The Oxford Dictionary of Plays

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Ajax

Ajax (Aias)

Author: Sophocles

First Performance: c.441 BC, Athens

First English Translation: 1714

Genre: Greek trag. in verse

Setting: Before Ajax's tent and the seashore near Troy, during the Trojan War

Cast: 6m, 2f, extras, chorus (m)

When Achilles is killed in the war against Troy, his splendid armour is given to the wily Odysseus. Ajax, who believes himself much more deserving of this honour, becomes enraged and swears revenge on his fellow Greeks. Athene intervenes to make Ajax insane, so that while he believes he is killing Greek soldiers, he is in fact slaughtering sheep and cattle. When he recovers from his madness, his shame is so great that he takes his own life. Odysseus persuades the commanders Agamemnon and Menelaus to accord Ajax an honourable burial.

Ajax is possibly the...

[The entire page is 375 words long]

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