Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...
' ''Ajax'', or ''Aias'' ( or ; grc, Αἴας , gen. ), is a
Greek tragedy
Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy.
Greek tragedy is widely believed t ...
written in the 5th century BCE. ''Ajax'' may be the earliest of Sophocles' seven tragedies to have survived, though it is probable that he had been composing plays for a quarter of a century already when it was first staged. It appears to belong to the same period as his ''
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...
'', which was probably performed in 442 or 441 BCE, when he was 55 years old. The play depicts the fate of the warrior
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
, after the events of the ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
'' but before the end of the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
.
Plot
The play opens with a dialogue between
Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
and
Odysseus
Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...
: After the great warrior
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...
had been killed in battle, there was a question as to who should receive his armor. As the man who now could be considered the greatest Greek warrior, Ajax felt he should be given Achilles’ armor, but the two kings,
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husb ...
and
Menelaus
In Greek mythology, Menelaus (; grc-gre, Μενέλαος , 'wrath of the people', ) was a king of Mycenaean (pre- Dorian) Sparta. According to the ''Iliad'', Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of th ...
, awarded it instead to Odysseus. Ajax became furious about this and decided to kill the three of them. However, Athena stepped in and deluded Ajax into instead killing the spoil of the Greek army, which includes cattle as well as the herdsman. Athena gave false visions to Ajax, making him see the animals as humans.
Athena summons Ajax, who comes on stage and expresses his belief that he has slaughtered Agamemnon and Menelaus. He departs in order to hunt Odysseus. His concubine,
Tecmessa
The name Tecmessa ( grc, Τέκμησσα, Tékmēssa) refers to the following characters in Greek mythology:
* Tecmessa, daughter of Teleutas, King of Phrygia, or Teuthras, King of Teuthrania in Mysia, or Tethras or Teuthas. During the Troja ...
, and the
chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in which all verse ...
discuss and describe Ajax's madness and terrible actions. They are interrupted by Ajax crying out from off-stage, as Ajax suddenly comes to his senses and realizes what he has done. Overwhelmed by shame, he decides to commit suicide. Tecmessa pleads for him not to leave her and their child,
Eurysaces
Eurysaces (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυσάκης) in Greek mythology was the son of the Ajax and the former-princess captive-slave girl Tecmessa. He was venerated in Athens. Eurysaces was named after his father's famous shield. In Sophocles' traged ...
, unprotected. Ajax then gives his son his shield, and leaves the house saying that he is going out to purify himself and to bury the sword given to him by Hector.
Teucer
In Greek mythology, Teucer (), also Teucrus, Teucros or Teucris ( grc, Τεῦκρος, Teûkros), was the son of King Telamon of Salamis Island and his second wife Hesione, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy. He fought alongside his half-broth ...
, Ajax’s half-brother, arrives. Teucer has learned from the prophet,
Calchas
Calchas (; grc, Κάλχας, ''Kalkhas'') is an Argive mantis, or "seer," dated to the Age of Legend, which is an aspect of Greek mythology. Calchas appears in the opening scenes of the ''Iliad'', which is believed to have been based on a war ...
, that Ajax should not be allowed to leave his tent until the end of the day or he will die. Tecmessa and soldiers then try to find Ajax, but they are too late. Ajax has indeed buried his sword – by impaling himself upon it. Before his suicide, Ajax calls for vengeance against the sons of
Atreus
In Greek mythology, Atreus ( , ; from ἀ-, "no" and τρέω, "tremble", "fearless", gr, Ἀτρεύς ) was a king of Mycenae in the Peloponnese, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, hi ...
(Menelaus and Agamemnon) and the whole Greek army. Tecmessa is the first one to discover Ajax’s body. Teucer then arrives and orders that Ajax’s son be brought to him so that he will be safe from foes. Menelaus appears and orders the body not to be moved.
The last part of the play is taken up with an angry dispute regarding what to do with Ajax’s body. The two kings, Agamemnon and Menelaus, want to leave the body unburied for scavengers to ravage, while Teucer wants to bury it. Odysseus arrives and persuades Agamemnon and Menelaus to allow Ajax a proper funeral. Odysseus points out that even one's enemies deserve respect in death. The play ends with Teucer making arrangements for the burial.
''Ajax'' or ''Aias''
The original title of the play in the
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
is . ''Ajax'' is the
romanized
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
version, and ''Aias'' is the English
transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
from the original Greek. Proper nouns in
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
have conventionally been romanized before entering the English language, but it has been common for translations since the end of the 20th century to use direct English transliterations of the original Greek.
The text of the play suggests the original pronunciation of Ajax's name in lines 430–432, Ajax (or Aias), the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
, states that it has an
onomatopoeic
Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
resemblance to a wailing cry of
lament
A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethin ...
: "''aiai!''" Translators have treated this passage in different ways:
Aiai! My name is a lament!
Who would have thought it would fit
so well with my misfortunes!
Now truly I can cry out – aiai! –
two and three times in my agony.
Aiee, Ajax! My name says what I feel;
who'd have believed that pain and I'd be one;
Aiee, Ajax! I say it twice,
and then again, aiee, for what is happening.
Critical reception and analysis
![Ajax suicide](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Ajax_suicide.jpg)
Ajax, as he appears in this play, in the ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
'', and other myths, is a heroic figure, a "rugged giant", with strength, courage and the ability to think quickly well beyond the normal standards of mankind. He was considered a legendary character to the people of ancient Athens. Numerous Homeric myths describe him coming to the rescue of his fellow man in dire moments.
Hugh Lloyd-Jones
Sir Peter Hugh Jefferd Lloyd-Jones FBA (21 September 1922 – 5 October 2009[Frederic Raphael
Frederic Michael Raphael (born 14 August 1931) is an American-British BAFTA and Academy Award winning screenwriter, biographer, nonfiction writer, novelist and journalist.
Early life
Raphael was born in Chicago, to an American Jewish mother f ...]
and
Kenneth McLeish
John Kenneth Tyrrell McLeish, known as Kenneth McLeish (1940-1997) was a British writer, playwright and translator. McLeish, "the most widely respected and prolific translator of drama in Britain", translated all the surviving classical Greek pla ...
called the work a "masterpiece", arguing that "Sophocles turned the almost comic myth of a bad loser into a tragedy of disappointment, folly, and divine partiality."
Bernard Knox considers Ajax’s speech on "time" to be "so majestic, remote and mysterious, and at the same time so passionate, dramatic and complex" that if this were the only writing we had of Sophocles, he would still be considered "one of the world’s greatest poets." The speech begins:
Long rolling waves of time
bring all things to light
and plunge them down again
in utter darkness.
In a study of the phenomenon of
suicide bombers
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
, one author, Arata Takeda, says that though in the end it doesn't quite work that way, Ajax’s death resembles that kind of strategy, when Ajax calls on the
Erinyes
The Erinyes ( ; sing. Erinys ; grc, Ἐρινύες, pl. of ), also known as the Furies, and the Eumenides, were female chthonic deities of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes ...
, the “avenging deities of the underworld”, to destroy his foes.
Performance history
The American director
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...
staged an adaption of the play, also called Ajax, written by Robert Auletta at the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
in New York and at the
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
History
La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...
in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
in 1986.
[Sullivan (1986).] The setting was relocated to the United States in the near future, having recently won a war in Latin America, which had, however, gone very badly.
[ ]Howie Seago
Howie Seago (born December 15, 1953) is an American actor and director.
Early life, family and education
Seago, who is deaf, was born in Tacoma, Washington. His father was hard of hearing, and that side of the family had a history of hearing loss ...
played Ajax, Ralph Marrero
Ralph Marrero (August 21, 1958 – November 16, 1991) was an American actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of Pvt. Rickles in George A. Romero's post-apocalyptic zombie horror film ''Day of the Dead'' (1985). He also appeared in th ...
played Menelaus, Aleta Mitchell played Athene, and Ben Halley Jr. was the leader of the chorus.[ The set design was by ]George Tsypin
George Tsypin is an American stage designer, sculptor and architect.
He was an artistic director, production designer and coauthor of the script for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014.
Early life and education
Tsypin was ...
and the costumes by Dunya Ramicova.[
''Ajax'' was produced at the ]American Repertory Theater
The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...
in Cambridge in 2011, in modern dress, with a setting that appeared to be a war zone somewhere in the Middle East. It was translated by Charles Connaghan, and directed by Sarah Benson.
In May 2016, Jeff S. Dailey directed the play for a limited Off Broadway run at the John Cullum Theatre in midtown Manhattan. It set the play Sophocles' original location of Troy and featured Matthew Hansen in the title role.
Adaptations
Timberlake Wertenbaker
Timberlake Wertenbaker is a British-based playwright, screenplay writer, and translator who has written plays for the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company and others. She has been described in ''The Washington Post'' as "the doyenne of po ...
's play ''Our Ajax'', which was first performed in November 2013 at the Southwark Playhouse
Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations.
History
The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a h ...
, London, was inspired by Sophocles' tragedy. It has a contemporary military setting, with references to modern warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
including the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wertenbaker made use of interviews with current and former servicemen and women in developing the play.
English translations
* Thomas Francklin
Thomas Francklin (1721 – 15 March 1784) was an English academic, clergyman, writer and dramatist
Life
Francklin was the son of Richard Francklin, bookseller near the Piazza in Covent Garden, London, who printed William Pulteney's paper ''The ...
, 1759.
* Theodore Alois Buckley
Theodore Alois William Buckley (1825–1856) was a translator of Homer and other classical works.
In 1852 Buckley published the book "''The great cities of the ancient world in their glory and their desolation''". This book depicts stories, descri ...
, 1849.
* Edward Hayes Plumptre
Edward Hayes Plumptre (6 August 1821 – 1 February 1891) was an English divine and scholar born in London.
Life
He was born on 6 August 1821, being the son of Edward Hallows Plumptre, a London solicitor. Charles John Plumptre was his brother ...
, 1878. ( available at Wikisource)
* Richard Claverhouse Jebb
Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb (27 August 1841 – 9 December 1905) was a British classical scholar.
Life
Jebb was born in Dundee, Scotland. His father Robert was a well-known Irish barrister; his mother was Emily Harriet Horsley, daughter of t ...
, 896
__NOTOC__
Year 896 ( DCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* February – King Arnulf of Carinthia invades Italy at the head of an East ...
1917. ( available at Wikisource)
* R. C. Trevelyan, 1919. ( available at Wikisource)
* E. F. Watling
Edward Fairchild Watling (8 October 1899 – 6 September 1990) was an English schoolmaster, classicist and translator. He produced translations for Penguin Classics of Sophocles's three Theban plays, nine plays of Plautus and a selection of Seneca' ...
, 1953.
* John Moore, 1969.
* Robert Auletta, 1986.
* Robert Cannon, 1990.
* Hugh Lloyd-Jones
Sir Peter Hugh Jefferd Lloyd-Jones FBA (21 September 1922 – 5 October 2009[Frederick Raphael
Frederic Michael Raphael (born 14 August 1931) is an American-British BAFTA and Academy Award winning screenwriter, biographer, nonfiction writer, novelist and journalist.
Early life
Raphael was born in Chicago, to an American Jewish mother fr ...]
and Kenneth McLeish, 1998.
* Michael Evans, 1999.
* Herbert Golder
Herbert Golder (born 1952) is a professor of Classical Studies at Boston University. He has a Ph.D. in classical languages and literature from Yale University.
His specialty is Greek mythology and he has to his credit a number of books and films. ...
and Richard Pevear, 1999.
* David Raeburn, 2008.
* John Tipton, 2008.
* George Theodoridis, 2009 – prose
full text
* Ian C. Johnston, 2009 – verse
full text
* James Scully, 2011.
* Charles Connaghan, 2011.
* Oliver Taplin, 2015.
* Lewis Campbell, 2015.[Campbell (2015)]
* Maura Giles Watson, 2017 (performance translation
full text downloadable
Notes
References
* Bagg, Robert and James Scully, eds. 2011. ''The Complete Plays of Sophocles: A New Translation''. By Sophocles. New York: Harper. .
* Buckley, Theodore Alois. 1849. ''The Tragedies of Sophocles, in English prose''. London: Henry G. Bohn.
* Burian Peter, and Alan Shapiro, eds. 2010. ''The Complete Sophocles: Volume II: Electra and Other Plays''. Vol 2. ''Electra and Other Plays''. By Sophocles. Greek Tragedy in New Translations ser. Oxford: Oxford University Press. .
* Campbell, Lewis. translator. 2015 ''Aias'' by Sophocles. Simon and Schuster.
* Easterling, Pat. 2008. Introduction. In Raeburn (2008, xii–xxxiv).
* Esposito, Stephen. 2010. "An Essay on Sophocle's ''Ajax''." In ''Odysseus at Troy: Ajax, Hecuba and Trojan Women''. Ed. Stephen Esposito. New York: Hackett. . 189–210.
* Evans, Michael, ed. 1999. ''Four Dramas of Maturity: ''Aias'', ''Antigone'', ''Young Women of Trachis'', ''Oidipous the King''.'' By Sophocles. The Everyman Library ser. London: Dent. .
* Finglass, P. J. 2011a. Introduction. In Finglass (2011b, 1–70).
* ---, trans. and ed. 2011b. ''Ajax''. By Sophocles. Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries ser. Vol. 48. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
* Francklin, Thomas. 7581759. ''The Tragedies of Sophocles, from the Greek''. Vol. 1. London.
* Golder, Herbert & Pevear, Richard, translators. 1999. Sophocles. ''Aias (Ajax)'' Oxford Univ. Press. .
* Golder, Herbert. 2010. Introduction. In Burian and Shapiro (2010, 1–22).
* Grant, Michael. 1980. "Sophocles." ''Greek and Latin Authors 800 BC–AD 1000.'' New York: HW Wilson. . 397–402.
* Griffiths, Mark and Glen W. Most, eds. 2013. ''Sophocles II: ''Ajax'', ''The Women of Trachis'', ''Electra'', ''Philoctetes'', ''The Trackers''.'' By Sophocles. The Complete Greek Tragedies ser. 3rd rev. ed. Original edition ed. David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, 1969. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. .
* Harsh, Philip Whaley. 1944. ''A Handbook of Classical Drama''. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. .
* Jebb, Richard Claverhouse. 1896a. Introduction. In Jebb (1896b, ix–liv).
* ---, trans. and ed. 1896b. ''Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments. Part VII. The Ajax''. By Sophocles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
* Jenkins, Thomas E. 2015. ''Antiquity Now: The Classical World in the Contemporary American Imagination''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
* Knox, Bernard. 1979. "The ''Ajax'' of Sophocles." ''Word and Action: Essays on the Ancient Greek Theater''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. . 125–160.
* Lambert, Bryce. "The Trojan Hurt Locker: The A.R.T.’s ''Ajax''". ''Boston Lowbrow''. February 24, 201
* Lloyd-Jones, Hugh. 1994a. Introduction. In Lloyd-Jones (1994b, 1–24).
* ---, ed. & trans. 1994b. ''Sophocles: ''Ajax'', ''Electra'', ''Oedipus Tyrannus''.'' By Sophocles. Loeb Classical Library ser. vol. 20. Harvard University Press. .
* Meineck, Peter and Paul Woodruff
Paul Woodruff (born 1943) is a classicist, professor of philosophy, and dean at The University of Texas at Austin, where he once chaired the department of philosophy and has more recently held the Hayden Head Regents Chair as director of Plan II H ...
, trans. and ed. 2007. ''Four Tragedies: Ajax, Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes''. By Sophocles. Hackett Classics ser. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett. .
* Moore, John. 1969. "Introduction to ''Ajax''". In Griffiths and Most (2013).
* Plumptre, Edward H. 1878. '' The Tragedies of Sophocles, a new translation''. London: Daldy, Isbister & Co.
* Raeburn, David, trans. and ed. 2008. Electra'' and Other Plays.'' By Sophocles. Penguin Classics ser. London: Penguin. .
* Scully, James. 2011. Introduction. In Bagg and Scully (2011, 3–12).
* Slavitt, David R. and Palmer Bovie, eds. 1998. ''Sophocles, 1: ''Ajax'', ''Women of Trachis'', ''Electra'', ''Philoctetes''.'' By Sophocles. Penn Greek Drama ser. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. .
* Sullivan, Dan. 1986. "Stage Review: Sellars' ''Ajax'' – More Than Games." ''Los Angeles Times'' Sept 2, 1986
Stage Review: Sellars' 'Ajax' – More Than Games
* Taplin, Oliver. translator. 2015. ''Sophocles: Four Tragedies: Oedipus the King, Aias, Philoctetes, Oedipus at Colonus'' by Sophocles. Oxford University Press.
* Tipton, John, trans. 2008. ''Ajax''. By Sophocles. Chicago: Flood Editions. .
* Trevelyan, R.C., trans. 1919. '' The Ajax of Sophocles''. By Sophocles. London: George Allen & Unwin.
* Watling, E. F., trans. 1953. Electra ''and Other Plays.'' By Sophocles. Penguin Classics ser. London: Penguin. .
* Woodruff, Paul. 2007. Introduction. In Meineck and Woodruff (vii–xlii).
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
* , Campbell translation.
{{Authority control
Plays by Sophocles
Trojan War literature
Plays set in ancient Greece
Agamemnon