
an Etruscan trumpet.*
And you are right.
You
see me circling around, tracking down
that
man who hates me, shield-bearing Ajax.
I've
been following his trail a long time now—
[20]
just
him, no one else. During the night
he's
done something inconceivable to us,
if
he's the one who did it. We're not sure.
We
don't know anything for certain.
So
I volunteered to find out what's gone on.
We've
just discovered all our livestock killed—
30
our
plunder butchered by some human hand,
and
with them the men who guard the herd.
Everyone
blames Ajax for the slaughter.
What's
more, an eye witness who saw him
striding
by himself across the plain, his
sword
[30]
soaking
in fresh blood, informed me of it
and
told me what he saw. I ran off at once
to
pick up his trail. I'm following the tracks.
But
it's confusing—sometimes I don't know
whose
prints they are. So you've come just in
time,
40
for
in the past and in the days to come
your hand has been and will remain my guide.
ATHENA:
I am aware of that, Odysseus, that's why
I
was so eager to come after you
as
you tracked him down.
ODYSSEUS:
Well then, dear lady,
will what I'm doing here have good
results?
ATHENA:
I'll tell you this: Ajax did those killings,
as you suspected.
ODYSSEUS:
Why would he do
that?
[40]
Why turn his hands to such a senseless act?
ATHENA:
The weapons—that
armour from Achilles—
50
it made him insanely angry.*
ODYSSEUS:
But then
why would he slaughter all the animals?
ATHENA:
He thought he was staining both his hands
with blood from you.
ODYSSEUS:
You mean this was his plan
against the Argives?
ATHENA:
Yes—and it would have worked,
if I had not been paying attention.
ODYSSEUS:
How could he have done something so reckless?
How could his mind have been so rash?
ATHENA:
At night
he crept out all by himself in secret.
ODYSSEUS: How close was he? Did he get to his target? 60
ATHENA:
He reached the camp of both commanders—
he made it right up to their double gates.*
ODYSSEUS:
If he was so insanely keen for
slaughter,
[50]
how he could prevent his hands from killing?
ATHENA:
I stopped him. I threw down into his eyes
an overwhelming sense of murderous joy
and turned his rage against the sheep and cattle
and those protecting them—the common herd
which so far has not been divided up.*
He launched his attack against those
animals
70
and kept on chopping down and slaughtering
the ones with horns by slicing through their
spines,
until they made a circle all around him.
At one point he thought he was butchering
both sons of Atreus—he had them in his hands.*
Then he went at some other general
and then another. As he charged around
in his sick frenzy, I kept encouraging him,
kept pushing him into those fatal
nets.
[60]
And then, when he took a rest from
killing,
80
he tied up the sheep and cattle still alive
and led them home, as if he had captured
human prisoners and not just animals.
Now he keeps them tied up in his hut
and tortures them. I'll let you see his madness—
in plain view here—so you can witness it
and then report to all the Argives. Be
brave.
Do not back off or look upon this man
as any threat to you. I will avert his
eyes,
so he will never see your
face.
[70]
[Calling to Ajax inside the hut]
You in there—
90
the one who's tying up his prisoner's arms—
I'm calling you! I'm shouting now for Ajax!
Come on out here! Outside the hut! In
front!
ODYSSEUS:
Athena! What are you doing? Don't call him!
Don't bring him out here!
ATHENA:
Just be patient.
Don't run the risk of being called a coward.
ODYSSEUS:
For the gods' sake, don't do it! Leave him be!
Let him stay inside!
ATHENA:
What's the matter with you?
He was just a man before this, wasn't he?
ODYSSEUS:
Yes, and in the past unfriendly to
me,
100
and especially now.
ATHENA:
But the sweetest laughter
comes from mocking enemies. Is that not true?
ODYSSEUS: Still, I'd prefer he stayed inside his hut. [80]
ATHENA:
You hesitate to see before your eyes
someone in a raving fit?
ODYSSEUS:
Yes, I do—
if he were fully sane I'd not avoid him
or hesitate . . .
ATHENA:
But he won't see you,
not even if you stand beside him.
ODYSSEUS:
How will that occur, if he still can see
with his own eyes?
ATHENA:
His eyes see very
well,
110
but I will make them dark.
ODYSSEUS:
Well, it is true
a god's work can make all things possible.
ATHENA: Stand here, then, and stay quiet.
ODYSSEUS:
I'd better stay,
although
I'd have preferred to keep my distance.
ATHENA:
You in there, Ajax! I'm calling you
again!
[90]
Why show your ally so much disrespect?*
[AJAX enters from the hut. He is carrying a bloody whip with which he has been lashing the cattle]
AJAX:
Welcome Athena! Welcome child of Zeus!
You have given me so much assistance!
In gratitude for those I've captured
I'll offer you a crown, presents of pure
gold.
120
ATHENA:
A noble gesture. But tell me this—
did that sword of yours slake itself on blood
when
you attacked the Argive army?
AJAX:
Yes.
That I can boast about. I don't deny it.
ATHENA:
You went after the two sons of Atreus
with that weapon in your fist?
AJAX:
Indeed I did.
They'll not dishonour Ajax any more.
ATHENA: So, as I understand you, those men are dead.
AJAX: Yes, dead. Let them rob me of my weapons now! [100]
ATHENA:
I see. Well, what about Laertes'
son?
130
As far as you're concerned, where does he stand?
Did he escape you?
AJAX:
That damned slimy fox!
You ask me where he is?
ATHENA:
Yes, I'm asking.
I mean that enemy of yours Odysseus.
AJAX:
My favourite prisoner, lady, kneels inside.
I don't want him to die just yet.
ATHENA:
But when?
What further actions do you have to do?
Or what advantage will you gain by that?
AJAX:
Not before he's tied up to a pillar,
the main one holding up the roof in
there.
140
ATHENA: What harm will you inflict on the poor man?
AJAX: I'll whip his back blood red. Then I'll kill him. [110]
ATHENA: Don't abuse the man in such a vicious way.
AJAX:
You can follow your desires, Athena,
in all other things. That I will
concede.
But this is the penalty he's going to pay—
not
something else.
ATHENA:
All right, since it pleases you,
give that arm of yours some exercise. Don't
stop.
Do what you've planned.
AJAX:
Then I'll get back to work.
And I'll leave you with this request from me—
150
always
stand beside me as my ally
the
way you did today.
[AJAX goes back into the hut]
ATHENA:
Do you see now,
Odysseus, how powerful the gods can be?
Could you find anyone more sensible
than Ajax, a man with more ability
to carry out in every
situation
[120]
the most appropriate action?
ODYSSEUS:
No one I know.
All the same, though he's my enemy,
I pity him under that heavy yoke
of catastrophic madness. It makes me
think
160
not
just of his fate but my own as well.
I see that in our lives we are no more
than phantoms, insubstantial shadows.
ATHENA:
Well then, now you've seen his arrogance,
make
sure you never speak against the gods,
or give yourself ideas of your own grandeur,
if your strength of hand or heaped up
riches
[130]
should
outweigh some other man's. A single day
pulls down any human's scale of fortune
or raises it once more. But the gods
love
170
men
who possess good sense and self-control
and despise the ones who are unjust.
[ATHENA and ODYSSEUS leave. Enter the CHORUS, sailors from Salamis and followers of Ajax]
CHORUS
LEADER: Son of Telamon, who holds the throne
on wave-washed Salamis beside the sea,
I rejoice with you when things go well,
but when a blow from Zeus or angry words
from slanderous Danaans are aimed you,
then I hold back in fear and shake with terror,
like the fluttering eye on a feathered
dove.
[140]
I'm like
that now. In the night that's
passing,
180
there were noisy rumours thrown against us,
against our honour, saying that you went off
into that meadow where our horses range
and massacred the Argive animals,
together with the spoils their spears had
captured,
prizes which had not yet been allotted.
With that glittering sword of yours you butchered
them.
Such slanderous reports Odysseus shapes
and whispers into every soldier's ear.
Many men believe him. For he now
speaks
190 [150]
persuasively about you, and everyone
who listens is filled with spite and pleased
that you have come to grief, even more
than is the man who told them. Throw a
spear
at some great soul, and you will never miss,
but if someone said things like that of me,
he'd never be believed. Envy creeps up
against the man of wealth and power.
And yet without the great, we lesser men
are fragile ramparts in our own
defence.
200
It's best for small men to ally
themselves
[160]
with greatness, and for the powerful
to be supported by the lesser men.
But teaching foolish people such good sense
ahead of time is just not possible.
So men like this are now denouncing you,
and we do not possess sufficient power
to deflect these charges, not without you,
not without our king. With you out of their
sight,
they keep on chattering like flocks of
birds.
210
But if you unexpectedly appeared,
they would be terrified, as if they
faced
[170]
a mighty eagle, and soon would cower there,
and hold their tongues in silence.
CHORUS:
Was it that goddess Artemis,
bull-tending child of Zeus,
who drove you on,
drove you at the common herd?
O mighty Rumour, mother of my shame!
Was it perhaps in retribution for a
victory
220
where she received no tribute,
splendid weapons she was cheated of?
Or
did some hunter kill a stag
and set no gifts aside for her?
Or has Enyalios, bronze-plated god of war,
with reason to complain about an armed
alliance,
[180]
taken his revenge for such an insult
by a devious stratagem at night?
With your own mind, O son of Telamon,*
you'd never go so far along the path to
ruin
230
as to attack the flocks. But nothing can prevent
a sickness which the gods implant.
I pray that Zeus, that Phoebus Apollo
will stave off this catastrophe,
this disastrous rumour of the Argives.
And if great kings are slandering you now
with stories full of lies, or if it is that man
born from the worthless line of Sisyphus,*
do not, my lord, take on the grievous
weight
[190]
of a dishonoured reputation by remaining
here,
240
hiding your presence in this hut beside the sea.
Up now, get up from where you sit,
wherever you've been settled for so long
in your pause from battle. You have fuelled
a fire of disaster blazing up to heaven.
Your enemies' insolence keeps charging on
quite fearlessly, whipped up by favouring winds
through forest thickets, while every soldier
wags his tongue and laughs and jeers.
They bring us grief and reinforce our
sorrow.
250 [200]
[Enter TECMESSA]
TECMESSA:
You men, shipmates of Ajax, sons of the race
of earth-born Erechtheus,*
all of us
who love the distant house of Telamon
are in despair. For now our master Ajax,
our great and terrifying and forceful king,
lies suffering from tempestuous disease.
CHORUS
LEADER: What heavy grief has come during the night
to change the troubles we had yesterday?*
Daughter of the Phrygian Teleutas,
[210]
speak to us—though bold Ajax won
you
260
fighting with his spear, he still
maintains
a strong affection for you, so you may know
and offer us an answer.
TECMESSA:
How can I tell
a story much too terrifying for words?
You will hear of suffering as harsh as death.
Last night madness seized our glorious Ajax,
and now he has been totally disgraced.
You can see everything inside his hut,
the blood-soaked butchered victims who were
killed
[220]
as sacrifices at his very
hands.
270
CHORUS:
The news you tell us of our fiery king
we cannot bear, and yet there's no escape.
It's what the powerful Danaans say,
what their great story-telling spreads around.
O, how I fear what's coming next. This man
is going to die—that
much is obvious—
with a black sword in those mad hands of
his
[230]
he massacred the herd and herdsmen, too,
the ones who ride to guard our animals.
TECMESSA:
Alas! From those fields he came to
me
280
right after that, leading his captive
beasts.
On the floor in there he slit some of their
throats,
struck others in the ribs, tore them apart.
He grabbed two rams—the legs on both were white—
cut off the head on one and sliced its tongue,
right at the tip, then threw the parts
away,
and lashed the other upright on the pillar.
He took a thick strap from a horse's
harness
[240]
and flogged it with a whistling double lash.
He was cursing with an awful
violence,
290
not human words but ones a god had taught him.
CHORUS
LEADER: The time has come for us to hide our heads
and steal away on foot—or take our seats,
each man at his swift oar, and let our ship
sail out on her seaworthy way. Those
threats
[250]
our two commanders, sons of Atreus,
keep hurling at us are so serious,
I am afraid of savage death by
stoning,
sharing the suffering of the man in there,
struck down with him now in the grip of
fate,
300
his own inexorable doom.
TECMESSA:
No, no.
He is no longer like that. He's grown calm.
Like a sharp south wind that rushes past
without a lightning flash, he's easing off.
Now he's sane again, but in new agonies.
To look at self-inflicted
suffering
[260]
when no one else played any part in it
brings on great anguish.
CHORUS
LEADER:
If he's no longer mad,
I'm confident that things may be all right.
For when disaster has already passed
310
it doesn't have as much significance.
TECMESSA:
But if you had the choice of causing grief
to all your friends while feeling good yourself
or of grieving too, a suffering man
among a common sorrow, which would you choose?
CHORUS LEADER: The double grieving, lady, is far worse.
TECMESSA:
So then you know that we, although not sick,
still face disaster.
CHORUS
LEADER:
What does that
mean?
[270]
I don't understand what you are saying.
TECMESSA:
That man in there, when he was still so
ill,
320
enjoyed
himself while savage fantasies
held him in their grip, but we were sane,
and, since he was one of us, we suffered.
But now there is a pause in his disease,
he can recuperate and understand
the full extremity of bitter grief,
yet everything for us remains the same—
our anguish is no milder than before.
This is surely not a single sorrow,
but a double grief?
CHORUS
LEADER:
I think that's
true.
330
I fear a blow sent from a god has struck him.
How else could this take place, if his spirit
is no more hopeful now that he's been
cured
[280]
than when he was sick?
TECMESSA:
That's how things stand.
You
must see that.
CHORUS
LEADER: How
did his illness start?
How did this trouble first swoop down on him?
Since we share your grief, tell us what happened.
TECMESSA:
We are all involved in this, and so you'll hear
the entire story. At some point in the
night,
when the evening torches had stopped
burning,
340
Ajax took up his two-edged sword, resolved
to set off on a senseless expedition.
I challenged him and said, "What are you
doing?
Ajax, why are you going out like this?
There's been no summons, no messenger,
nor any trumpet call. All the
army
[290]
is now sleeping." His reply to me was
brief,
that old refrain, "Woman, the finest thing
that females do is hold their
tongues." So I,
taking my cue from that, did not
respond,
350
and he charged out alone. I cannot say
what went on out there, but he came back
and took his chained-up prisoners inside,
all linked together—bulls and herding dogs
and captured sheep. He cut the heads off
some.
He twisted back the skulls of other beasts
and cut their throats or chopped their spines.
Others, whom he kept tied up, he tortured,
as if they were human beings, even though
it was only animals he was
attacking.
360 [300]
At last, he charged out through the doorway
and forced out some words of conversation
with a shadow. Sometimes he'd talk about
the sons of Atreus, at other times
about Odysseus, with manic laughter
at how by going out he had avenged
all their arrogance in full. After that,
he rushed back in the hut again and there
he gradually regained his sense somehow,
though not without an effort. Once he
saw
370
his room filled up with that deluded slaughter,
he struck his head and howled. Then he collapsed,
a ruined man among so many ruins,
carcasses of butchered sheep. He sat there,
fists gripping his hair with nails clenched
tight.
[310]
For a long time he remained quite silent.
Then he made some dreadful threats against me
if I would not tell him every detail
of what had taken place. He questioned me—
What on earth had he come involved
with?
380
My
friends, I was afraid. So I told him
everything that had gone on, all the things
I knew were true. He at once began to groan,
doleful sounds I'd never heard from him before.
He's always claimed that wailing cries like that
were only fit for gloomy men and
cowards.
[320]
He used to grieve, but never wail aloud—
just a deep moan, like from a lowing bull.
But now, overwhelmed by his misfortune,
he takes no food, no drink, sprawled in
silence
390
where he fell down among dead animals
his own sword killed. It seems clear enough
he will do something bad. The words he
speaks
and his laments show that intent somehow.
My friends, you should come in and help him,
if that's possible. That's why I came out
here.
For words from friends can cure a man like
him.
[330]
AJAX: [crying out from inside the hut] Aaaiiii . . . Alas for me!
TECMESSA:
It looks as if his fit could soon be worse.
Did you hear that loud cry from
Ajax?
400
AJAX: Aaaiiii! . . . Alas!
CHORUS
LEADER: I think the man is sick or still suffering
the effects of that disease he had
before—
they're all around him where he sits.
AJAX: My child! My son!
TECMESSA:
How miserable I
feel!
[340]
Eurysaces, he's calling you. But why?
What does he have in mind? Where are you?
I'm
overwhelmed.
AJAX:
I call on Teucer!*
Where is Teucer? Will that fighting raid he's on
keep going forever, with me dying
here?
410
CHORUS
LEADER: I think the man may have his wits again.
Open the door. Perhaps when he sees me
he'll quickly feel a sense of self-respect.
TECMESSA:
[opening the door of the hut]
There. It's open. Now you can take a look
at what he's done and see the state he's in.
[AJAX is revealed sitting among the dead animals]
AJAX:
Ah, my cherished sailors, of all my friends
the only ones who still observe true
loyalty.
[350]
You see how great a wave rolls over me,
a crashing surge lashed on by murderous winds.
CHORUS
LEADER: [to Tecmessa]
It looks as if what you told us is true—
420
his condition clearly shows his madness.
AJAX:
Ah, you race of master mariners,
who traversed the sea and with your oars sped out
across the salty ocean, I see in you,
and in you alone, the one
support
[360]
in my despair. Come, help me kill myself.
CHORUS
LEADER: No more of that! Speak words of hope.
Don't
seek to cure one bad thing with another
or make this mad disaster any worse.
AJAX:
Do you see how this bold and valiant heart,
430
this
warrior so fearless in those wars
against
his enemies, has turned his hands,
these
awesome hands, against tame animals?
Ah,
the mockery! How I have been abused!
TECMESSA: I beg you, my lord Ajax, don't say that.
AJAX:
Just go away. Why not turn your feet around
and wander off somewhere? Aaaaiiii . . .
.
[370]
TECMESSA: By the gods, concede. Use your common sense.
AJAX:
It's my bad luck I let slip from my grasp
those criminals deserving
punishment.
440
Instead I went at bulls with twisted horns,
fine herds of goats, and made their dark blood flow.
CHORUS
LEADER: Why lament those deeds which have been done
and cannot be recalled? Such final acts
will never be anything but what they are.
AJAX:
O you who keeps prying into everything,
you nasty instrument for every crime,
Odysseus, the filthiest
degenerate
[380]
in all the army,
you must be laughing now,
taking great delight in this.
TECMESSA:
Divine
will
450
determines if men laugh or cry.
AJAX:
But still
I'd like to face him, though I'm injured. Ahhhh . . . .
TECMESSA:
Don't make such boasts. Do you not see
the catastrophe you face?
AJAX:
O
Zeus,
you
ancestral father of my father,*
if
only I could die after I had killed
that
wheedling scoundrel enemy of mine
and those twin-reigning
kings.
[390]
TECMESSA:
When you make that prayer,
pray
also that I die as well. With you gone,
why should I continue
living?
460
AJAX:
O darkness, now my daylight,
O gloom of Erebus, for me
the brightest light there is,
take me, take me now
to live with you.*
Take me,
a man no longer worthy to seek help
from families of gods or men,
those creatures of a
day.
[400]
For
Zeus' daughter, brave Athena,
abuses and destroys
me.
470
Where can one escape?
Where could I go and rest?
If my past fame has been cut down,
along with these dead beasts beside me,
then, my friends, if I now seek
a madman's triumphs, all the army,
with repeated blows from their own swords
will cut me down as well.
TECMESSA:
How hard it is for me to hear this
man,
[410]
this worthy man, say things he'd never
say
480
before this happened!
AJAX:
O you paths of the resounding sea!
You tidal caves and coastal pastures,
for a long time now, for far too long,
you have detained me here in Troy.
But that you will no longer do, no,
not while I am breathing still.
Let men of sense be sure of that.
O you streams of the Scamander,*
my neighbour, so friendly to the
Argives,
490 [420]
you no longer will be seeing Ajax,
a man whose equal as a warrior—
and
I can make this boast—
Troy
never saw arriving here from Greece.
But
now I lie among this heap, dishonoured.
CHORUS
LEADER: I don't have the strength to stop your words
or
to let you go on saying such things—
you've
fallen into such calamity.
AJAX:
Alas! Who would ever think my
name
[430]
would
suit my troubles so poetically?*
500
For
I could well cry out two or three times
"Alas for Ajax!"—that shows the
magnitude
of
the disaster I am going through.
I
am the man whose father's excellence
won
supreme respect from all the army.
He
took
the fairest prize and carried home
every
glory from the land of Ida.*
I
am his son, who journeyed after him
to
this same land of Troy. I'm just as strong,
with
the work of my own hands I have attained
510
achievements
just as great, but, as you see,
these
Argive insults have quite ruined
me.
[440]
And
yet I think I can affirm this much—
had
Achilles lived and been about to judge
the
man who should receive his weapons,
the
prize
for being the finest man in war,
no
soldier would have put his hand on them
before
I did. But now the sons of Atreus
have
dealt them to a fellow whose spirit
will
stoop to anything, and pushed
aside
520
all those
triumphant victories of Ajax.
If
with my distorted mind and eyes,
I
had not abandoned what I planned,
they
would not have had what's mine by right
put
to the vote against another man.*
But
then that goddess with the glaring
eyes,
[450]
implacable
Athena, Zeus' daughter,
threw
me over at the very instant
I
was steadying my hand against them.
She
hurled in me a frenzied
sickness,
530
so
blood from grazing beasts would stain my hands,
and
those men now can laugh at their escape,
something
I did not want. But when a god
commits
an injury, the unworthy man
escapes
someone more powerful. And now,
what
do I do, when I am obviously
hated
by the gods, when the Greek army
despises
me, and everyone in Troy
and
on the plain holds me an enemy.
Should
I give up my station in the
fleet,
540 [460]
leaving
the sons of Atreus alone,
and
sail for home across the Aegean Sea?
How
could I face my father, Telamon,
when
I arrive back there? How could he bear
to
see me showing up with nothing,
without
the prize for greatest excellence
with
which he won his own great crown of fame?
That's
not a thing I could endure to do.
Well,
then, should I charge out there myself
against
the Trojan wall, a lone
attack,
550
fight
single combats, do something valiant,
and
then at last be killed? But that would please
the
sons of Atreus. It must not
happen.
[470]
I
must seek out some act which will reveal
to
my old father how, at least by nature,
his
own son has not become a coward.
It is dishonourable for any man
to crave a lengthy life, once he discovers
the troubles he is in will never change.
What joy is there for him when every
day
560
just follows on another, pulling him away
or pushing him toward death? I would not
pay
for any sort of mortal man who's warmed
by futile hopes. A man of noble birth
lives on with honour, or he dies in glory.
Now you've heard everything I have to
say.
[480]
CHORUS
LEADER: No one will ever claim that you, Ajax,
have
said a word that's illegitimate,
for
what you say is born deep in your heart.
But
you should stop. Get rid of thoughts like
these.
570
Let friends overrule what you're suggesting.
TECMESSA:
O my lord Ajax, for human beings
the
worst of evils is what they endure
when they're compelled by fortune. Consider
me.
I was the daughter of a free-born father,
a wealthy man, if anyone in Phrygia
could be accounted rich. Now I'm a slave,
a circumstance the gods somehow made happen—
yes, the gods and especially your strong
limbs.
[490]
And thus, since I have come into your
bed,
580
I want the best for you. So I beg you,
by Zeus who guards our home, by that bed
where you had sex with me, do not leave me
to the savage insults of your enemies.
Do not abandon me to some strange hand.
For if you die and leave me all alone,
that day you may be sure the Argive men
will take me by force, as well as your own
son.
[500]
We will then both lead the lives of slaves.
One of our lords will speak these biting
words,
590
shooting insults at me, "Look here at this,
a bed mate of Ajax, the strongest man
in all our army. What menial chores she
does!
How she's changed from such an enviable
state!"
Men will talk that way, and then my fate
will wear me down. Those shameful words
will stain
you and your family. Respect your father,
whom you will leave a miserable old man.
Respect you mother, too, who shares his years.
She keeps begging the gods that you're
alive,
600
that you'll return back home. And, my
lord,
[510]
have pity for your son. For if you die,
consider how, whenever that day comes,
both he and I will face desolation.
He will lack the nurturing a young lad needs
if you leave and he becomes an orphan,
in the care of people who are not friends
or from his family. And I have nothing
I can look to except you. It was you
who killed my homeland for me with your
spear.
610
My mother and my father were destroyed
by a different fate which led them down
to make their home in Hades after death.*
What country could I have except with you?
What wealth? My safety, all security,
that rests with you. So remember me as
well.
[520]
A
genuine man should cherish memory,
if
he gets pleasure still from anything.
Kindness
always engenders gratitude.
A man who gives up his good
memories
620
will no longer be a noble, worthy man.
CHORUS
LEADER: Ajax, I wish that pity touched your heart,
as it does mine. Then you'd approve her
words.
AJAX:
So far as I'm concerned, she'll win approval
if
she continues being obedient
and carries out my orders properly.
TECMESSA:
Yes, beloved Ajax, I will obey
in everything.
AJAX:
Then bring me my
son,
[530]
so
I may see him.
TECMESSA:
I sent him away,
out of my care. I was so
terrified.
630
AJAX:
Afraid because I was in trouble?
What do you mean?
TECMESSA:
Yes, that's it. I feared
that
the unlucky boy might bother you
and then somehow get killed.
AJAX:
Yes, such a thing
the god who watches me would find appropriate.
TECMESSA:
At least I took a suitable precaution
to stop that happening.
AJAX:
I approve of that.
The steps you took were quite correct.
TECMESSA:
And so,
as things are now, how can I best serve you?
AJAX: Let me talk to him, see him face to face. 640
TECMESSA: Yes. He's close by, with servants watching him.
AJAX: Why then this delay? Why is he not here? [540]
TECMESSA:
[calling to the side] My son, your father is calling you.
Whichever
of you servants has his hand,
bring the boy out here.
AJAX:
Is he coming, the one you called?
Or did he not hear?
TECMESSA:
The servant's on his way.
He's bringing Eurysaces with him.
[Enter the SERVANT leading EURYSACES by the hand]
AJAX:
Lift him up. Hand the boy to me up here.
He'll have no fear of fresh-spilt blood, no,
not if he's a true-bred son of
mine
650
who shares his father's nature. It is time
he was broken in to that harsh code
his father follows and his nature shaped
to something like my own. O my boy,
may you have better fortunes than your
father,
[550]
although remain like him in other ways,
for then you'll never be dishonoured.
Now I envy you, and with good reason—
for you have no idea of any troubles.
The sweetest life comes when one senses nothing—
660
to lack all feeling is a painless evil—
until you learn what joy and sorrow mean.
Once you reach that stage, you must reveal
the kind of man you are, your ancestry,
to those who were your father's enemies.
Meanwhile, you should feed on gentle breezes,
fostering your young life so as to bring
your mother joy. I know that no
Achaean
[560]
will go at you with insults and contempt,
even when I'm gone. For I am leaving
Teucer
670
here with you as guardian of your gates.
He will not falter in his care for you,
although he now is busy far away,
chasing his enemies. But my warriors,
my people of the sea, I charge you now
with the same joyful duty I give Teucer.
Report to him what I have ordered here—
he is to take this boy back to my home,
show him to Telamon and Eriboea,
my mother, so he may always comfort
them
680
in their old age, until the time they
reach
[570]
the yawning caverns of the gods below.
And none of those who judge our competitions
nor the man who ruined me will offer
my weapons as a prize for the Achaeans.
No, my son, for my sake you will have to take
that broad shield from which you get your name.*
Hold it up high. Shift it by its
well-stitched grip,
my impenetrable seven-layered shield.
My other weapons you will bury with
me.
690
Come, take the boy, and quickly. Close the
hut.
And don't keep on weeping here in front.
How these women really love their
wailing!
[580]
Quick
now, close up the hut. A skilful healer
does
not howl incantations when a wound
is
crying for the knife.
CHORUS
LEADER:
When I hear
that you're in such a rush, I get afraid.
The sharp edge on your tongue brings me no joy.
TECMESSA: O lord Ajax, what are you going to do?
AJAX:
Don't keep on asking me! No more
questions!
700
The best thing now is self-restraint.
TECMESSA:
But I'm in despair.
By the gods, by your own son, I beg you
do not become a man who now betrays us.
AJAX:
You pester me too much. Do you not see
that I no longer owe the gods my
service?
[590]
TECMESSA: You must not utter such impieties.
AJAX: Speak to those who listen.
TECMESSA: You will not hear me?
AJAX: You have already chatted far too much.
TECMESSA: Yes, my lord, because I'm so afraid.
AJAX: [to the servants] Shut the doors. Do it now!
TECMESSA: By all the gods, concede! 710
AJAX:
It looks as though you're thinking like a fool,
if, at this late date, you still believe
what you teach will shape my character.
[The SERVANTS close the main door of the hut, leaving AJAX inside. TECMESSA, EURYSACES, and the SERVANTS go into the hut through the side door from which Eurysaces emerged earlier]
CHORUS:
O splendid Salamis,
you, I know, lie in the sea,
whose waves beat on your happy shores,
a famous place among all men forever.
I have been held back a long time
here
[600]
in misery, for countless months
still camped out in the fields of
Ida,
720
consumed by time and my anxiety,
expecting to complete my journey
to implacably destructive Hades.
And now my troubles multiply,
a situation hard to remedy,
for I must wrestle now with Ajax,
share my life with that
insanity
[610]
sent from the gods. Alas for me!
Once, long ago, you sent him out
filled with the frenzied power of
war.
730
But now his spirit feeds in isolation,
and his friends acquire from him
a heavy sorrow. His earlier deeds,
those acts of highest excellence,
have fallen, fallen where he has no friends,
among the wretched hostile sons of
Atreus.
[620]
The
years have changed his mother's hair to white,
and given her old age for company.
When she learns of his disease,
that maddening infection of his
mind,
740
she'll start to wail forth her laments.
She will not chant out melodies
sung by the plaintive nightingale.
No. In her mood of desolation
the sharp-toned music of her
grief
[630]
will scream abroad her anguish.
Her beating hands will thud down on her breasts,
and she'll keep tearing out her old gray hair.
A man brain sick with mad delusions
is better off concealed in
Hades,
750
a man who by his ancestry
is ranked the best of the Achaeans,
who have endured so much. But now,
no longer following his inbred character,
he wanders far beyond
himself.
[640]
O you unhappy father Telamon,
you have yet to hear the heavy curse
laid on your son, a curse which up to now
has never played a part in any life
nurtured by the sons of Aeacus.
760
[Enter AJAX through the main doors of the hut. He is carrying a sword. TECMESSA enters through a side door]
AJAX:
The long succession of the countless years
reveals what's hidden, then hides it once again,
and there is nothing we should not anticipate.
The solemn oath and the most stubborn heart
are overcome. In this way, even I,
who used to be so marvellously
strong,
[650]
like tempered iron, felt my edge dissolve
at what this woman said. I now feel pity
leaving her a widow and my son an orphan
among my enemies. And so I'll
go
770
to the purifying waters by the sea
and wash off my defilement. I will deflect
the weighty anger of the goddess there.
When I leave, I'll find some isolated place
and then inter my sword, of all my weapons,
the one I most despise. I'll dig the earth
where no one else will see. Then let Night
and Hades keep it there below the
ground.
[660]
For ever since I've held it in my grip,
this gift from Hector, my great
enemy,
780
I've won no prizes from the Argives.*
That old human saying is true: gifts men get
from enemies are no gifts at all
and bring them no advantages. And so,
from this day forward I shall understand
how to revere the gods. And I will learn
how to respect the sons of Atreus.
They are our rulers, so we must obey.
Why not? Things of the greatest power and awe
give way to privileged
authorities.
790
Snow-footed Winter yields to fruitful
Summer,
[670]
and Night's dark vault withdraws the moment Day
with her white-footed horses fires up the sky;
the blasts of fearful Winds at last bring rest
which calms the groaning seas. All-powerful Sleep
lets go the one he holds tied up in chains;
his grasp does not go on forever. As for us,
how can we mortals not learn self-control?
I, at least, am only now discovering
that we should hate our enemies as
much
800
as suits a man who will become a friend.
And when I help a friend, then I will
give
[680]
only what is due a man who'll not remain
a friend forever. For common mortals
see that shelter comradeship affords
as treacherous. Thus, my situation
will turn out for the best. And so, woman,
go inside now. Keep praying to the gods
my heart's desires will reach fulfillment
and be carried out to their
conclusion.
810
[TECMESSA return into the hut through the side door. AJAX turns to address the CHORUS]
AJAX:
My warrior companions, honour this request.
Tell Teucer, when he comes, to care for me
and also to protect your
interests.
[690]
I am now going where I have to go.
As for you, carry out what I have said,
and very soon, perhaps, you will find out
that, though I'm suffering now, I am at peace.
[AJAX leaves, heading for the sea shore, carrying his sword.]
CHORUS:
I feel a sudden thrill of passionate delight,
which makes me soar aloft with happiness
and cry with joy to Pan—
820
O Pan, Pan—
appear to us, sea rover—
come down
from your stony ridge
on snow-beat
Mount Cyllene,
you dancing master of the
gods—
come, O king,
begin your self-taught dancing steps
from Mysia and Cnossos,
[700]
for what I want now is to dance.
And may
Apollo, lord of
Delos,
830
race across the Icarian Sea
and manifest himself to me,
show his benevolence in
everything.
From our eyes Ares has removed
those terrifying agonies.
What joy! O joy!
For now, O Zeus, now
the dazzling light of brighter
days
can come to our swift
ships
[710]
which speed over the
seas,
840
for Ajax is free of pain once more
and, in a transformed state of mind,
has carried out appropriate
sacrifice
to all the gods in full, showing them
due reverence and strictly following
our most important laws.
The power of time extinguishes all things,
so I can't say that anything
lies beyond all expectation—
since, in contrast to what we were waiting
for,
850
now Ajax's mind has changed
again
away from actions done in
anger
and his great fight with Atreus'
sons.
[Enter the MESSENGER]
MESSENGER:
Friends, the first thing I have to report is this—
Teucer has just come from the Mysian heights.
He's now in the middle of our line of
ships,
[720]
in the generals' camp. All
the Argives
were
shouting insults at him, all at once.
They saw him coming and, as he approached,
surrounded him, hurling
accusations
860
from all directions—everyone
joined in—
calling him the brother of that maniac
who had conspired against the army
and saying he could not escape his death—
their stones would cut him down completely.
Things reached the point where men pulled their
swords
out of their scabbards and held them fully
drawn.
[730]
Then, as the fight was getting out of hand,
some elders intervened. Their words stopped it.
But
where can I find Ajax to tell him
this?
870
I must provide our king a full report.
CHORUS
LEADER: He's not inside. He has just gone away,
with new intentions yoked to his changed mood.
MESSENGER:
O no! No! Then the man who sent me here
did so too late, or I have been too slow.
CHORUS LEADER: What's so urgent? What's been overlooked? [740]
MESSENGER:
Teucer said that Ajax had to stay inside
and not leave his hut until he gets here.
CHORUS
LEADER: Well, as I told you, Ajax has gone off.
He intends to follow now what's best for
him,
880
to cleanse away his anger at the gods.
MESSENGER:
Your words reveal your complete foolishness,
if what Calchas prophesies has any merit.
CHORUS
LEADER: What do you mean? What information
do you have about what's happening here?
MESSENGER:
Well I was there, so I know this much—
I witnessed it. Calchas left the leaders
sitting in their royal council circle,
moving
off from the sons of
Atreus.
[750]
In
a friendly gesture he placed his right
hand
890
in Teucer's palm. Then he spoke to him,
giving him strict orders to use every means
to keep Ajax in his hut while this day lasts
and to prevent him moving anywhere
if he ever wished to see him still alive.
For divine Athena's rage would whip Ajax
only for that day. That's what Calchas said.
Then the prophet added, "Those living things
which become too large and thus unwieldy
fall
into harsh disasters from the gods—
900
the
sort of man who, born from human
stock,
[760]
forgets and thinks beyond his mortal state.
Take Ajax. As soon as he set out from home,
he revealed his folly, though his father
had passed on good advice. For Telamon
commanded
him, 'My son, with that spear of yours
you
must seek victory, but always fight
with
some god at your side." But then Ajax,
in
a lofty boast, thoughtlessly replied,
"Father,
with god's help even a worthless
man
910
can
be victorious. But I believe
I'll
win glory on my own without them."
Such
was his arrogance. Another
time,
[770]
with
divine Athena, as she was rousing him
and
telling him to turn his deadly hands
against
the enemy, he answered her
with
a fearful sacrilegious speech,
"Lady,
stand there with the other Argives.
The
fight will never break our battle line."
It
was with words like these that he
provoked
920
the
unremitting anger of the goddess,
because
he does not think as humans should.
But
if he remains alive all day today,
with
god's help we might be his saviours."
That's
what Calchas said. From where he
sat
[780]
Teucer
sent me off at once with orders
which
you were meant to follow. If we fail,
Ajax
is done for—that
is, if Calchas
has any skill in prophecy.
CHORUS
LEADER [calling into the side door of the hut]
Tecmessa,
unfortunate
lady born for
sorrow,
930
come
out and see this man. Hear his news.
The
razor's slicing closer. I feel its pain.
[Enter TECMESSA through the side door of the hut]
TECMESSA:
Why are you making me come out once more
and
leave the chair where I was getting
some
relief from these unending troubles?
CHORUS
LEADER:
Listen
to this man—he's come with news
about
what's happening with
Ajax,
[790]
and
it's disturbing.
TECMESSA:
Oh no! You there,
tell
me what you have to say. Does this mean
we're
finished?
MESSENGER:
I have no
idea
940
how
things stand with you. As for Ajax,
if
he is not inside, then I've lost hope.
TECMESSA:
He's gone away. So I'm in agony
about
just what you mean.
MESSENGER:
Teucer gave orders
that
you keep Ajax safely in his hut
and
do not let him leave all by himself.
TECMESSA: But where is Teucer? Why did he say that?
MESSENGER:
He has only just returned. He suspects
if Ajax goes somewhere he'll be destroyed.
TECMESSA: That's horrible! What man told him this? 950 [800]
MESSENGER:
Thestor's son, the prophet, whose words proclaimed
this very day would bring life or death for Ajax.
TECMESSA:
O my friends, protect me from this destiny!
Some of you,
get Teucer here more quickly,
while others go
off to the western cove
and to the east,
as well, to investigate—
find out where Ajax went, when he
set off
on that ill-fated path. For now I know
I have, in fact, been totally deceived,
and
Ajax has finally cast
away
960
all that affection he once had for me.
Alas, my son, what will I
do now?
I
can't stay idle. So I'll go out
there,
[810]
as
far as I have strength to go. Let's leave—
and
hurry! This is no time to sit around,
we're
trying to save a man who's run away,
who's headed
for destruction.
CHORUS
LEADER:
I'm prepared to help,
not just with words, as I will demonstrate.
If we move fast, we can do this quickly.
[They all exit in various directions, leaving the stage empty. The scene now changes to a deserted part of the seashore. AJAX enters, carrying his sword, which he sets upright in the sand, with the blade sticking upward]
AJAX:
The sacrificial killer is in
place,
970
so it will now cut most effectively.
If a man had time, he might reflect on this.
It is a gift from Hector, a warrior
who was a friend most hateful to me,
the one I looked on as my greatest foe.*
Then, this sword is firmly set in Trojan soil,
land of my enemy, freshly whetted
on
the iron-eating sharpening
stone.
[820]
And I have fixed it in the ground with care,
so
it will kill me quickly and be
kind.
980
Thus, we are well prepared. So, O Zeus,
in this situation, be the first to help,
as is appropriate. I'm not asking you
to give me a grand prize, but for my sake
send a messenger to
carry this bad news
to Teucer, so he may be the first
to raise me, once I've fallen on the sword
and covered it with fresh-spilt blood. Don't let
the first to spot me be some enemy,
who'll
throw me out, exposed as carrion
food
990 [830]
for dogs and birds. I appeal to you, O Zeus.
Grant me this much. I also call on Hermes,
guide to the world below, to let me sleep
without convulsions, when by one quick leap
I break my bones apart on this sharp blade.
And I summon those immortal maidens
to my aid, those who always see all things
of human suffering, the dread, far-striding Furies,
to witness how, in my wretchedness,
the
sons of Atreus worked my destruction.
1000
May they seize on them and destroy them, too,
with deaths as vile as their disgusting selves.
Just
as they see me killed by my own
hand,
[840]
so let them perish, killed by their own
kindred,
the children they love most. Come, you Furies,
you swift punishers, devour the army,
all of them, sparing no one. And you, Helios,
whose chariot wheels climb that steep path to heaven,
when you look down over my father's land,
pull
back those reins of yours, which flash with
gold,
1010
then tell the story of my miseries,
my destiny, to my old father
and to the unhappy one who nursed me.
That
poor lady, when she hears this
news,
[850]
will, I think, sing out a huge lamenting dirge
throughout the city. But for me to weep
is useless. It's time to start the final act.
O Death, Death, come now and watch in person.
Yet
I'll be seeing you on the other side,
and
there we can converse. And so to
you,
1020
the radiant light of this bright shining day,
I make my final call, and to the Sun—
I'll never see that chariot any
more.
O light, O sacred land of Salamis,
my home, my father's sturdy
hearth,
[860]
and glorious Athens, whose race
was bred
related to my own—and you
rivers,
you
streams, you plains of Troy, I call on you.
Farewell,
you who have nurtured me, to you
Ajax
now speaks his final words. The
rest
1030
I'll
say to those below in Hades.
[Ajax
falls on his sword. Enter the CHORUS in two separate group from two
different directions. Each has a separate leader. They do not see
Ajax's body until Tecmessa finds it]*
CHORAL GROUP 1: We work and work,
and that brings on more work.
Where have I not walked? Where?
No
place where I have
searched
[870]
has revealed to me where Ajax is.
What's that? Listen! I heard a noise.
CHORAL GROUP 2 LEADER: It's us—the crew that shares the ships with you.
CHORAL GROUP 1 LEADER: What can you report?
CHORAL
GROUP 2 LEADER: We've searched
everywhere
on
the west side of the
ships.
1040
CHORAL GROUP 1 LEADER: Did you come up with anything?
CHORAL GROUP 2 LEADER: Just lots of work. There's nothing there to see.
CHORAL
GROUP 1 LEADER: Well, we haven't seen him either—
not
on the path facing the rising sun.
CHORUS:
Who then can lead me on,
what
toiling sons of the
sea,
[880]
sleepless in their shacks?
What nymph on high Olympus
or from the streams that flow
into
the Bosphorus
1050
could say if she has seen and called
fierce-hearted Ajax wandering somewhere?
It
is not fair that after a long search
and so much effort I can't find
the proper path to him. I cannot see
where
that elusive man might
be.
[890]
[Enter TECMESSA behind the Chorus. As she moves on, she stumbles across the corpse of Ajax]
TECMESSA: Ahhh . . . .
CHORUS
LEADER:
Who cried out? It sounded close,
from that group of trees.
TECMESSA: Oh, how horrible . . . .
CHORUS
LEADER: I see her, the unfortunate young bride,
Tecmessa, a prize won with his spear—
1060
she's
lying there, prostrate with grief, in pain . . .
TECMESSA:
I'm lost . . . destroyed . . . my life is over.
O my friends. . . .
CHORUS LEADER: What's happened?
TECMESSA:
It's our Ajax—
he's
lying here . . . he's just been murdered,
his
body's wrapped around a buried sword.
CHORUS
LEADER: Oh no! Our dreams of getting home are
gone. [900]
Alas, my king, you have destroyed me, too,
the one who
sailed across the seas with you . . . .
you poor, unhappy man . . . heart-sick lady . .
.
TECMESSA:
With Ajax dead like this, we have good
cause 1070
to wail out our grief.
CHORUS
LEADER:
Who did this?
With whose help could ill-fated Ajax
have gone through with this?
TECMESSA:
He did it by himself.
That's clear. This sword fixed upright in the ground
indicates he fell down on top of it.
CHORUS
LEADER: Alas, for my own foolishness!
You bled to death alone, with no friends
there
[910]
to keep an eye on you. I was so stupid,
so blind to everything. I took no care.
And now, now where does stubborn Ajax
lie,
1080
a man whose name suggests misfortune.*
TECMESSA:
He is not a spectacle to gaze upon!
With this cloak I will cover him completely,
tuck it all around him—for nobody,
at least no one who was a friend
of his,
could bear to see him, as he
spurts blood
up his nostrils and from that dark
red wound,
his self-inflicted slaughter.
Alas!
What shall I do? What friend of
yours
[920]
will lift you up for burial?
Where's
Teucer?
1090
How I wish that he would come
right now,
when we need him—if he ever
comes
to care for the body of his
brother.
O ill-fated Ajax, how could a man
like you
end up like this? Even your
enemies
must
find you worthy of a funeral song.
CHORUS:
O you unhappy man, how you were doomed,
with that unbending heart of yours,
fated to live out an evil destiny
of
endless
suffering.
1100
I
know you groaned such hostile
words
[930]
against the sons of Atreus
all night long and in the morning light,
the fatal passion of a stubborn heart.
It's obvious that when those weapons
were made the prizes in the competition
for the finest of our battle warriors,
that
was a potent source of trouble.
TECMESSA: Alas! Alas for me!
CHORUS
LEADER:
Your heart, I know,
is truly filled with grief.
TECMESSA: Such misery for me! 1110
CHORUS
LEADER: It's no surprise to me, my
lady,
[940]
you wail and wail again, for you've just lost
a
man you loved so much.
TECMESSA:
You only guess
how it must feel, but I experience it,
and to the limit.
CHORUS LEADER: That's true enough.
TECMESSA:
Alas, my son, what kind of slavery
will yoke us now as we move on from here,
what sort of taskmasters stand over us?
CHORUS
LEADER: Ah, now you've given voice to your concerns
about
unspeakable actions by those
men,
1120
the two unfeeling sons of Atreus,
in this our present grief. May god restrain them!
TECMESSA:
But these events would not have taken
place
[950]
without
the gods' consent.
CHORUS
LEADER:
Yes—they
have set
a
burden too heavy for us to bear.
TECMESSA:
It's Athena, Zeus' savage daughter.
What miseries that goddess has produced,
and for Odysseus' sake.
CHORUS
LEADER:
I'm sure that man,
who has endured so much, in his black heart
exults
and laughs with high
arrogance
1130
at these insane disasters. Such mockery!
Such a disgrace! And when they hear of this,
those two royal sons of Atreus
will
join in his
merriment.
[960]
TECMESSA:
Then let them laugh!
Let them get their joy from this man's agony.
Although they did not sense their need of him
while he was
living, perhaps they'll mourn his death
when they need him in war. Men with
brutal minds
have no idea what fine things they possess
until they throw them out. Ajax's death—
1140
to me so bitter and to them so sweet—
at least has brought him joy, for
he has got
what he desired, the death he
yearned for.
So why should these men make fun
of him?
His death is the gods' concern,
not theirs.
No!
[970]
So let Odysseus vaunt his empty
jests.
For them Ajax is dead—for me
he's gone,
abandoning
me grief and mourning.
TEUCER [heard offstage] No, no . . . No!
CHORUS
LEADER: Be quiet. I think I hear Teucer's voice.
His
shouts send out a tone which
penetrates
1150
the heart of this disaster.
[Enter TEUCER]
TEUCER:
[moving up to Ajax's body] O dearest Ajax,
my bright source of joy, my brother,
what's happened to you. Is the rumour true?
CHORUS LEADER: He's dead, Teucer. That's the truth.
TEUCER: Alas! Then I bear a heavy destiny! [980]
CHORUS LEADER: Given how things stand . . . .
TEUCER: This is too sad.
CHORUS LEADER: . . . you have good cause to grieve.
TEUCER:
This act of his,
so rash and passionate . . . .
CHORUS
LEADER:
Yes, Teucer,
passion in excess.
TEUCER:
This is disastrous.
What about his son? Where on Trojan
soil
1160
can I find him?
CHORUS LEADER: He's in the hut—all by himself.
TEUCER:
[To Tecmessa] You—bring him here as soon as
possible,
in case he gets snatched by an
enemy,
the way a hunter grabs a lion cub
and leaves its mother
childless. Go quickly!
We need your help. For it's
a fact all men
love to laugh in triumph above the
dead,
when
they're stretched out before them.
[Exit TECMESSA]
CHORUS
LEADER:
Teucer,
[990]
when Ajax was alive, he said that
you
should
look after his son, as you're now
doing.
1170
TEUCER:
O this is surely the most painful sight
of anything my eyes have ever seen.
And, of all the roads I've travelled, the worst,
the one most deeply painful to my heart,
is that pathway I've just walked along,
while trying to track you down, dearest Ajax,
once I'd learned your fate. There was some gossip,
some tale to do with you. It spread quickly,
as if sent by a god, to all the Argives.
It
said that you had wandered off and
died.
1180
I
heard the details far away from
here
[1000]
and there
I groaned with sorrow. Now I'm here,
I see it for myself. It breaks my heart.
It's dreadful. Come, take off this covering,
so
I get a full view of this horror.
[Attendants remove the cloak covering Ajax's body]
O
that face—it's so painful to see now,
so full of bitter daring. How many sorrows
you have sown for me by this destruction!
Where can I go? What sort of people
will
take me in, when I was no use to
you
1190
in times of trouble? No doubt Telamon,
who fathered you and me, will welcome me,
perhaps with smiles and words of kindness,
when
I reach home without you. Of course he
will!
[1010]
For he's he kind of man who never smiles,
not cheerfully, even when things go well.
A
man like that—what will he not say?
What
sort of insult will he not hurl at me—
a
bastard spawned by some battle-prize of his,
who,
because of his unmanly
cowardice,
1200
betrayed
you, dearest Ajax, or by treachery
tried
to seize your power and your home,
once
you were dead. That's what Telamon will say.
He's
a bad-tempered man, and his old age
has
made him harsh—his anger likes to argue
over
nothing. He'll end up banishing me,
throw
me from the land. What he'll say of me
will
make me seem a slave instead of
free.
[1020]
That's
what will happen if I go back home.
Here
in Troy I have many
enemies,
1210
and
few ways of getting help. All this
has
happened to me because you've been killed.
It's
a disaster. What am I to do?
How
do I raise you up, you sad corpse,
from
the sharp bite of this glittering sword,
your
murderer, on which you breathed your last?
You've
come to sense how, in good time, Hector,
though
dead, was going to slaughter you. Look here,
by
the gods—see the fate of these two men.
First,
Hector was lashed tight to that chariot
rail
1220
[1030]
with
the very belt Ajax had given him,
and
underwent continual mutilation
until
he gasped his life away.* Then Ajax
took
Hector's gift in hand and used it
to
kill himself in that death-dealing fall.
Surely
a vengeful Fury forged this blade,
and
that harsh craftsman Hades made that belt?
For
my part, I would assert that gods
have
plotted these events—they always do
in
everything that mortal men go
through.
1230
If
someone finds this view objectionable,
let
him love his own beliefs, as I do mine.
CHORUS
LEADER: Don't stay too long. You need to
think
[1040]
how we can bury Ajax. And
what to say.
It's urgent. For I someone
coming here,
a man who is our enemy. It
could be
he comes to mock at our
misfortunes, a man
who
thrives on harm.
TEUCER:
Who is it—the man you see?
What
member of the army?
CHORUS
LEADER:
It's Menelaus,
the
one for whom we launched this
expedition.
1240
TEUCER:
I see him. He's not hard to recognize
when he's so close.
[Enter MENELAUS, with a small escort of soldiers]
MENELAUS:
You there—I order you
not to take up that corpse for
burial.
Leave
it where it is.
TEUCER:
Why waste your words
with such an order?
MENELAUS:
I think it's fitting,
as
does the commander of our
army.
[1050]
TEUCER:
Then would it bother you to tell me why
you issue this command?
MENELAUS:
The reason's this:
we hoped that we were leading Ajax here,
away
from home, so he'd be our
ally,
1250
someone friendly to the Argives, but instead,
when we saw him more closely, we found out
he
was more hostile than the Phrygians.*
He planned to obliterate our army
and set off in the night to take us with his spear.
If some god had not frustrated his attempt,
we would have met the same fate he did—
we'd be dead and lying there, struck down
by shameful fate, and he'd be still alive.
But
now, it's clear a god changed these
events,
1260
[1060]
and so the violence in his heart fell elsewhere,
on sheep and
cattle. And that's the reason
there's no one powerful enough right now
to take his corpse and set it in a grave.
Instead it will be tossed away somewhere
on these yellow sand, food for shore birds.
Remember that. Curb the anger in your heart .
If we could not control him when he lived,
at least he will obey us now he's dead.
Even if you don't agree, our forceful
hands
1270
will take charge of him. When he was alive,
Ajax would not listen to a word I
said.
[1070]
And it's a fact that when a common man
thinks it's appropriate to disobey
those in command, he truly demonstrates
his worthless character. Within the city
the laws could never foster benefits
if there was no established place for fear.
Nor can one lead the troops with wise restraint
where
there is neither fear or
reverence
1280
to act in their defence. So any man,
now matter how powerful his body grows,
must realize he'll fall, even when
the harm to him seems trivial. A man
who
has in him a sense of fear and
shame
[1080]
is quite secure—you can be sure of that—
but where there's room for hostile arrogance
and men do what they want, consider how
a state like that, though it has raced ahead
with favouring winds, will, in the
course of
time,
1290
sink in the ocean depths eventually.
And so for me let fear be set in place
where's it's appropriate. Let's not believe
we can just do whatever we desire
and not pay the painful consequence.
These matters fluctuate—Ajax was
once
a man of fiery insolence, but now
it's time for me to manifest my power.
And thus I warn you not to bury him.
If you do, you just might fall
yourself
1300 [1090]
into
your grave.
CHORUS
LEADER:
Menelaus,
after setting out such well-thought precepts,
do not become too arrogant yourself
in dealing with the dead.
TEUCER:
Fellow soldiers,
never again will I be much surprised
if someone born a nobody goes wrong,
since
those apparently of noble birth
can make so many errors when they speak.
Come,
tell me once more from the beginning—
do you really think it was you
personally
1310
who led Ajax here an Argive ally?
Did
he not sail to Troy all on his own,
under his own
command? In what respect
are
you this man's superior? On what
ground
[1100]
do you have any right to rule those men
whom he led here from home? You came to Troy
as king of Sparta. You do not govern us.
Under no circumstance did some right to rule
or give him orders lie within your power,
just
as he possessed no right to order
you.
1320
You sailed here a subordinate to others,
not as commander of the entire force
who could at any time tell Ajax what to do.
Go,
be king of those you rule by right—
use those proud words of yours to punish them.
But I will set this body in a grave,
as justice says
I should, even though you
or any other general forbids it.
I
am not afraid of your
pronouncements.
[1110]
Ajax
did not join the
expedition
1330
because that woman was a wife of yours,
as did those toiling Spartan drudges—no—
but because he'd sworn an oath to do it.*
You were no part of it. He never valued
men worth nothing. And so when you return,
come back here and bring more heralds with you,
as well as the commander. Your vain chat
is not something that really bothers me,
not while you stay the kind of man you are.
CHORUS
LEADER: When things go badly, I don't like to
hear 1340
a tone like that. Even when it's justified,
harsh language stings.
MENELAUS:
This mere
archer
[1120]
seems to entertain some big ideas.*
TEUCER:
Indeed I do.
My skill is not something to underrate.
MENELAUS:
My, my—if
only you possessed a shield,
how grand your boasts would be.
TEUCER
Even with no shield,
I'd
get the best of you fully armed.
MENELAUS:
That tongue of yours, how it likes to feed
the
savage spirit inside!
TEUCER:
When a man is right,
he's
entitled to proclaim his
thoughts.
1350
MENELAUS:
Do you mean to tell me it is just
for
someone to be treated generously
when he's killed me?
TEUCER:
Killed you? Your words sound odd,
if, after being killed,
you are now alive.
MENELAUS:
Some god saved me. As far as Ajax knows,
I'm dead and gone.
TEUCER:
Since the gods rescued you,
you should show them
some respect.
MENELAUS:
You
mean
[1130]
I could
be violating sacred laws?
TEUCER:
Yes, if you personally intervened
to
prevent the burial of the
dead.
1360
MENELAUS:
That's not so with a personal enemy.
To bury him would not be right.
TEUCER:
What's that?
Did Ajax ever
march ahead in battle
as your enemy?
MENELAUS:
He hated me,
and I hated him. But you knew that.
TEUCER:
Yes, he did, because you were found out—
you tampered with the vote which robbed him.
MENELAUS:
The judges beat him in that competition,
not me.
TEUCER:
With your deceitful secrecy
you can conceal so many crimes.
MENELAUS:
Words like
that
1370
could well prove painful to someone I know.
TEUCER:
Well, I don't think they will bring more pain
than
we'll inflict.
MENELAUS:
Once and for all, then,
I
tell you this: that man will not be
buried.
[1140]
TEUCER:
Then hear my answer: Ajax's corpse
will have a burial.
MENELAUS:
I have already seen a man
with a bold tongue urging sailors on
to launch a voyage during winter storms.
But you could hear no sound from him at all
once
the storm got nasty. He hid
himself
1380
under a cloak and
then let the sailors
step on him at will. You're just like him,
you
and your braggart mouth—a mighty squall
will snuff out your constant shouting.
TEUCER: And
I have seen a man stuffed with stupidity,
[1150]
whose pride delighted in his neighbours' grief.
Then someone like me, with my temperament,
faced up to him and said something like
this,
"Hey, you there, don't harm the dead.
If you do,
you can be sure you'll find yourself in
trouble."
1390
So he warned the paltry fellow face to face.
I see him now, and it appears to me
he is none other than yourself. I trust
I haven't talked too much in riddles.
MENELAUS:
I'm leaving. It would be a great disgrace
if men found out I've started arguing
when I could use my
power.
[1160]
TEUCER:
Be off with you!
It would be a great disgrace to me
to listen to such silly chattering
from some fool.
[MENELAUS and his escort leave the way they came]
CHORUS:
We're going to
see
1400
a major altercation from this argument.
As quickly as you can, Teucer, you should make
a hollow grave for Ajax, where he'll rest
in a dark tomb, and people for all time
will keep him in their memory.
[Enter TECMESSA and EURYSACES]
TEUCER:
Ah, just in time—
his woman and his son have now arrived
to perform a funeral for this sad
corpse.
[1170]
Come, lad, move over here. Stand there by
him.
Set your hand in supplication on him,
on your father, from whom you were
born.
1410
Kneel down in prayer—hold firmly in your hand
locks of hair from me, from her, from you—
the three of us. These give
the suppliant strength.*
If any member of the army tries
to remove you from this corpse by
force,
then may that wicked man become an
exile,
tossed out from his
own land in misery,
and remain unburied, his roots
severed
from his whole race, just as I cut
this hair.
Take this, my boy, and guard it. And don't
let
1420
[1180]
any man push you away. Stay
kneeling here,
and hang on tight. You
sailors over there,
don't stand around the place like
women.
You're men. Stand on guard
here, and protect him,
'til I get back, once I've set up
the grave.
I
don't care who has forbidden it.
[Exit TEUCER]
CHORUS:
When will our last year here arrive?
When
will the number of those wandering years
come
to an end—and my interminable fate
to go on carrying this toiling
spear
1430
across the wide expanse of
Troy,
[1190]
a sorrow and a shame for Greeks?
How
I wish that man had been swept off
high
into the great sky or into Hades,
the
home that all men share,
before
he'd introduced the Greeks
to
that war mood which sucks up everyone,
those
weapons of the god of war,
which
every man detests.
Oh
those toils which just produce more
toil!
1440
That
man has wiped out our humanity.
He
gave me as my portion no delight
in
garlands or full cups of
wine,
[1200]
no
sweet tunes from flutes around me,
that
ill-fated wretch, or in the night
the
joys of sleep. And as for love—alas!—
he has denied me love. I lie here
forgotten, my hair always drenched
from thickly falling dew, ah yes,
my memories from desolate
Troy.
1450 [1210]
Bold
Ajax used to be my rampart once,
my
constant wall against night fears
and
flying weapons aimed at me.
But
he has now become a sacrifice
to
some malevolent deity.
What
pleasure, then, what joy
now
lies in store for me?
O
how I wish I were back there,
where
the wooded wave-washed headland
juts
out, our guard against the open
sea,
1460
below
the high flat rock of Sunium,*
[1220]
and
we could then greet sacred Athens.
[Enter TEUCER, in a hurry]
TEUCER:
I've just seen commander Agamemnon.
He coming here, and quickly. So I ran back.
He's clearly going to give his blundering mouth
some exercise.
[Enter AGAMEMNON with an armed escort]
AGAMEMNON:
You there—I've been told
you've
dared to mouth foul threats against us
with
impunity. I'm talking about you,
the son
of a mere slave, a battle trophy.
If
some well-bred lady were your
mother,
1470
no
doubt your boasts would soar high in the
sky,
[1230]
and you would strut around on tip toe.
You are a nobody, and here you act
the champion for this nonentity.
In all seriousness you made the claim
we voyaged here with no authority,
as commanders of the troops or of the fleet,
to give orders to Achaeans or to you,
since Ajax sailed under his own command.
Is it not shameful that I have to
hear
1480
such monstrous insults from the mouths of slaves?
This man you shout about with so much pride,
what sort of man was he? Where did he go
or stand and fight, where I was not there, too?
Do the Achaeans have no man but him?
It seems it was a painful thing we did
when we announced to all
Achaeans
[1240]
that competition for Achilles' weapons,
if in every quarter we appear corrupt,
thanks to Teucer, and if you people
here
1490
never will be satisfied, not even
after you have been put down,
and
yield
to
what most of the judges thought was fair.
Instead
you will no doubt keep hurling at us
these
constant gibes, or from your station in the rear
treacherously
lash out at us. In places
where
such conditions hold you'll never find
a
settled order based on rule of law,
not if
we discard the men who justly win
and
put in front the ones who lag
behind.
1500
No.
We must prevent such
tendencies.
[1250]
It's
not the big, broad-shouldered warriors
who
make the most reliable allies—
it's men
who think—they
win out
every time.
One
guides a broad-backed ox straight down the path
with
only a small whip. And I can see
you'll
soon receive some of that medicine,
unless
you get yourself some common sense.
That
man is no longer living—by this time
he
has become a shade, and here you
are
1510
rashly
insulting us, letting your mouth
run
on and on. You should control yourself.
Do
you not realize who you are by birth?
Why
not let another man step
forward,
[1260]
someone
free born, to state your case to us
instead
of you? For when you're speaking,
I'm
not prepared to listen any more.
To
me your barbarian style of speech
is quite impossible to understand.
CHORUS
LEADER: I wish you two were sensible enough
1520
to show some self-restraint. Nothing I
could say
would be more useful to the both of you.
TEUCER:
[addressing the corpse of Ajax]
Well
now, how quickly among mortal men
grateful
thoughts about the dead are gone
and
turn into betrayal. This man here
can't
even manage a few words, Ajax,
to
celebrate your memory, and yet
you
often risked your life protecting him,
hefting
that spear of yours in
battle.
[1270]
But
now, as you can see, all those great
deeds
1530
are
dead and gone, all thrown aside.
[Teucer turns to address Agamemnon]
And you,
you
talk a lot of a utter foolishness.
Have
you no longer any memory
of
the time when you were all bunched up
inside
the rampart, almost done for
in
that spear fight—then Ajax showed up,
all
on his own, and kept protecting you,
with
flames already blazing on your ships,
spreading
across the decks right at the stern,
and
Hector leaping high across the
ditch,
1540
heading
for our fleet? Who held him
back?
[1280]
Was Ajax not the one who managed that,
the man you claim never went any place
where you did not go, too? Do you concede
his actions then, as far as you're concerned,
set a high standard? And then another time,
when he faced up to Hector by himself
in single combat. No one ordered him.
He was picked out by lot, and his marker,
the one he threw in among the
others,
1550
was not designed to help him not get picked.
It was no lump of moistened clay, no,
but a light one which would be the first
out of the crested helmet.*
Yes, Ajax
was the one who did these things, and I,
the slave whose mother was a foreigner,
was there beside him. You miserable man,
where are your eyes when you go on like
this?
[1290]
Do
you not realize your father's father,
ancient
Pelops, was a
barbarian,
1560
who
came from Phrygia? And Atreus,
the
man who spawned you, wasn't he the one
who prepared that sacrilegious dinner,
and served up his own brother's children as a
meal
for him to eat?* And
as for yourself,
the mother who bore you came from Crete.
And her own father caught her
having sex,
screwing some adulterer. He
left her
to be killed in silence by a bunch
of fish.*
That's the kind of man you are. How can
you
1570
insult a man like me about my
origins?
I am a son of Telamon, who won
my mother as his consort, his
prize
for being the army's finest
warrior.
[1300]
She was of royal blood, Laomedon's
daughter,
the most desireable of all the
battle spoils.
Alcmene's son gave her to Telamon.*
Since I am nobly born and my parents
are both noble, too, how could I disgrace
my own flesh and blood? Ajax is lying
here,
1580
overcome by all his troubles, and you—
aren't you ashamed to say you'll
toss him out
without a burial? Well,
think of this—
if you just throw him out, along
with him
you'll be casting off three more
as well.
It's a finer thing for men to see
me
die
[1310]
while labouring hard on his behalf
than fighting for your woman—or should I say
your brother's wife? Given
what I've said,
don't think about my safety; look to your
own.
1590
For if you make things difficult
for me,
you're going to wish you had been
more afraid
and
not quite so bold when you confronted me.
[Enter ODYSSEUS alone]
CHORUS
LEADER: Lord Odysseus, you've come just in time,
if
you're here to calm things down, not make them worse.
ODYSSEUS:
My friends, what's going on? From a long way off
I
heard the sons of Atreus shouting
over
this brave man's body.
AGAMEMNON:
Lord
Odysseus,
[1320]
we have had to listen far too long
to the most disgraceful language from this
man.
1600
Is that not reason enough?
ODYSSEUS:
Well, let's see—
I
could forgive a man who had been listening
to
someone else who was abusing him
and
who then joined in a war of insults.
AGAMEMNON:
I did insult him, because his actions
were
a direct affront to me.
ODYSSEUS:
What did he do
to
injure you?
AGAMEMNON:
He says he will not let
this
corpse remain without a burial.
He'll
set it in a grave, no matter what I do.
ODYSSEUS:
Well, may someone who's a friend of
yours
1610
speak
his mind and still remain a colleague
the
way he was before?
AGAMEMNON:
You should speak out.
[1330]
I would scarcely be thinking properly
if I said no. Among the Argives
I consider you my greatest friend.
ODYSSEUS:
Then listen. In deference to the gods
don't
be so unyielding you throw Ajax out
without
a burial. You should not let
that
spirit of violence at any time
seize
control of you, not to the
extent
1620
that
you then trample justice underfoot.
This
man became my greatest enemy
in
all our army on that very day
I
beat him for the armour of Achilles.
But
for all the man's hostility to me,
I
would not disgrace him. Nor would I deny
that
in my view he was the finest
warrior
[1340]
among
the Argive men who came to Troy,
after
Achilles. So if you dishonour him,
you
would be unjust. It would not harm
him,
1630
but
you'd be contravening all those laws
the
gods established. When a good man dies,
it
is not right to harm him, even though
he
may be someone you hate.
AGAMEMNON:
Odysseus,
you
mean you're arguing against me,
on
his behalf?
ODYSSEUS:
Yes, that's what I mean.
I
did hate him, when our honour was at stake.
AGAMEMNON:
Why would you not walk all over him,
now
that he's dead?
ODYSSEUS:
Son of Atreus,
do
not take pleasure in
advantages
1640
which
are dishonourable.
AGAMEMNON:
An all-powerful king
does not show deference very
easily.
[1350]
ODYSSEUS:
But he can give out honourable rewards
to
friends when they advise him prudently.
AGAMEMNON: A good man should obey those in command.
ODYSSEUS:
Why not concede? You'll still be in control,
although
you let your friends prevail against you.
AGAMEMNON:
Just remember the kind of man he was,
the
one for whom you want to do this favour.
ODYSSEUS:
The man was an enemy of mine, that's
true.
1650
But
he was once a noble warrior.
AGAMEMNON:
Why are you doing this? Why such respect
for
the dead body of an enemy?
ODYSSEUS:
His excellence moves me to do it,
far
more than his hostility to me.
AGAMEMNON:
Men who act the way you're doing now
are
unreliable.
ODYSSEUS:
Let me assure you,
among
human beings most are changeable,
sometimes
friendly, then sometimes bitter.
AGAMEMNON:
Are those the sort of men you'd
recommend
1660 [1360]
that we accept as friends?
ODYSSEUS:
Well, I wouldn't recommend
we
choose someone inflexible.
AGAMEMNON:
All right,
but
now you'll make us look like cowards.
ODYSSEUS: No. Every Greek will think we're being just.
AGAMEMNON:
So you would urge me to give my permission,
and
let this corpse receive a burial?
ODYSSEUS:
I would. For I myself will someday reach
the
state he's in, as well.
AGAMEMNON:
There we have it.
All
men work to benefit themselves.
ODYSSEUS:
For whom should I make such an
effort
1670
if
not for myself?
AGAMEMNON:
We'll have to announce
that
you're the one responsible for this,
not
me.
ODYSSEUS:
However you do it, it will serve
to
bring you all kinds of advantages.
AGAMEMNON:
Well, in any case, you can rest assured
[1370]
I
would grant you much greater favours
than
this burial. As for this man here,
down
in the underworld he is my enemy,
just
as he was on earth. But you can do
whatever
you think appropriate with
him.
1680
[AGAMEMNON and his escort leave]
CHORUS
LEADER: Given how you have acted here today,
Odysseus,
any man who now asserts
that
you are not by nature wise is stupid.
ODYSSEUS:
I now proclaim that from this moment on
I
am Teucer's friend, as much as earlier
I
was his enemy. And I am willing
to
join with him in burying the dead,
working
with you and omitting nothing
human
beings may need to honour and
respect
[1380]
their
finest warriors.
TEUCER:
Noble
Odysseus,
1690
I have nothing but praise for what you've said.
You have done so much to disprove my fears.
Of all the Argives, you were the one
who was his greatest enemy, and yet
you are the only one to stand by him,
to lend a helping hand. For when he died
and you were still alive, you could not bear
to see such injuries inflicted on him,
not like that frantic general who was here.
He and his brother wanted their
revenge
1700
by casting Ajax off without a grave.
And so may our all-ruling father Zeus,
high on Olympus, the unforgiving
Furies,
[1390]
and Justice, too, who fulfils all things,
destroy those evil men with evil deaths,
just as they tried to rid themselves of Ajax,
outrageous treatment he did not deserve.
But you, child of venerable Laertes,
I hesitate to let you touch the corpse
in these funeral rites, for that may well offend
1710
the man who died. But as for all the rest,
join in with us. If you wish, bring
someone,
any soldier in the army will be welcome.
I must get all things ready. Odysseus,
you must know you've acted nobly for us.
ODYSSEUS:
That's what I wished. But if you object
[1400]
to my participation here with you,
I'll defer to what you want and leave.
[ODYSSEUS leaves]
TEUCER:
Enough. Too much time has passed already.
Some of you should
scoop out a hollow grave,
1720
others set the cauldron high up on the stand,
with fire all around, so we can start
the ritual cleansing promptly. One of you,
bring from his hut the armour he would wear
behind his shield. And you, too, my child,
since he's your father, use those loving arms
with all the strength you have and help me lift
him. [1410]
His
windpipe is still warm, and from it flows
his
own dark spirit. Come then, come all of you
who
say your are our friends, come quickly,
1730
move
out, and with your efforts honour Ajax.
There
was no one to match his excellence.*
CHORUS:
There are many things which mortal men
can
see and learn from. But until he meets it,
no
one sees what is to come or his own fate.
[They all leave, moving slowly and bearing the body of Ajax with them]
Notes
*. . . entire army: According to Homer, Ajax's encampment lay at one end of the Argive line, a position more exposed than other parts and hence a mark of Ajax's courage. Achilles' encampment was at the other end. The phrase "of the entire army" has been added to clarify this point. [Back to text]
*These lines make clear that Odysseus cannot, at this point, see Athena, either because it is still too dark or because she has concealed herself somewhere (or both). Given what happens in a moment, it is not feasible that Athena is simply a disembodied voice. [Back to text]
*Achilles: When Achilles, the greatest fighter among the Argive leaders, was killed (shortly before the action of this play) his divinely made armour was set up as a prestigious prize among the Argive warriors. Odysseus and Ajax were the main claimants, and as the result of a vote among the Argive leaders, the weapons were awarded to Odysseus, over the strong objections of Ajax, who, according to Homer, was ranked the finest Argive warrior after Achilles. [Back to Text]
*both commanders: The two commanders are Agamemnon and Menelaus, sons of Atreus and the chief leaders of the Argive forces at Troy. [Back to Text]
*divided up: This detail means that Ajax has killed animals belonging to everyone, since all soldiers were to receive some of the cattle or sheep as battle spoils. [Back to Text]
*both sons of Atreus: the brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus, the two leaders of the Argive forces at Troy. [Back to Text]
*ally: In Homer's Iliad, Athena consistently supports the Argives, including Ajax, during the Trojan War. [Back to Text]
*son of Telamon: an epithet for Ajax, whose father was Telamon (also the father of Teucer, but not with the same mother). [Back to Text]
*Sisyphus: according to some legends Odysseus was the son of Sisyphus, a notoriously bad king of Corinth (rather than the son of Laertes, king of Ithaca, as in the Odyssey). This genealogy was a slur used by Odysseus' enemies. Later in the play, once they have become friends, Teucer calls Odysseus "son of Laertes." [Back to Text]
*Erechtheus: a legendary king of Athens who was born from the earth and thus gave the Athenians the claim that they were true natives of the land where they lived (autochthonous). Sophocles is here linking the sailors of Salamis with the residents of Athens (the audience). Salamis is an island just off the coast of Attica, the territory around and belonging to Athens. [Back to Text]
*yesterday: The troubles for Ajax and his followers began the previous day when he was not awarded the arms of Achilles. [Back to Text]
*Teucer: an important Argive warrior, Ajax's half-brother. [Back to the Text]
*Ajax was son of Telamon, son of Aeacus, son of Zeus. [Back to Text]
*Erebus: the gloomy underworld of Hades. [Back to Text]
*Scamander: the main river flowing near the city of Troy. It is not entirely clear why Ajax calls the river "friendly," since in Homer the god of the river fought against Achilles in order to help the Trojans. [Back to Text]
*These lines link Ajax's name in Greek (Aias) with the Greek verb meaning to cry "Alas" (aiai). The similarity is difficult to render precisely in English if one uses the common English name Ajax. The words "Alas for Ajax" have been added in an attempt to make this point somewhat clearer (and the word poetically has been used rather than the more accurate descriptively). [Back to Text]
*father's excellence: Telamon, father of Ajax, had attacked Troy in an earlier expedition with Hercules and had been awarded as a prize Hesione, a princess of Troy (mother of Ajax's half-brother Teucer). Ida is a mountain very close to Troy. [Back to Text]
*another man: Ajax's point here is that if he had not lost his sanity, he would have killed the sons of Atreus and thus resolved the matter of the voting, which he sees as an injustice, since the result awarded the weapons to Odysseus. [Back to Text]
*after death: What Tecmessa says here is curious because her family was killed by Ajax himself, as she mentions a few lines earlier. It may be that she is trying to win his sympathy and does not want to remind him of that specifically. [Back to Text]
*get your name: Eurysaces, the name of the child, literally means "broad shield." Ajax's huge shield is described and celebrated in Homer. [Back to Text]
*any Argive: Homer recounts in the Iliad how Ajax received a sword from Hector, the great Trojan warrior-prince, in a mutual exchange of gifts, when their single combat was halted by both armies. [Back to Text]
*In the Iliad, after their single combat had been halted, Hector and Ajax ceremoniously pledged friendship in a mutual exchange of gifts. Yet Hector, as leader of the Trojans and their greatest warrior, was also Ajax's most important enemy. [Back to Text]
*The suicide of Ajax provides a very rare example in Greek tragedy of a killing performed on stage. It is not clear, however, if it was done in full view of the audience or whether it was concealed somehow by a stage prop (like a bush). Ajax's body is not plainly visible to anyone who wanders past, since it remains hidden from the Chorus for some time. [Back to Text]
*. . . suggest misfortune: Ajax's name, as mentioned above, is very similar to the Greek verb aiai, "to cry alas!" [Back to Text]
*. . . life away: When Ajax and Hector fought in single combat in the Iliad, as mentioned earlier, the fight was stopped and the two warriors exchanged gifts. Ajax gave Hector a fine belt, and Hector presented a sword to Ajax. When Achilles later fought and defeated Hector, he tied Hector's body to his chariot and desecrated the body by dragging it around in the dirt for days. However, in Homer's account, Hector is clearly dead before this mutilation of his corpse starts. [Back to Text]
*Phrygians: Phrygia was an extensive area to the east of Troy (now modern Turkey). Here the word seems to mean Trojans generally. [Back to Text]
*. . . oath to do it: Teucer is perhaps splitting hairs here. Ajax was one of the suitors seeking to marry Helen, and, along with all the others, he swore to assist the man Helen chose to marry if called upon. That oath was not directed at Menelaus specifically, but once he became Helen's husband, it applied to him. [Back to Text]
*mere archer: Teucer was the finest archer in the Argive forces. Archers were, however, held in some contempt because, unlike spearman, they did not fight hand to hand but from a distance. [Back to Text]
* . . . suppliant strength: offering locks of hair at the tomb of the departed was an important part of the funeral ritual, giving power to the prayers of those mourning the dead. [Back to Text]
*Sunium: an important cape near Athens, separating the open sea from the safer waters of the gulf. [Back to Text]
*. . . crested helmet: In the Iliad, the Achaeans chose a warrior to answer Hector's challenge to single combat by lottery. Some warriors voluntarily put their tokens in a helmet, the helmet was shaken up, and the warrior whose lot fell out first was chosen (in this case it was Ajax's token). The reference to the lump of moistened clay refers to the practice of putting in an exceptionally heavy marker, which had less chance of falling out first. [Back to Text]
*. . . for him to eat: The two brothers Atreus and Thyestes had quarreled. Atreus invited Thyestes to a dinner of reconciliation and there served him his own children to eat. Thyestes ate them without knowing what he was doing. Atreus then revealed what he had done. [Back to Text]
*. . . bunch of fish: Agamemnon's mother, Aerope, was a daughter of Catreus, a descendant of the royal family of Crete. The sexual exploit mentioned resulted in her being sent away to be killed by drowning, but she was instead given to Atreus as his wife. [Back to Text]
*. . . to Telamon: Alcmene's son is Hercules, who went with Telamon to attack Troy in an earlier expedition. Laomedon was king of Troy. [Back to Text]
*. . . his excellence: the line which follows (the last one uttered by Teucer) reads "I mean, when he was living," which deflates the tribute considerably. For that reason a number of editors have rejected it as spurious. I have followed that advice and omitted the words. [Back to Text]
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