THE BOOK WAS DRENCHED - OUDL Home

INTRODUCTION
SOPHOCLES' Ajax, probably the earliest of his extant plays, presents in
dramatic form an episode derived from epic sources. The great Ajax, son
of Telamon, figures in an important capacity in the Iliad, where he is
consistently regarded as the most powerful Greek warrior after Achilles.
The poet calls him the "bulwark of the Achaeans," and stresses frequently
his physical and military prowess. This Homeric characterization has
greatly influenced Sophocles in his portrayal of the hero. The particular
events, however, which the dramatist treats in this play occurred in the
interval between the periods covered by the Iliad and the Odyssey, and
consequently Sophocles must have relied upon material found in other
poems of the epic cycle. The saga recorded that, after the death of
Achilles, there was a contest to determine which of the Greek heroes
should inherit his arms. Ajax and Odysseus were the leading contenders
and the award ultimately fell to the latter, according to the decision of
the Greek leaders. Ajax, thinking that his honour had been stained, set
out at night to murder Agamemnon and Menelaus, who he felt were
responsible for his ill-treatment. Athena, angry at Ajax because he had
previously exhibited excessive pride and now was planning to do a deed
of violence, sent madness upon him. In his frenzy, he turned upon the
flocks of the army, slaughtered some of the beasts and led others to his
tent, thinking that he was actually killing and torturing the Greek leaders
themselves. Sophocles' play opens on the morning after Ajax has committed
his insane acts.
The Ajax contains several excellent characterizations. Odysseus is revealed
as almost comically timorous in the opening scene, and yet he
exhibits great magnanimity at the close of the play. Athena embodies a
rather uncompromising interpretation of the gods' power and their jealous
ordering of human affairs. Sophocles has endowed Teucer with the quality
of superb and unbending loyalty, while he makes Menelaus and Agamemnon
thoroughly unsympathetic. Tecmessa, Ajax's devoted concubine,
remains one of the most appealing female characters in Greek tragedy.
Yet all these persons are subordinated to the portrayal of Ajax, who
dominates the action. He is studied with great care, precisely at the mo-
313