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SophoclesAjax
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Lines 596-1046Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Lines 596-814 Summary
The Chorus sings longingly about Salamis in contrast to their present position, languishing on the plain of Troy. Afflicted with madness, their mighty leader, Ajax, descends into despair, having lost everything for the sake of “the worthless sons of Atreus” (63). His mother will grieve at home, his death the worst disaster his father’s ancestral line has ever experienced.
Ajax and Tecmessa enter. Ajax claims that Tecmessa’s words have softened his heart. He will purify himself and bury the “hateful” sword he acquired from Hector, since an enemy’s gift “brings no good” (64). Though he finds shifting loyalties difficult, he accepts that humans must learn restraint. He sends Tecmessa inside to pray to the gods and assures his comrades that they will soon “hear that I have found peace” (65). He exits, and the Chorus sings joyfully to Pan and Apollo that Ajax “has put his troubles behind him” and returned to the gods, honoring their laws with sacrifices (65).
A messenger arrives looking for Ajax. Teucer has arrived and been met by abuse from the Greeks, some of whom threaten him with death for being Ajax’s brother. The Chorus replies that he has left “with new purpose,” but the messenger is adamant that a prophecy of Calchas convinced Teucer that Ajax must not be left alone (66). Ajax’s father advised him to make a name for himself “with the help of the gods,” but Ajax rejected this advice, saying anyone could succeed with the gods’ help (66-67). He angered Athena by rejecting her help and believing himself above his mortal station. The Chorus calls Tecmessa to hear the messenger. After hearing Calchas’s prophecy and Teucer’s instructions, she realizes Ajax deceived her and sends the Chorus out to find him.
Lines 815-1046 Summary
Ajax enters with his sword and plants it in the earth, noting that it was “a token | Of friendship from my most hated enemy” (69). He prays to Zeus that Teucer will be the one to find him, to Hermes for a painless death, to the Furies to hound the sons of Atreus and devour the entire army, and to Helios to bring the news to his “unfortunate mother” who will grieve (69). With a final description of “Sacred Salamis” and “Legendary Athens,” Ajax falls on his sword and withdraws from the stage (69).
The Chorus unites on the stage from opposite directions and sings of their inability to find Ajax. Offstage, Tecmessa cries out, then enters to report that Ajax has been found dead by his own hand. The Chorus laments that he has “condemned us all to death” (70). Tecmessa asks where Teucer is and pledges that all who love him will mourn him, even “[a]mong enemies” (71). The Chorus sings that Ajax’s “unyielding heart” has led to his fate’s fulfillment, recalling the contest to win “those glorious arms” (71). Tecmessa wonders whose slaves she and Eurysaces will become.
When the Chorus sings that the gods will help them avert their despair, Tecmessa reminds them “[i]t was the gods who let this happen” (72). She blames Athena for engineering Ajax’s fall “to entertain her dear Odysseus,” but his absence will be felt on the battlefield (72). Though his death spells disaster for her, Tecmessa recognizes that he chose it.
Teucer enters, grief-stricken and asks for Eurysaces to be brought quickly before the enemy tries to harm him. He came after hearing a rumor that Ajax was dead and grieves that he failed his brother during his time of need. He anticipates a grim welcome, rejection from his father and being stripped of his freedom. The “schemes of the gods” are to blame, Teucer notes, recalling that both Hector and Ajax died by the gifts they exchanged during their single combat. Seeing Menelaus approaching, the Chorus urges Teucer to figure out what to say to his enemies.
Lines 596-1046 Analysis
Ajax’s speech claiming to have had his heart moved by Tecmessa’s words have been a source of scholarly debate. Like his cousin Achilles, Ajax tends to be understood as an inflexible hero as compared with Odysseus, whose adaptability enables him to accept suffering and the power of the gods. Ajax repeatedly struggles with this. It is possible his speech represents the mortal ideal that this superhuman hero cannot accept and embrace, making his death inevitable. The “peace” he claims the Chorus will learn he has found could reflect his feelings about leaving the mortal world (though death does not bring him peace in Homer’s Odyssey: When Odysseus encounters Ajax in the Underworld, he is still angry and refuses to speak with his nemesis).
Prophecies are standard features in mythological narratives because they are the means through which mortals communicate with the divine realm, though prophecies can be misunderstood, ignored, or arrive too late, as occurs here with Calchas’s prophecy. Having taken Ajax’s final speech at face value, the Chorus rejoices prematurely, demonstrating the danger of believing too easily and highlighting how quickly a moment of joy can transform into one of despair.
The messenger reveals that Ajax ignored his father’s advice to succeed “with the help of the gods” because he wanted to be the agent of his own success (66). Ajax’s desire to prove his own excellence independent of the gods is tantamount to setting himself up as equal to them, since it suggests that mortals have will and agency apart from the designs and intentions of the gods. Ajax’s lack of piety in this way contrasts with Odysseus’s deference to Athena and, later in the play, the gods more generally. The proper stance towards immortal forces, the play suggests, is to accept that they are always in control.
The tragedies that have survived into modern times do not include stage directions. All those included with contemporary translations are speculative, based on scholarly analysis of what is known about ancient stagecraft. Ajax’s death scene has been debated, specifically whether he would have been depicted falling on his sword on stage or off. His entry is believed to have been achieved via a wheeled cart (called the ekkyklema). It has been argued that the Greeks did not portray death on stage, which would mean that Ajax would have been wheeled off prior to falling on his sword.
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