Ajax
Sophoclesc. 440 BCESophocles wrote a tragedy about honor and madness.
Read this if you…
- have read the Oedipus trilogy and want Sophocles deep cuts
- loved the Iliad, and want a spinoff about Ajax
- are interested in the role of shame/honor
Skip this if you…
- haven't read oedipus yet to decide if you like sophocles
Why It Matters
Sophocles wrote a tragedy about honor and madness. Ajax, passed over for Achilles's armor, loses his mind and butchers a flock of sheep thinking they are his enemies. It is the earliest surviving look at what we now call PTSD and the psychological cost of war. The play asks whether a man's worst moment should define him and refuses to give an easy answer.
The 
Take
Solid Sophocles filling in the story of Ajax and Odysseus fighting over Achilles army, and how hurt Ajax is being disrespected. Although he seems righteous, Odysseus is truly the wisest
Where to go next
- The Iliad by Homer. Ajax built on it. - To understand Sophocles' Ajax, start with Homer's heroes - Ancient critics called Sophocles "the most Homeric of poets," and *Ajax* proves it — his hero borrows the wounded-pride mentality of the Iliadic Achilles - Reading the *Iliad* first gives you the warrior's honor-code that Sophocles puts on trial: the same fierce, unbending values, followed past the battlefield to where they curdle into ruin
- The Odyssey by Homer. Ajax built on it. - *Ajax* unfolds the wound Homer first showed: in *Odyssey* Book 11, Ajax's ghost turns away from Odysseus in silent fury over the armor of Achilles - That passage is the earliest account of the Judgment of Arms — the contest whose aftermath Sophocles stages in full - Read the *Odyssey*'s underworld first and the play's bitterness has a backstory; Sophocles gives voice to a rage Homer left silent
Depicted in Art
Ajax fixes his sword upright in the ground beneath a tree, bending forward to fall on it; his shield and helmet rest to one side.
Exekias, -540
Ajax and Odysseus drawn swords against each other, restrained by Greek comrades, with Achilles's armor between them.
Taleides Painter, -520
A bare-chested armored Ajax in three-quarter portrait, gripping his sword and brooding outward.
Pietro della Vecchia
A brooding Ajax seated on the ground gripping his sword while Tecmessa and their young son Eurysakes plead beside him.
Asmus Jacob Carstens, 1791
Ajax and Odysseus gesturing in confrontation before a council of Greek chieftains, the armor of Achilles displayed between them.
Agostino Masucci, 1750
Recommended Editions
Robert Fagles
Penguin Classics · 1984
Fagles brings his usual muscle and Ajax's rage lands in modern English. Part of his Sophocles collection, not the Theban Plays volume, despite the cover confusion.
Please support us by purchasing through these links, at no extra cost to you!
Deep Dive
What It's About
This summary gives away plot details.
Notable Quotes
“All vast and mighty things yield to the changes of time.”
“All things the long and countless lapse of time Brings forth, displays, then hides once more in gloom. Nought is too strange to look for; but the event May mock the sternest oath, the firmest will.”
More by Sophocles
- Women of Trachis
c. 450 BCE · Tragedy
- Antigone
441 BCE · Tragedy
- Oedipus Rex
c. 429 BCE · Tragedy
- Electra
c. 410 BCE · Tragedy
- Philoctetes
409 BCE · Tragedy
- Oedipus at Colonus
401 BCE · Tragedy