Ajax, Sophocles - Cedric H. Whitman (essay date 1951)
Cedric H. Whitman (essay date 1951)
SOURCE: Whitman, Cedric H. “The Matrix of Heroism: Ajax.” In Sophocles: A Study of Heroic Humanism, pp. 59-80. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1951.
[In the following excerpt, Whitman explores Ajax's motivation as a hero, commenting on whether what he displays is actually hybris, and on what ideas Sophocles expresses concerning the individual and society.]
The Greeks invented, among their other contributions to culture, the concept of heroism. Rather say, they invented heroes; for there was no initial concept to which the Homeric Achilles was drawn. The state of mind which produced such a figure embraced a certain group of associations and convictions—pictures, attitudes, and beliefs—rather than a philosophic estimate of the nature of man. These pictures and beliefs grew into a kind of religious vision, a vision which demanded at least a certain solemn respect, however...
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