vital role in society by highlighting moral issues significant to early Greeks. The story ofAjax would have imparted an important lesson to the audience.

Modern medicine would classify Ajax’s problem as battle fatigue or as post-traumatic stress. In Sophocles’ play, Athena is to blame, or be praised, since by sending a fit of madness to Ajax she saves her champion Odysseus. The immediate result is the mass slaughter of the Greek army’s herd animals. The ultimate outcome is the suicide of the disgraced Ajax.

Ajax has reason for his anger. Agamemnon and Menelaus have denied him the armor of the dead Achilles and awarded it instead to Odysseus, the great strategist of the Trojan horse. Odysseus is the hero most beloved by Athena, the goddess who masterminds the Olympian strategies that keep Zeus in power. Usually, Athena is protrayed as a benign and comforting deity who reassures everyone that order in the cosmos is possible. Sophocles’ Athena, however, has a sadistic streak. She encourages Ajax in the delusion that he is killing the Greeks who slighted and ridiculed him, even to the point of admiring the ram he plans to kill last and believes to be Odysseus. His suicide at the play’s climax places him literally and figuratively among the animals that he has slaughtered.

John Tipton’s textual realization of Sophocles’ play is not so much a translation as it is a modern rendering. In verse, it employs what Tipton calls the “counted line.” By this he means that each line of dialogue represents his choice of six words that render the parallel Greek line. The immediate effect is to shorten and simplify diction and sometimes to create poetic shorthand that preserves the narrative while rewriting Sophocles’ poetry.

An example of this technique is worthwhile. When Ajax’s wife Tecmessa realizes that her husband has awakened from his fit and realizes what he has done, she says:

At least while he was sickhe was happy in his havoc;I was the one in pain.But after he could breathe againthe ugly truth poured over him.I’m no better now than beforeand his problems have just doubled.

Ian Johnston’s translation, which is closer to the Greek text, reads:

That man in there, when he was still so ill,enjoyed himself while savage fantasiesheld him in their grip, but we were sane,and, since he was one of us, we suffered.But now there is a pause in his disease,he can recuperate and understandthe full extremity of bitter grief,yet everything for us remains the sameour anguish is no milder than before.This is surely not a single sorrow,but a double grief?

Tipton’s rendering reduces twelve lines of Greek to seven. More significant, he changes the emphasis of Tecmessa’s speech. He makes her a character independent of the collective identity of the Greek forces and a pained wife rather than a captive woman among sympathizing onlookers. What Tipton’s text loses in fidelity to Sophocles it gains in immediacy and humanity. A reader might object to this, but it is hard to argue that Tipton departs from Sophocles’ larger intention to describe human transcendence. Tipton’s immediate influence is the poet Louis Zukofsky, who employs the counted line in his anthology 80 Flowers (1978).

Tecmessa is a bride by capture who becomes a willing spouse. Teucer is an initially diffident brother who argues for Ajax’s right to burial and ultimately performs that ritual scrupulously. Even Odysseus, the warrior who receives the armor by judgment of Agamemnon and Menelaus, argues for Ajax’s honorable burial. While even Menelaus recognizes the necessary justice of this, Agamemnon does not. In fact, Agamemnon becomes a paradigm of the leader who refuses to acknowledge a disastrous mistake. The mistake extends beyond awarded armor to prosecution of the Trojan War itself. Agamemnon had begun this enterprise by sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia, what one could reasonably characterize as a mad act performed by a man the world judges as sane. He remains unconverted to the last.

Sophocles’ Ajax is, thus, a deceptively subtle play that contrasts small-minded brutality and generous forgiveness. Ajax sacked Tecmessa’s city and tore her from her father, yet she comes to love him as her husband. Odysseus is the ally who becomes, after receiving the armor, Ajax’s most hated enemy. Odysseus forgives Ajax and argues for his burial; this is a request Agamemnon grants with mean reluctance.

Tipton takes even greater liberties with the Chorus than he does in translating the dialogue. The choral odes become abstractions of the Greek rather than translations. This is by design. Tipton eliminates all first-person references. He further abstracts syntactical elements to make the Chorus’s words those of a psychologically distressed human being. After Ajax leaves the stage, intent on his suicide, the Chorus, which consists of sailors rather than soldiers, compares the dull pain of wielding oars to the formless ache it feels for Ajax’s disgrace. Alliteration merges with repetition in the words

hurt heaps hurt here  left right  left where it willwill it learn the place?  dropped itdropped can’t find it be foundhalf a boat’s oars in sync  with what?

These changes create a dynamically contemporary play. They underscore its symmetry in the sense that the initial frenzy that results in Ajax’s slaughter of the herds parallels the ten-year slaughter of the Trojan War. The dead Ajax among the herds becomes another senseless corpse among the other corpses, leveling the value of warriors and the animals that sustain them. In essence, Tipton has written another play. It extends the myth to an apocalypse, a bare landscape that is timeless, and such, after all, was the goal of Sophocles. In Tipton’s realization, the ancient world merges with the modern. Tipton has no problem having Ajax describe his sword, a “gift” he received through Hector “who was my most hated enemyplanted in the angry Trojan ground,” as though it were a gun “cocked and ready . . . ” The zeugma describes both the sword that Ajax will plant upright in order to fall upon it and Hector himself, for whom his city has become his burial place. Tipton’s Chorus wonders about “where it will end/ the count of years wandering/ the toll the statistics of missiles.” It concludes that it is “better [to be] hurled into space/ or into the crowd in hell/ than to be a bomb maker/ and share your results/ the Los Alamos boys knew what they’d done.”

None of this is Sophocles. It has an anger that one never finds in that playwright. Tipton still does manage a powerful realization of the mythic idea implicit in the Ajax myth. That myth, in the final analysis, is about endless war, brutalizing by its nature, and the power of the human heart to generously forgive. In doing this, Tipton continues in the tradition of the ancient playwrights who created neither their characters nor the plots of their plays. The originality of Sophocles, just as the originality of Aeschylus, Euripides, or Tipton, lay in his ability to emphasize an aspect of personality or an element of the theme that is appropriate to a historical period.

Ajax was a great hero, but he was never the greatest hero. The decision of Agamemnon and Menelaus to award the armor of Achilles to Odysseus makes logical sense. Odysseus had masterminded the scheme through which the Greeks stole the statue of Athena from the Palladium, the temple that stood on the Trojan citadel. This achievement, which fate had decreed necessary if Troy were ever to fall, would have been enough to ensure Odysseus’s fame. The deep-seated fear of Ajax, then, is his realization that while he is a hero, he is not one of the first rank.

Ajax’s achievement, such as it first seems to him to be, is that he has slain and imprisoned his enemies, his fellow warriors who brought him to Troy, allowed him to fight there for ten years, and then would not recognize his service. Athena encourages this delusion. Ajax’s achievement, such as it is in reality, is that he has proved that though everyone considers that killing the herds proves Ajax’s insanity, Agamemnon’s pursuit of a ten-year war and the death of thousands of soldiers is proof of courage and perseverance.

Tipton’s rendering allows the audience to realize that those Ajax perceives as his enemies, his fellow warriors, may be so in actuality. Agamemnon had led him into war and maintained the war for ten full years. After madness that Ajax cannot control causes him to kill the herds, Agamemnon becomes Ajax’s declared enemy.

Nearly a third of the play follows Ajax’s suicide. This is a definite indication that Sophocles intends something more for his audience to consider. It can only be the debate over Agamemnon’s refusal of burial. Both in Sophocles’ text and in Tipton’s vision of the play, this passage shows maturity in the character of Teucer, generosity on the part of Odysseus, and sullen stubbornness in the character of Agamemnon. Only Odysseus’s appeal to Agamemnon as a friend causes the latter to relent, though he remains ungracious to the end and refuses participation in the rites. The world at large would judge Agamemnon a great leader. Sophocles’ audience, and certainly Tipton’s, might easily question that hero’s sanity.

Chorus

In ancient Greek drama, a chorus is a group of actors who interpret and comment on the play’s action and themes, typically through singing or chanting their lines. Initially, the chorus had a significant role in drama, as seen in Ajax. Over time, however, its role diminished, becoming mostly a commentary between acts. Modern theater rarely incorporates a chorus.

Drama

Drama is generally defined as any work intended to be performed on stage. It includes a story, action, and actors portraying characters. Historically, drama encompassed tragedy, comedy, religious pageants, and spectacle. In contemporary times, drama addresses serious topics and themes but does not reach the same heights as tragedy. Ajax is a classic Greek drama that offers important lessons about the relationship between men and the gods.

Genre

Genres are a method of categorizing literature. The term "genre" is French for "kind" or "type." It can refer to categories of literature such as tragedy, comedy, epic, poetry, or pastoral. It also includes modern forms like drama, novels, or short stories, and specific types such as mystery, science fiction, comedy, or romance. Ajax is classified as a Greek tragedy.

Plot

Plot refers to the sequence of events in a story. Typically, plots have a beginning, middle, and end, but they can also be a series of connected episodes. Essentially, the plot allows the author to explore themes. Students often confuse plot with theme; plots detail what happens, while themes explore ideas. The plot of Ajax follows what happens to Ajax after he decides to seek revenge on Odysseus, Menelaus, and Agamemnon. The theme of the play is how excessive pride and vanity can lead to a person's downfall.

Scene

Traditionally, a scene is a subdivision of an act and consists of continuous action within a specific time and place. However, Sophocles does not use acts in Ajax. Instead, the play is divided into two scenes separated by only a few hours.

Setting

The setting of a play refers to the time and place in which it occurs. Elements of setting include geographic location, physical or mental environments, prevailing cultural attitudes, or the historical period of the action. The primary setting of Ajax is the battle for Troy, with the initial scene taking place outside Ajax’s tent. In the second scene, the setting shifts to a nearby beach, and the action unfolds over the course of a day.

Tragic Flaw

In tragedy, a tragic flaw is the characteristic that leads to the hero's downfall. Although Ajax is brave, strong, and heroic, he is also afflicted by excessive pride. This flaw angers Athena and prompts her revenge on Ajax.

In the shadow of the storied walls of Troy lies the Greek camp, a bustling hub of martial activity where epic tales unfold. This setting serves as the backdrop for the unfolding drama centered around the formidable figure of Ajax, one of Greece's most formidable heroes. Positioned strategically outside the gates of Troy, the camp is not just a testament to the Greeks' military might but also a reflection of the hierarchical dynamics at play within the Greek ranks. Ajax's tent, positioned to guard the vulnerable ships, marks him as second only to Achilles in strength and reputation. However, with Achilles now deceased, Ajax's role in the camp is laden with implication; his tent signifies both his prominence and his precarious standing among the Greeks.

In the world of Greek warfare, geography often mirrors political and personal rivalries. Such is the case with the dispute over the ownership of Achilles’ armor—a prize symbolizing supreme valor. Athena, the embodiment of wisdom, alongside Agamemnon and Menelaus, judges Odysseus as more worthy than Ajax to inherit this honor. This judgment, perceived as an affront, catalyzes a tragic sequence of events within the confines of Ajax's tent. It becomes a stage for madness, where Ajax, blinded by rage, mistakes livestock for human adversaries, dragging them into his tent under the delusion of exacting revenge. Here, the camp transcends its physical boundaries, becoming a nexus of Ajax’s inner turmoil and unraveling sanity.

The narrative shifts from the clamor of the camp to the solitude of a wooded area, where the psychological landscape takes precedence over the physical. In this secluded expanse, Ajax grapples with the aftermath of his derangement, choosing isolation as his final sanctuary. This setting, removed from the camaraderie of the camp, echoes the profound isolation felt by Ajax after his momentous lapse. It stands as silent witness to his tragic end, with his lifeless body becoming a poignant part of the scenery.

In the aftermath of Ajax's suicide, the wooded area becomes a contested ground. The question arises—should Ajax, once a revered hero, be honored with a dignified burial, or left exposed to the elements and scavengers? This dilemma reflects the enduring tension between personal grievance and communal values. Yet, even in death, the nobility of Odysseus shines through, advocating for respect and honor for Ajax. Under the stewardship of Teucer, Ajax's brother, the decision is made to honor Ajax with a hero's burial, transforming the site from a place of despair to one of reverence.

c. 445 B.C.: Athens achieves global prominence in architecture and art, marking the beginning of Greece's Golden Age.

Today: Greece remains a popular tourist destination, attracting thousands annually to landmarks like the Temple of Poseidon, Delphi, and the Parthenon, which was reconstructed after the Persian sack of Athens.

c. 445 B.C.: Approximately 25-35% of Greece's population consists of slaves, many of whom labor in the silver mines.

Today: While slavery has long been abolished, Greece now faces significant poverty and a declining economic foundation.

c. 445 B.C.: The Greeks successfully repel Persian forces, preventing an invasion of their homeland.

Today: Since the conclusion of World War II, Greek politics has been dominated by military coups and ongoing tensions with neighboring Turkey.

c. 445 B.C.: Greek historian Herodotus documents some of the earliest comprehensive histories of Greece, earning him the title of the "father of history."

Today: History is now chronicled daily through television and newspapers. Historians must adapt to the vast amount of material currently available.

c. 445 B.C.: Following its destruction by the Persians, the reconstruction of the Acropolis begins, a project that will take fifteen years to complete.

Today: The Parthenon, located on the Acropolis and overlooking Athens, continues to be a major attraction for tourists.

c. 445 B.C.: Festival games, a tradition of competition dating back nearly three hundred years, persist in Greece. By the 5th century, their original funeral-related significance has faded.

Today: The Olympic Games, a modern revival of ancient Greek competitiveness, were reinstated in the late 19th century. Nowadays, they often carry political undertones that can overshadow the celebration.

Sources

Goldhill, Simon. ‘‘The Great Dionysia and Civic Ideology,’’ in Nothing to Do With Dionysos? Athenian Drama in Its Social Context, edited by John J. Winkler and Froma I. Zeitlin, Princeton University Press, 1992, pp. 97-129.

King, W. D. ‘‘Nailed to a Circus of Blood; Ajax at the American National Theatre,’’ Theatre Vol. 18, No. 1, Fall-Winter, 1986, pp. 6-15.

Romilly, Jacqueline de. ‘‘Drama in the Second Half of the Fifth Century: Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes,’’ in A Short History of Greek Literature, translated by Lillian Doherty, University of Chicago Press, 1985, pp. 66-89.

Walton, J. Michael. The Greek Sense of Theatre: Tragedy Reviewed, Methuen, 1984.

Zeitlin, Froma I. ‘‘Playing the Other: Theatre, Theatricality, and the Feminine in Greek Drama,’’ in Nothing to Do With Dionysos? Athenian Drama in Its Social Context, edited by John J. Winkler and Froma I. Zeitlin, Princeton University Press, 1992, pp. 63-96.

Further Reading

Ashby, Clifford. Classical Greek Theatre: New Views of an Old Subject, University of Iowa Press, 1999. This book provides an analysis of Greek theater based on architectural evidence. The author has extensively traveled to and examined many of the surviving sites in Greece, Southern Italy, and the Balkans.

Gressler, Thomas H. Greek Theatres in the 1980s, McFarland & Company, 1989. This study focuses on modern Greek theater, highlighting social and cultural influences on drama, discussing the history of theater, and examining productions and the restoration of theaters.

Griffith, R. Drew. The Theatre of Apollo: Divine Justice and Sophocles’s Oedipus the King, McGill Queens University Press, 1996. This work reinterprets Sophocles’s play by exploring Apollo’s role in the tragedy and attempts to recreate the play’s original staging.

Rehm, Rush. Greek Tragic Theatre, Routledge, 1994. This book discusses performances of several plays and encourages readers to consider the context in which these plays were originally performed.

Walton, J. Michael. Living Greek Theatre, Greenwood, 1987. The focus here is on the staging and performance of Greek drama. The author seeks to integrate classical and modern theater while providing extensive information about several significant plays from this era.

Wise, Jennifer. Dionysus Writes: The Invention of Theatre in Ancient Greece, Cornell University Press, 1998. This book examines the relationship between literature and drama, focusing on how the emerging literary world influenced drama.

Zelenak, Michael X. Gender and Politics in Greek Tragedy, Peter Lang, 1998. This book provides insights into the status of women in Greek culture and offers an interesting analysis of many female characters in Greek drama.