Sophocles
Ajax
This
translation by Ian Johnston of Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, BC, has
certain copyright restrictions. For information please use the following
link: Copyright. For
comments or question please contact Ian Johnston.
Last revised January 2009.
Those
who would like a version of this text in a Publisher file so that they can
produce booklets of the play for themselves or their students should contact Ian
Johnston.
This
translation is now available as a paperback book from Richer
Resources Publications.
Translator’s Note
In numbering the lines in the following English text,
the translator has normally included short indented lines with the short line
immediately above it, so that the two partial lines count as a single line in
the reckoning. The line numbers in square brackets refer to the Greek text.
The asterisks in the text provide links to notes at the
end of the translation.
The translator would like to acknowledge the extremely
valuable help of W. B. Stanford’s commentary on the play and of the
translation of Sir Richard Jebb.
Introductory Note
When Achilles, the finest of all the warriors in the
Achaean army, was killed in the Trojan War, there was a dispute about which
warrior should receive the high honour of getting Achilles’ weapons. There
were two main claimants, Odysseus and Ajax. The latter was, according to Homer,
the best warrior after Achilles. However, as a result of voting among the
leading warriors, the weapons were awarded to Odysseus. The action of
Sophocles’ play takes place the day after this decision.
Note that Sophocles calls the Greek forces the Argives, Achaeans,
or Danaans, as in Homer, and occasionally the Hellenes (Greeks).
Ajax
Dramatis Personae
ATHENA: goddess of war and wisdom
ODYSSEUS: king of Ithaca, a leader in the Argive forces at Troy
AJAX: king of Salamis
CHORUS: sailors from Salamis
TECMESSA: daughter of the king of Phrygia, concubine of Ajax
MESSENGER: a soldier
TEUCER: a Greek warrior, half brother of Ajax
MENELAUS: one of the commanders of the Argive forces at Troy
AGAMEMNON: brother of Menelaus, commander of the Greek army
EURYSACES: young son of Ajax and Tecmessa.
ATTENDANTS, SERVANTS, SOLDIERS
[The action takes place during the last year of the
Trojan War. The scene is one end of the Argive camp beside the sea,
outside Ajax’s hut. The hut is a substantial building with main doors facing
the audience and some side doors. There are steps leading up to a platform
outside the main doors. It is early in the morning, without very much
light yet. ODYSSEUS enters slowly, tracking footprints in the sand and trying to
look through the partially open door into the hut. The goddess ATHENA appears
and speaks to ODYSSEUS.]
ATHENA
Odysseus, I keep seeing you prowl around,
seeking by stealth to gain the upper hand
against your enemies. And now, by these huts
at one end of the army, where Ajax
has his camp beside the ships, for some time
I’ve been observing as you track him down,
keeping your eyes fixed on his fresh-made
trail,
to find out whether he’s inside or not.*
Like a keen-nosed Spartan hunting dog,
your path is taking you straight to your
goal— 10
the man has just gone in, his head and arms
dripping with sweat after the butchery [10]
he’s just carried out with his own sword.
So you don’t need to peer inside the
doors.
What are you so eager to discover here?
Why not tell me? You could learn the answer
from someone who knows.
ODYSSEUS [looking up but he cannot see Athena]
Ah,
Athena’s voice, of the gods
the one I cherish most. How clear you sound.
I can’t see you, but I do hear your
words—
my mind can grasp their sense, like the
bronze call 20
of an Etruscan trumpet.* And
you are right.
You see me circling around, tracking down
that man who hates me, shield-bearing Ajax.
I’ve been following his trail a long time
now— [20]
just him, no one else. During the night
he’s done something inconceivable to us,
if he’s the one who did it. We’re not
sure.
We don’t know anything for certain.
So I volunteered to find out what’s gone
on.
We’ve just discovered all our livestock
killed— 30
our plunder butchered by some human hand,
and with them the men who guard the herd.
Everyone blames Ajax for the slaughter.
What’s more, an eyewitness who saw him
striding by himself across the plain, his
sword [30]
dripping with fresh blood, informed me of it
and told me what he saw. I ran off at once
to pick up his trail. I’m following the
tracks.
But it’s confusing—sometimes I don’t
know
whose prints they are. So you’ve come just
in time,
40
for in the past and in the days to come
your hand has been and will remain my guide.
ATHENA
I am aware of that, Odysseus, that’s why
for some time I’ve been keen to come to
you
as a watchman on your hunt.
ODYSSEUS
Well
then, dear lady,
will what I’m doing here have good
results?
ATHENA
I’ll tell you this: Ajax did those
killings,
as you suspected.
ODYSSEUS
Why
would he do that? [40]
Why turn his hands to such a senseless act?
ATHENA
The weapons—that armour from Achilles— 50
it made him insanely angry.*
ODYSSEUS
But
then
why would he slaughter all the animals?
ATHENA
He thought he was staining both his hands
with blood from you.
ODYSSEUS
You
mean this was his plan
against the Argives?
ATHENA
Yes—and
it would have worked,
if I had not been paying attention.
ODYSSEUS
How could he have done something so
reckless?
How could his mind have been so rash?
ATHENA
At
night
in secret he crept out alone after you.
ODYSSEUS
How close was he? Did he get to his target? 60
ATHENA
He reached the camp of both commanders—
he made it right up to their double gates.*
ODYSSEUS
If he was so insanely keen for slaughter, [50]
how could he prevent his hands from killing?
ATHENA
I stopped him. I threw down into his eyes
an overwhelming sense of murderous joy
and turned his rage against the sheep and
cattle
and those protecting them—the common herd
which so far has not been divided up.*
He launched his attack against those animals 70
and kept on chopping down and slaughtering
the ones with horns by slicing through their
spines,
until they made a circle all around him.
At one point he thought he was butchering
both sons of Atreus—he had them in his
hands.*
Then he went at some other general
and then another. As he charged around
in his sick frenzy, I kept encouraging him,
kept pushing him into those fatal nets. [60]
And then, when he took a rest from killing, 80
he tied up the sheep and cattle still alive
and led them home, as if he had captured
human prisoners and not just animals.
Now he keeps them tied up in his hut
and tortures them. I’ll let you see his
madness—
in plain view here—so you can witness it
and then report to all the Argives. Be
brave.
Do not back off or look upon this man
as any threat to you. I will avert his eyes,
so he will never see your face. [70]
[Calling to Ajax inside the hut]
You
in there— 90
the one who’s tying up his prisoner’s
arms—
I’m calling you! I’m shouting now for
Ajax!
Come on out here! Outside the hut! In front!
ODYSSEUS
Athena! What are you doing? Don’t call
him!
Don’t bring him out here!
ATHENA
Just
be patient.
Don’t run the risk of being called a
coward.
ODYSSEUS
For the gods’ sake, don’t do it! Leave
him be!
Let him stay inside!
ATHENA
What’s
the matter with you?
He was just a man before this, wasn’t he?
ODYSSEUS
Yes, and in the past unfriendly to me, 100
and especially now.
ATHENA
But
the sweetest laughter
comes from mocking enemies. Is that not
true?
ODYSSEUS
Still, I’d prefer he stayed inside his
hut. [80]
ATHENA
You hesitate to see before your eyes
someone in a raving fit?
ODYSSEUS
Yes,
I do—
if he were fully sane I’d not avoid him
or hesitate . . .
ATHENA
But
he won’t see you now,
not even if you stand beside him.
ODYSSEUS
How will that occur, if he still can see
with his own eyes?
ATHENA
His
eyes see very well, 110
but I
will make them dark.
ODYSSEUS
Well,
it is true
a god’s work can make all things possible.
ATHENA
Stand here, then, and stay quiet.
ODYSSEUS
I’d
better stay,
although I’d have preferred to keep my
distance.
ATHENA
You in there, Ajax! I’m calling you again!
Why show your ally so much disrespect?* [90]
[AJAX enters from the hut. He is carrying a bloody whip
with which he has been lashing the cattle]
AJAX
Welcome Athena! Welcome child of Zeus!
You have given me so much assistance!
In gratitude for those I’ve captured
I’ll offer you a crown, presents of pure
gold. 120
ATHENA
That’s nobly spoken. But tell me this—
did that sword of yours slake itself on
blood
when you attacked the Argive army?
AJAX
Yes.
That I can boast about. I don’t deny it.
ATHENA
You went after the two sons of Atreus
with that weapon in your fist?
AJAX
Indeed
I did.
They’ll not dishonour Ajax any more.
ATHENA
So, as I understand you, those men are dead.
AJAX
Yes, dead. Let them rob me of my weapons
now! [100]
ATHENA
I see. Well, what about Laertes’ son?
130
As far as you’re concerned, where does he
stand?
Did he escape you?
AJAX
That
damned slimy fox!
You ask me where he is?
ATHENA
Yes,
I’m asking.
I mean that enemy of yours Odysseus.
AJAX
My favourite prisoner, lady, sits inside.
I don’t want him to die just yet.
ATHENA
But
when?
What further actions do you have to do?
Or what advantage will you gain by that?
AJAX
Not before he’s tied up to a pillar,
the main one holding up the roof in there. 140
ATHENA
What harm will you inflict on the poor man?
AJAX
I’ll whip his back blood red. Then I’ll
kill him.
[110]
ATHENA
Don’t abuse the poor man so viciously.
AJAX
You can follow your desires, Athena,
in all other things. That I will concede.
But this is the penalty he’s going to
pay—
not something else.
ATHENA
All
right, since it pleases you,
give that arm of yours some exercise.
Don’t stop.
Do what you’ve planned.
AJAX
Then
I’ll get back to work.
And I’ll leave you with this request from
me— 150
always stand beside me as my ally
the way you did today.
[AJAX goes back into the hut]
ATHENA
Do
you see,
Odysseus, how powerful the gods can be?
Could you find anyone more sensible
than Ajax, a man with more ability
to carry out in every situation
the most appropriate action? [120]
ODYSSEUS
No
one I know.
All the same, although he despises me,
I pity his misfortune under that yoke
of catastrophic madness. It makes me think 160
not just of his fate but my own as well.
I see that in our lives we are no more
than phantoms, insubstantial shadows.
ATHENA
Well then, now you’ve seen his arrogance,
make sure you never speak against the gods,
or give yourself ideas of your own grandeur,
if your strength of hand or heaped-up riches [130]
should outweigh some other man’s. A single
day
pulls down any human’s scale of fortune
or raises it once more. But the
gods love 170
men who possess good sense and self-control
and despise the ones who are unjust.
[ATHENA and ODYSSEUS leave. Enter the CHORUS, sailors
from Salamis and followers of Ajax]
CHORUS LEADER
Son of Telamon, who holds the throne
on wave-washed Salamis beside the sea,
I rejoice with you when things go well,
but when a blow from Zeus or angry words
from slanderous Danaans are aimed at you,
then I hold back in fear and shake with
terror,
like the fluttering eye on a feathered
dove.
[140]
I’m like that now. In the night that’s
passing, 180
there were noisy rumours thrown against us,
against our honour, saying that you went off
into that meadow where our horses range
and massacred Danaan animals,
together with the spoils their spears had
captured,
prizes which had not yet been allotted.
With that bright sword of yours you
butchered them.
Such slanderous reports Odysseus shapes
and whispers into every soldier’s ear. [150]
Many men believe him. For he now speaks 190
persuasively about you, and everyone
who listens is filled with spite and pleased
that you have come to grief, even more
than is the man who told them. Throw a spear
at some great soul, and you will never miss,
but if someone said things like that of me,
he’d never be believed. Envy creeps up
against the man of wealth and power.
And yet without the great, we lesser men
are fragile ramparts in our own defence. 200
It’s best for small men to ally themselves [160]
with greatness, and for the powerful
to be supported by the lesser men.
But teaching foolish people such good sense
ahead of time is just not possible.
So men like this are now denouncing you,
and we do not possess sufficient power
to deflect these charges, not without you,
not without our king. With you out of their
sight,
they keep on chattering like flocks of
birds. 210
But if you unexpectedly appeared,
they would be terrified, as if they faced [170]
a mighty eagle, and soon would cower there,
and hold their tongues in silence.
CHORUS
Was it that goddess Artemis,
bull-tending child of Zeus,
who drove you on,
drove you at the common herd?
O mighty Rumour, mother of my shame!
Was it perhaps in retribution for a victory 220
where she received no tribute,
splendid weapons she was cheated of?
Or did some hunter kill a stag
and set no gifts aside for her?
Or has Enyalios, bronze-plated god of war,
with reason to complain about an armed
alliance,
taken his revenge for such an insult [180]
by a devious stratagem at night?
For with your own
mind, O son of Telamon,
you’d never go so far along the path to
ruin 230
as to attack the flocks.* But
nothing can prevent
a sickness which the gods implant.
I pray that Zeus, that Phoebus Apollo
will stave off this catastrophe,
this disastrous rumour of the Argives.
And if great kings are slandering you now
with stories full of lies, or if it is that
man
born from the worthless line of Sisyphus,
do not, my lord, take on the grievous weight [190]
of a dishonoured reputation by remaining
here, 240
hiding your presence in this hut beside the
sea.*
Up now, get up from
where you sit,
wherever you’ve been settled for so long
in your pause from battle. You are fuelling
a fire of disaster blazing up to heaven.
Your enemies’ insolence keeps charging on
quite fearlessly, whipped up by favouring
winds
through forest thickets, while every soldier
wags his tongue and laughs and jeers.
They bring us grief and reinforce our
sorrow. 250 [200]
[Enter TECMESSA]
TECMESSA
You men, shipmates of Ajax, sons of the race
of earth-born Erechtheus, all of us
who love the distant house of Telamon
are in despair. For now our master Ajax,
our great and terrifying and forceful king,
lies suffering from tempestuous disease.*
CHORUS LEADER
What heavy grief has come during the night
to change the troubles we had yesterday?
Daughter of the Phrygian Teleutas, [210]
speak to us—though bold Ajax won you 260
fighting with his spear, he still maintains
a strong affection for you, so you may know
and offer us an answer.
TECMESSA
How
can I tell
a story much too terrifying for words?
You will hear of suffering as harsh as
death.
Last night madness seized our glorious Ajax,
and now he has been totally disgraced.
You can see everything inside his hut,
the blood-soaked butchered victims who were
killed
as sacrifices at his very hands. 270 [220]
CHORUS
The news you tell us of our fiery king
we cannot bear, and yet there’s no escape.
It’s what the powerful Danaans say,
what their great story-telling spreads
around.
O, how I fear what’s coming next. This man
is going to die—and in full public view—
with a black sword in those mad hands of his [230]
he massacred the herd and herdsmen, too,
the ones who ride to guard our animals.
TECMESSA
Alas! From those fields he came to me 280
right after that, leading his captive
beasts.
On the floor in there he slit some of their
throats,
struck others in the ribs, tore them apart.
He grabbed two rams—the legs on both were
white—
cut off the head on one and sliced its
tongue,
right at the tip, then threw the parts away,
and lashed the other upright on the pillar. [240]
He seized a thick strap from a horse’s
harness
and flogged it with a whistling double lash.
He was cursing with an awful violence, 290
not human words—ones a god had taught him.
CHORUS LEADER
The time has come for us to hide our heads
and steal away on foot—or take our seats,
each man at his swift oar, and let our ship
sail out on her seaworthy way. Those threats [250]
our two commanders, sons of Atreus,
keep hurling at us are so serious,
I am afraid of savage death by stoning,
sharing the suffering of the man in there,
struck down with him now in the grip of
fate, 300
his own inexorable doom.
TECMESSA
No,
no.
He is no longer like that. He’s grown
calm.
Like a sharp south wind that rushes past
without a lightning flash, he’s easing
off.
Now he’s sane again, but in new agonies.
To look at self-inflicted suffering [260]
when no one else played any part in it
brings on great anguish.
CHORUS LEADER
If
he’s no longer mad,
I’m confident that things may be all
right.
For when disaster has already passed 310
it doesn’t have as much significance.
TECMESSA
But if you had the choice of causing grief
to your own friends while feeling good
yourself
or of grieving too, a suffering man
among a common sorrow, which would you
choose?
CHORUS LEADER
The double grieving, lady, is far worse.
TECMESSA
So at this moment we, although not sick,
are facing disaster.
CHORUS LEADER
What
does that mean?
I don’t understand what you are saying. [270]
TECMESSA
That man in there, when he was still so ill, 320
enjoyed himself while savage fantasies
held 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 understand
the full extremity of bitter grief,
yet everything for us remains the same—
our anguish is no milder than before.
This is surely not a single sorrow,
but a double grief?
CHORUS LEADER
I
think that’s true.
330
I fear a blow sent from a god has struck
him.
How else could this take place, if his
spirit
is no more hopeful now that he’s been
cured [280]
than when he was sick?
TECMESSA
That’s
how things stand.
You must see that.
CHORUS LEADER
How
did his illness start?
How did this trouble first swoop down on
him?
Since we share your grief, tell us what
happened.
TECMESSA
You are all involved in this, and so
you’ll hear
the entire story. At some point in the
night,
when the evening torches had stopped
burning, 340
Ajax took up his two-edged sword, resolved
to set off on a senseless expedition.
I challenged him and said, “What are you
doing?
Ajax, why are you going out like this?
There’s been no summons, no messenger,
nor any trumpet call. All the army [290]
is now sleeping.” His reply to
me was brief,
that old refrain, “Woman, the finest thing
that females do is hold their tongues.” So
I,
taking my cue from that, did not respond, 350
and he charged out alone. I cannot say
what went on out there, but he came back
and took his chained-up prisoners inside,
all linked together—bulls and herding dogs
and captured sheep. He cut the heads off
some.
He twisted back the skulls of other beasts
and cut their throats or chopped their
spines.
Others, whom he kept tied up, he tortured,
as if they were human beings, even though [300]
it was only beasts he was attacking. 360
At last, he charged out through the doorway
and forced out some words of conversation
with a shadow. Sometimes he’d talk about
the sons of Atreus, at other times
about Odysseus, with manic laughter
at how by going out he had avenged
all their arrogance in full. After that,
he rushed back in the hut again and there
he gradually regained his sense somehow,
though not without an effort. Once he saw 370
his room filled up with that deluded
slaughter,
he struck his head and howled. Then he
collapsed,
a ruined man among so many ruins,
carcasses of butchered sheep. He sat there,
fists gripping his hair with nails clenched
tight. [310]
For a long time he remained quite silent.
Then he made some dreadful threats against
me
if I would not tell him every detail
of what had taken place. He questioned me—
What on earth had he become involved with? 380
My friends, I was afraid. So I told him
everything that had gone on, all the things
I knew were true. He at once began to groan,
doleful sounds I’d never heard from him
before.
He’s always claimed that wailing cries
like that
were only fit for gloomy men and cowards. [320]
He used
to grieve, but never wail aloud—
just a deep moan, like from a lowing bull.
But now, overwhelmed by his misfortune,
he takes no food, no drink, sprawled in
silence 390
where he fell down among dead animals
his own sword killed. It seems clear enough
he will do something bad. The words he
speaks
and his laments show that intent somehow.
My friends, you should come in and help him,
if that’s possible. That’s why I came
out here.
For words from friends can cure a man like
him.
[330]
CHORUS LEADER
Tecmessa, daughter of Teleutas,
what you’ve described to us about the man
being driven mad with sorrow—that’s
dreadful. 400
AJAX [crying out from inside the hut]
Aaaiiii . . . Alas for me!
TECMESSA
It looks as if his fit could soon be worse.
Did you not hear that loud cry from Ajax?
AJAX
Aaaiiii! . . . Alas!
CHORUS LEADER
I think the man is sick or still suffering
the effects of that disease he had before—
they’re all around him where he sits.
AJAX
My child! My son!
TECMESSA
How
miserable I feel! [340]
Eurysaces, he’s calling you. But why?
What does he have in mind? Where are you? 410
I’m overwhelmed.
AJAX
I
call on Teucer!
Where is Teucer? Will that fighting raid
he’s on
keep going forever, with me dying here?*
CHORUS LEADER
I think the man may have his wits again.
Open the door. Perhaps when he sees me
he’ll quickly feel a sense of
self-respect.
TECMESSA [opening the door of the hut]
There. It’s open. Now you can take a look
at what he’s done and see the state he’s
in.
[AJAX is revealed sitting among the dead animals]
AJAX
Ah, my cherished sailors, of all my friends
the only ones who still observe true
loyalty. 420 [350]
You see how great a wave has just rolled
over me,
a crashing surge lashed on by murderous
winds.
CHORUS LEADER [to Tecmessa]
It looks as if what you told us is true—
his condition clearly shows his madness.
AJAX
Ah, you race of master mariners,
who crossed the sea and with your oars sped
out
across the salty ocean, I see in you,
and in you alone, the one support [360]
in my despair. Come, help me kill myself.
CHORUS LEADER
No more of that! Speak words of hope.
430
Don’t seek to cure one bad thing with
another
or make this mad disaster any worse.
AJAX
Do you see how this bold and valiant heart,
this warrior so fearless in those wars
against his enemies, has turned his hands,
these awesome hands, against tame animals?
Ah, the mockery! How I have been abused!
TECMESSA
I beg you, my lord Ajax, don’t say that.
AJAX
Just go away. Why not turn your
feet around
and wander off somewhere? Aaaaiiii
. . . . 440 [370]
CHORUS LEADER
By the gods, concede. Use your common sense.
AJAX
It’s my bad luck I let slip from my grasp
those criminals deserving punishment.
Instead I went at bulls with twisted horns,
fine herds of goats, and made their dark
blood flow.
CHORUS LEADER
Why lament those deeds which have been done
and cannot be recalled? Such final acts
will never be anything but what they are.
AJAX
O you who keeps prying into everything,
you nasty instrument for every crime, 450 [380]
Odysseus, the filthiest degenerate
in all the army, you must be laughing now,
taking great delight in this.
CHORUS LEADER
Divine
will
determines if each man laughs and cries.
AJAX
But
still
I’d like to face him, though I’m
injured. Ahhhh . . . .
CHORUS LEADER
Don’t make boasts like that. Do you not
see
the catastrophe you face?
AJAX
O
Zeus,
you ancestral father of my father,
if only I could die after I had killed
that wheedling scoundrel enemy of mine 460 [390]
and those twin-reigning kings.*
TECMESSA
When
you make that prayer,
pray also that I die as well. With you gone,
why should I continue living?
AJAX
O darkness, now my daylight,
O gloom of Erebus, for me
the brightest light there is,
take me, take me now
to live with you.* Take
me,
a man no longer worthy to seek help
from families of gods or men,
470 [400]
those creatures of a day.
For Zeus’ daughter, brave Athena,
abuses and destroys me.
Where can one escape?
Where could I go and rest?
If my past fame has been cut down,
along with these dead beasts beside me,
then, my friends, if I now seek
a madman’s triumphs, all the army,
with repeated blows from their own swords 480
will cut me down as well.
TECMESSA
How hard it is for me to hear this man, [410]
this worthy man, say things he’d never say
before this happened!
AJAX
O you paths of the resounding sea!
You tidal caves and coastal pastures,
for a long time now, for far too long,
you have detained me here in Troy.
But that you will no longer do, no,
not while I am breathing still. 490
Let men of sense be sure of that.
O you streams of the Scamander,
my neighbour, so friendly to the Argives, [420]
you no longer will be seeing Ajax,
a man whose equal as a warrior—
and I can make this boast—
Troy never saw arriving here from Greece.
But now I lie among this heap, dishonoured.*
CHORUS LEADER
I don’t have the strength to stop your
words
or to let you go on saying such things—
500
you’ve fallen into such calamity.
AJAX
Alas! Who would ever think my
name [430]
would suit my troubles so poetically?*
For I could well cry out two or three times
“Alas for Ajax!”—that shows the
magnitude
of the disaster I am going through.
I am the man whose father’s excellence
won supreme respect from all the army.
He took the fairest prize and carried home
every glory from the land of Ida.* 510
I am his son, who journeyed after him
to this same land of Troy. I’m just as
strong,
with the work of my own hands I have
attained
achievements just as great, but, as you see,
these Argive insults have quite ruined me. [440]
And yet I think I can affirm this much—
had Achilles lived and been about to judge
the man who should receive his weapons,
the prize for being the finest man in war,
no soldier would have put his hand on them 520
before I did. But now the sons of Atreus
have dealt them to a fellow whose spirit
will stoop to anything, and pushed aside
all those triumphant victories of Ajax.
If with my distorted mind and eyes,
I had not abandoned what I planned,
they would not have had what’s mine by
right
put to the vote against another man.*
But then that goddess with the glaring eyes, [450]
implacable Athena, Zeus’ daughter, 530
threw me over at the very instant
I was steadying my hand against them.
She hurled in me a frenzied sickness,
so blood from grazing beasts would stain my
hands,
and those men now can laugh at their escape,
something I did not want. But when a god
commits an injury, the unworthy man
escapes someone more powerful. And now,
what do I do, when I am obviously
hated by the gods, when the Greek army 540
despises me, and everyone in Troy
and on the plain holds me an enemy?
Should I give up my station in the fleet, [460]
leaving
the sons of Atreus alone,
and sail for home across the Aegean Sea?
How could I face my father, Telamon,
when I arrive back there? How could he bear
to see me showing up with nothing,
without the prize for highest excellence
with which he won his own great crown of
fame? 550
That’s not a thing I could endure to do.
Well, then, should I charge out there on my
own
against the Trojan wall, a lone attack,
fight single combats, do something valiant,
and then at last be killed? But that would
please
the sons of Atreus. It must not happen. [470]
I must seek out some act which will reveal
to my old father how, at least by nature,
his own son has not become a coward.
It is dishonourable for any man 560
to crave a lengthy life, once he discovers
the troubles he is in will never change.
What joy is there for him when every day
just follows on another, pulling him away
or pushing him toward death? I would not pay
for any sort of mortal man who’s warmed
by futile hopes. A man of noble birth
lives on with honour, or he dies in glory.
Now you’ve heard everything I have to say. [480]
CHORUS LEADER
No one will ever claim that you, Ajax, 570
have said a word that’s illegitimate,
for what you say is born in your own heart.
But you should stop. Get rid of thoughts
like these.
Let friends overrule what you’re
suggesting.
TECMESSA
O my lord Ajax, for human beings
the worst of evils is what they endure
when they’re compelled to. Consider me.
I was the daughter of a free-born father,
a wealthy man, if anyone in Phrygia
could be accounted rich. Now I’m a slave, 580
a circumstance the gods somehow made
happen—
yes, the gods and especially your strong
limbs. [490]
And thus, since I have come into your bed,
I want the best for you. So I beg you,
by Zeus who guards our home, by that bed
where you had sex with me, do not leave me
to the savage insults of your enemies.
Do not abandon me to some strange hand.
For if you die and leave me all alone,
that day you may be sure the Argive men 590
will take me by force, as well as your own
son.
We will then both lead the lives of slaves.
One of our lords will speak these biting
words,
[500]
shooting insults at me, “Look here at
this,
a bed mate of Ajax, the strongest man
in all our army. What menial chores she
does!
How she’s changed from such an enviable
state!”
Men will talk that way, and then my fate
will wear me down. Those shameful words will
stain
you and your family. Respect your father, 600
whom you will leave a miserable old man.
Respect your mother, too, who shares his
years.
She keeps begging the gods that you’re
alive,
that you’ll return back home. And, my
lord,
have pity for your son. For if you die, [510]
consider how, whenever that day comes,
both he and I will face desolation.
He will lack the nurturing a young lad needs
if you leave and he becomes an orphan,
in the care of people who are not friends 610
or from his family. And I have nothing
I can look to except you. It was you
who killed my homeland for me with your
spear.
My mother and my father were destroyed
by a different fate which led them down
to make their home in Hades after death.*
What country could I have except with you?
What wealth? My safety, all security,
that rests with you. So remember me as well. [520]
A genuine man should cherish memory, 620
if he gets pleasure still from anything.
Kindness always engenders gratitude.
A man who gives up his good memories
will no longer be a noble, worthy man.
CHORUS LEADER
Ajax, I wish that pity touched your heart,
as it does mine. Then you’d approve her
words.
AJAX
So far as I’m concerned, she’ll win
approval
only if she keeps being obedient
and carries out my orders properly.
TECMESSA
Yes, beloved Ajax, I will obey 630
in everything.
AJAX
Then
bring me my son, [530]
so I may see him.
TECMESSA
I
sent him away,
out of my care. I was so terrified.
AJAX
Afraid because I was in trouble?
What do you mean?
TECMESSA
Yes,
that’s it. I feared
that the unlucky boy might bother you
and then somehow get killed.
AJAX
Yes,
such a thing
the god who watches me would think fitting.
TECMESSA
At least I took a suitable precaution
to stop that happening.
AJAX
I
approve of that. 640
The steps you took were quite correct.
TECMESSA
And
so,
as things are now, how can I best serve you?
AJAX
Let me talk to him, see him face to face.
TECMESSA
Yes. He’s close by, with servants watching
him.
AJAX
Why then this delay? Why is he
not here? [540]
TECMESSA [calling to the side]
My son, your father is calling for you.
Whichever of you servants has his hand,
bring the boy out here.
AJAX
Is
he coming, the one you called?
Or did he not hear?
TECMESSA
The
servant’s on his way.
He’s bringing Eurysaces with him. 650
[Enter the SERVANT leading EURYSACES]
AJAX
Lift him up. Hand the boy to me up here.
He’ll have no fear of fresh-spilt blood,
no,
not if he’s a true-bred son of mine
who shares his father’s nature. It is time
he was broken in to that harsh code
his father follows and his nature shaped
to something like my own. O my boy, [550]
may you have better fortunes than your
father,
although remain like him in other ways,
for then you’ll never be dishonoured. 660
Now I envy you, and with good reason—
for you have no idea of any troubles.
The sweetest life comes when one senses
nothing—
to lack all feeling is a painless evil—
until you learn what joy and sorrow mean.
Once you reach that stage, you must reveal
the kind of man you are, your ancestry,
to those who were your father’s enemies.
Meanwhile, you should feed on gentle
breezes,
fostering your young life so as to bring 670
your mother joy. I know that no Achaean [560]
will go at you with insults and contempt,
even when I’m gone. For I am leaving
Teucer
here with you as guardian of your gates.
He will not falter in his care for you,
although he now is busy far away,
chasing his enemies. But my warriors,
my people of the sea, I charge you now
with the same joyful duty I give Teucer.
Report to him what I have ordered here— 680
he is to take this boy back to my home,
show him to Telamon and Eriboea,
my mother, so he may always comfort them [570]
in their old age, until the time they reach
the yawning caverns of the gods below.
And none of those who judge our competitions
nor the man who ruined me will offer
my weapons as a prize for the Achaeans.
No, my son, for my sake you will have to
take
that broad shield from which you get your
name.* 690
Hold it up high. Shift it by its
well-stitched grip,
my impenetrable seven-layered shield.
My other weapons you will bury with me.
Come, take the boy, and quickly. Close the
hut.
And don’t keep on weeping here in front.
How these women really love their wailing! [580]
Quick now, close up the hut. A skilful
healer
does not howl incantations when a wound
is crying for the knife.
CHORUS LEADER
When
I hear
that you’re in such a rush, I get afraid. 700
The sharp edge on your tongue brings me no
joy.
TECMESSA
O lord Ajax, what are you going to do?
AJAX
Don’t keep on asking me! No more
questions!
The best thing now is self-restraint.
TECMESSA
But
I’m desperate!
By the gods, by your own son, I beg you—
do not become a man who now betrays us!
AJAX
You pester me too much. Do you not see
that I no longer owe the gods my service? [590]
TECMESSA
You must not utter such impieties.
AJAX
Speak to those who listen.
TECMESSA
You
will not hear me? 710
AJAX
You have already chatted far too much.
TECMESSA Yes, my
lord, because I’m so afraid.
AJAX [to the servants]
Shut the doors. Do it now!
TECMESSA
By
all the gods, concede!
AJAX
It looks as though you’re thinking like a
fool,
if, at this late date, you still believe
that what you teach will shape my character.
[The SERVANTS close the main door of the hut, leaving AJAX
inside. TECMESSA, EURYSACES, and the SERVANTS go into the hut through the side
door from which Eurysaces emerged earlier]
CHORUS
O splendid Salamis,
you, I know, lie in the sea,
whose waves beat on your happy shores,
a famous place among all men forever. 720
I have been held back a long time here [600]
in misery, for countless months
still camped out in the fields of Ida,
consumed by time and my anxiety,
expecting to complete my journey
to implacably destructive Hades.
And now my troubles
multiply,
a situation hard to remedy,
for I must wrestle now with Ajax, [610]
share my life with that insanity 730
sent from the gods. Alas for me!
Once, long ago, you sent him out
filled with the frenzied power of war.
But now his spirit feeds in isolation,
and his friends acquire from him
a heavy sorrow. His earlier deeds,
those acts of highest excellence,
have fallen, fallen where he has no friends,
among the wretched hostile sons of Atreus. [620]
The years have
changed his mother’s hair to white, 740
and given her old age for company.
When she learns of his disease,
that maddening infection of his mind,
she’ll start to wail forth her laments.
She will not chant out melodies
sung by the plaintive nightingale.
No. In her mood of desolation [630]
the sharp-toned music of her grief
will scream abroad her anguish.
Her beating hands will thud down on her
breasts, 750
and she’ll keep tearing out her old gray
hair.
A man brain sick
with mad delusions
is better off concealed in Hades,
a man who by his ancestry
is ranked the best of the Achaeans,
who have endured so much. But now,
no longer following his inbred character,
he wanders far beyond himself. [640]
O you unhappy father Telamon,
you have yet to hear the heavy curse 760
laid on your son, a curse which up to now
has never played a part in any life
nurtured by the sons of Aeacus.
[Enter AJAX through the main doors of the hut, carrying
a sword. TECMESSA enters after him.]
AJAX
The long succession of the countless years
reveals what’s hidden, then hides it once
again,
and there is nothing we should not
anticipate.
The solemn oath and the most stubborn heart
are overcome. In this way, even I, [650]
who used to be so marvellously strong,
like tempered iron, felt my sharp edge
dissolve 770
at what this woman said. I now feel pity
leaving her a widow and my son an orphan
among my enemies. And so I’ll go
to the bathing waters by the sea shore
and wash off my defilement. I will deflect
the weighty anger of the goddess there.
When I leave, I’ll find some isolated
place
and then inter my sword, of all my weapons
the one I most despise. I’ll dig the earth
where no one else will see. Then let Night 780
and Hades keep it there below the ground. [660]
For ever since I’ve held it in my grip,
this gift from Hector, my greatest enemy,
I’ve won no prizes from the Argives.*
That old human saying is true: gifts men get
from enemies—they are no gifts at all
and bring them no advantages. And so,
from this day forward I shall understand
how to revere the gods. And I will learn
how to respect the sons of Atreus. 790
They are our rulers, so we must obey.
Why not? Things of the greatest power and
awe
give way to privileged authorities. [670]
Snow-footed Winter yields to fruitful
Summer,
and Night’s dark vault withdraws the
moment Day
with her white-footed horses fires up the
sky;
the blasts of fearful Winds at last bring
rest
which calms the groaning seas. All-powerful
Sleep
lets go the one he holds tied up in chains;
his grasp does not go on forever. As for us, 800
how can we mortals not learn self-control?
I, at least, am only now discovering
that we should hate our enemies as much
as suits a man who will become a friend. [680]
And when I help a friend, then I will give
only what is due a man who’ll not remain
a friend forever. For common mortals
see that the shelter comradeship affords
is treacherous. Thus, my situation
will turn out for the best. And so, woman, 810
go inside now. Keep praying to the gods
my heart’s desires will reach fulfillment
and be carried out to their conclusion.
[TECMESSA return into the hut through the side door.
AJAX turns to address the CHORUS]
AJAX
My comrades, you, too, honour this request.
Tell Teucer, when he comes, to care for me
and also to protect your interests.
I am now going where I have to go. [690]
As for you, carry out what I have said,
and very soon, perhaps, you will find out
that, though I’m suffering now, I am at
peace. 820
[AJAX leaves, heading for the sea shore.]
CHORUS
I feel a sudden thrill of passionate
delight,
which makes me soar aloft with happiness
and
cry with joy to Pan—
O
Pan, Pan—
appear
to us, sea rover—
come
down from your stony ridge
on
snow-beat Mount Cyllene,
you dancing
master of the gods—
come,
O king,
begin your self-taught dancing
steps 830
from
Mysia and Cnossos, [700]
for what
I want now is to dance.
And may
Apollo, lord of Delos,
race
across the Icarian Sea
and
manifest himself to me,
show his benevolence in
everything.
From
our eyes Ares has removed
those
terrifying agonies.
What
joy! O joy!
For
now, O Zeus, now 840
the dazzling light of
brighter days
can
come to our swift ships
which
speed across the seas, [710]
for Ajax is free of pain once
more
and, in a transformed state of
mind,
has carried out appropriate
sacrifice
to all the gods in full, showing
them
due reverence and strictly
following
our
most important laws.
The power of time extinguishes all things, 850
so
I can’t say that anything
lies
beyond all expectation—
since, in contrast to what we were waiting for,
now Ajax’s mind has
changed again
away from actions
done in anger
and his great fight with
Atreus’ sons.
[Enter the MESSENGER]
MESSENGER
Friends, the first thing I have to report is
this—
Teucer has just come from the Mysian
heights. [720]
He’s now in the middle of our line of
ships,
in the generals’ camp. All the Argives 860
are shouting insults at him, all at once.
They saw him coming and, as he approached,
surrounded him, hurling accusations
from all directions—everyone joined in—
calling him the brother of that
maniac
who had conspired against the army
and saying he could not escape his death—
their stones would cut him down completely.
Things reached the point where men had
pulled their swords
out of their scabbards and held them fully
drawn. 870
Then, as the fight was getting out of hand,
some elders intervened. Their words stopped
it.
But where can I find Ajax to tell him this?
I must provide our king a full report.
CHORUS LEADER
He’s not inside. He has just gone away,
with new intentions yoked to his changed
mood.
MESSENGER
O no! No! Then the man who sent me here
did so too late, or I have been too slow.
CHORUS LEADER
What’s so urgent? What’s been
overlooked? [740]
MESSENGER
Teucer said that Ajax had to stay inside 880
and not leave his hut until he gets here.
CHORUS LEADER
Well, as I told you, Ajax has gone off.
He intends to follow now what’s best for
him,
to cleanse away his anger at the gods.
MESSENGER
Your words reveal your complete foolishness,
if what Calchas prophesies has any merit.
CHORUS LEADER
What do you mean? What information
do you have about what’s happening here?
MESSENGER
Well I was there, so I know this much—
I witnessed it. Calchas left the leaders 890
sitting in their royal council circle,
moving off from the sons of Atreus. [750]
In a friendly gesture he placed his right
hand
in Teucer’s palm. Then he spoke to him,
giving him strict orders to use every means
to keep Ajax in his hut while this day lasts
and to prevent him moving anywhere
if he ever wished to see him still alive.
For divine Athena’s rage would whip Ajax
only for that day. That’s what Calchas
said. 900
Then the prophet added, “Those living
things
which become too large and thus unwieldy
fall into harsh disasters from the gods—
the sort of man who, born from human stock, [760]
forgets and thinks beyond his mortal state.
Take Ajax. As soon as he set out from home,
he revealed his folly, though his father
had passed on good advice. For Telamon
commanded him, ‘My son, with that spear of
yours
you must seek victory, but always fight 910
with some god at your side.’ But
then Ajax,
in a lofty boast, thoughtlessly replied,
‘Father, with god’s help even a
worthless man
can be victorious. But I believe
I’ll win glory on my own without them.’
Such was his arrogance. Another time, [770]
with divine Athena, as she was rousing him
and telling him to turn his deadly hands
against the enemy, he answered her
with a fearful and sacrilegious speech, 920
‘Lady, stand there with the other Argives.
The fight will never break the line through
Ajax.’
It was with words like these that he
provoked
the unremitting anger of the goddess,
because he does not think as humans should.
But if he remains alive all day today,
with god’s help we might be his saviours.”
That’s what Calchas said. From where he
sat [780]
Teucer sent me off at once with orders
which you were meant to follow. If we fail, 930
Ajax is done for—that is, if Calchas
has any skill in prophecy.
CHORUS LEADER [calling into the side door of
the hut]
Tecmessa,
unfortunate lady born for sorrow,
come out and see this man. Hear his news.
The razor’s slicing closer. I feel its
pain.
[Enter TECMESSA through the side door of the hut]
TECMESSA
Why are you making me come out once more
and leave the chair where I was getting
some relief from these unending troubles?
CHORUS LEADER
Listen to this man—he’s come with news
about what’s happening with Ajax, 940 [790]
and it’s disturbing.
TECMESSA
O
no! You there,
tell me what you have to say. Does this mean
we’re finished?
MESSENGER
I
have no idea
how things stand with you. As for Ajax,
if he is not inside, then I’ve lost hope.
TECMESSA
He’s gone away. So I’m in agony
about just what you mean.
MESSENGER
Teucer
gave orders
that you keep Ajax safely in his hut
and do not let him leave all by himself.
TECMESSA
But where is Teucer? Why did he say that? 950
MESSENGER
He has only just returned. He suspects
if Ajax goes somewhere he’ll be destroyed.
TECMESSA
That’s horrible! What man told him this? [800]
MESSENGER
Thestor’s son, the prophet, whose words
proclaimed
this very day would bring life or death for
Ajax.
TECMESSA
O my friends, protect me from this destiny!
Some of you, get Teucer here more quickly,
while others go off to the western cove
and to the east, as well, to investigate—
find out where Ajax went, when he set off 960
on that ill-fated path. For now I know
I have, in fact, been totally deceived,
and Ajax has finally cast away
all that affection he once had for me.
Alas, my son, what am I going to do?
I can’t stay idle. So I’ll go out there, [810]
as far as I have strength to go. Let’s
leave—
and hurry! This is no time to sit around,
if we want to save a man who’s eager
for destruction.
CHORUS LEADER
I’m
prepared to help, 970
not just with words, as I will demonstrate.
If we move fast, we can do this quickly.
[They all exit in various directions, leaving the stage
empty. The scene now changes to a deserted part of the seashore. AJAX enters,
carrying his sword, which he sets upright in the sand, with the blade sticking
upward.]
AJAX
The sacrificial killer is in place,
so it will now cut most effectively.
If a man had time, he might reflect on this.
It is a gift from Hector, a warrior
who was a friend most hateful to me,
the one I looked on as my greatest foe.*
Then, this sword is firmly set in Trojan
soil,
land of my enemy, freshly whetted 980
on the iron-eating sharpening stone. [820]
And I have fixed it in the ground with care,
so it will kill me quickly and be kind.
Thus, we are well prepared. So, O Zeus,
in this situation, be the first to help,
as is appropriate. I’m not asking you
to give me a grand prize, but for my sake
send a messenger to carry this bad news
to Teucer, so he may be the first
to raise me, once I’ve fallen on the sword 990
and covered it with fresh-spilt blood.
Don’t let
the first to spot me be some enemy,
who’ll throw me out, exposed as carrion
food [830]
for dogs and birds. I appeal to you, O Zeus.
Grant me this much. I also call on Hermes,
guide to the world below, to let me sleep
without convulsions, when by one quick leap
I break my bones apart on this sharp blade.
And I summon those immortal maidens
to my aid, those who always see all things 1000
of human suffering, the dread, far-striding
Furies,
to witness how, in my wretchedness,
the sons of Atreus worked my destruction.
May they seize on them and destroy them,
too,
with deaths as vile as their disgusting
selves. [840]
Just as they see me killed by my own hand,
so let them perish, killed by their own
kindred,
the children they love most. Come, you
Furies,
you swift punishers, devour the army,
all of them, sparing no one. And you,
Helios, 1010
whose chariot wheels climb that steep path
to heaven,
when you look down over my father’s land,
pull back those reins of yours, which flash
with gold,
then tell the story of my miseries,
my destiny, to my old father
and to the unhappy one who nursed me.
That poor lady, when she hears this news, [850]
will, I think, sing out a huge lamenting
dirge
throughout the city. But for me to weep
is useless. It’s time to start the final
act. 1020
O
Death, Death, come now and watch in person.
Yet I’ll be seeing you on the other side,
and there we can converse. And so to you,
the radiant light of this bright shining
day,
I make my final call, and to the Sun—
I’ll never see that chariot any more.
O light, O sacred land of Salamis,
my home, my father’s sturdy hearth, [860]
and glorious Athens, whose race was bred
related to my own—and you rivers, 1030
you streams, you plains of Troy, I call on
you.
Farewell, you who have nurtured me—to you
Ajax now speaks his final words. The rest
I’ll say to those below in Hades.
[Ajax falls on his sword. Enter the CHORUS
in two separate groups from two different directions. Each has a separate
leader. They do not see Ajax’s body until Tecmessa finds it.] *
CHORAL GROUP 1
We work and work,
and that brings on more work.
Where have I not walked? Where?
No place where I have searched
has revealed to me where Ajax is.
What’s that? Listen! I heard a noise. 1040 [870]
CHORAL GROUP 2 LEADER
It’s us—the crew that shares the ships
with you.
CHORAL GROUP 1 LEADER
What can you report?
CHORAL GROUP 2 LEADER:
We’ve
searched everywhere
on the west side of the ships.
CHORAL GROUP 1 LEADER
Did you come up with anything?
CHORAL GROUP 2 LEADER
Just lots of work. There’s nothing there
to see.
CHORAL GROUP 1 LEADER
Well, we haven’t seen him either—
not on the path facing the rising sun.
CHORUS
Who then can lead me on,
what toiling sons of the sea, [880]
sleepless in their shacks? 1050
What nymph on high Olympus
or from the streams that flow
into the Bosphorus
could say if she has seen somewhere
fierce-hearted Ajax wandering around?
It is not fair that after a long search
and so much effort I can’t find
the proper path to him. I cannot see
where that elusive man might be. [890]
[Enter TECMESSA behind the Chorus. As she moves on, she
stumbles across the corpse of Ajax]
TECMESSA
Ahhh . . . .
CHORUS LEADER
Who
cried out? It sounded close, 1060
from that group of trees.
TECMESSA
O
how horrible . . . .
CHORUS LEADER
I see her, the unfortunate young bride,
Tecmessa, a prize won with his spear—
she’s lying there, prostrate with grief,
in pain . . .
TECMESSA
I’m lost . . . destroyed . . . my life is
over.
O my friends. . . .
CHORUS LEADER
What’s
happened?
TECMESSA
It’s
our Ajax—
he’s lying here . . . he’s just been
murdered,
his body’s wrapped around a buried sword.
CHORUS LEADER
O no! Our dreams of getting home are gone. [900]
Alas, my king, you have destroyed me, too, 1070
the one who sailed across the seas with you
. . . .
you poor, unhappy man . . . heart-sick lady
. . .
TECMESSA
With Ajax dead like this, we have good cause
to wail out our grief.
CHORUS LEADER
Who
did this?
With whose help could ill-fated Ajax
have gone through with this?
TECMESSA
He
did it by himself.
That’s clear. This sword fixed upright in
the ground
indicates he fell down on top of it.
CHORUS LEADER
Alas, for my own foolishness!
You bled to death alone, with no friends
there 1080 [910]
to keep an eye on you. I was so stupid,
so blind to everything. I took no care.
And now, now where does stubborn Ajax lie,
a man whose very name suggests misfortune.*
TECMESSA
He’s not a spectacle to gaze upon!
With this cloak I will cover him completely,
tuck it all around him—for nobody,
at least no one who was a friend of his,
could bear to see him, as he spurts blood
up his nostrils and from that dark red
wound, 1090
his self-inflicted slaughter. Alas!
What shall I do? What friend of yours [920]
will lift you up for burial? Where’s
Teucer?
How I wish that he would come right now,
when we need him—if he ever comes
to care for the body of his brother.
O ill-fated Ajax, how could a man like you
end up like this? Even your enemies
must find you worthy of a funeral song.
CHORUS
O you unhappy man, how you were doomed, 1100
with that unbending heart of yours,
fated to live out an evil destiny
of endless suffering.
I know you groaned such hostile words [930]
against the sons of Atreus
all night long and in the morning light,
the fatal passion of a stubborn heart.
It’s obvious that when those weapons
were made the prizes in the competition
for the finest of our battle warriors, 1110
that was a potent source of trouble.
TECMESSA
Alas! Alas for me!
CHORUS LEADER
Your
heart, I know,
is truly filled with grief.
TECMESSA
Such
misery for me!
CHORUS LEADER
It’s no surprise to me, my lady, [940]
you
wail and wail again, for you’ve just lost
a man you loved so much.
TECMESSA
You
only guess
how it must feel, but I experience it,
and to the limit.
CHORUS LEADER
That’s
true enough.
TECMESSA
Alas, my son, what kind of slavery
will yoke us now as we move on from here, 1120
what sort of taskmasters stand over us?
CHORUS LEADER
Ah, now you’ve given voice to your
concerns
about unspeakable actions by those men,
the two unfeeling sons of Atreus,
in this our present grief. May god restrain
them!
TECMESSA
But these events would not have taken place [950]
without the gods’ consent.
CHORUS LEADER
Yes—they
have set
a burden too heavy for us to bear.
TECMESSA
It’s Athena, Zeus’ savage daughter.
What miseries that goddess has produced, 1130
and for Odysseus’ sake.
CHORUS LEADER
I’m
sure that man,
who has endured so much, in his black heart
exults and laughs with lofty arrogance
at these insane disasters. Such mockery!
Such a disgrace! And when they hear of this,
those two royal sons of Atreus
will join his merriment. [960]
TECMESSA
Then
let them laugh!
Let them get their joy from this man’s
agony.
Although they did not sense their need of
him
while he was living, perhaps they’ll mourn
his death 1140
when they need him in war. Men with brutal
minds
have no idea what fine things they possess
until they throw them out. Ajax’s death—
to me so bitter and to them so sweet—
at least has brought him joy, for he has got
what he desired, the death he yearned for.
So why should these men make fun of him?
His death is the gods’ concern, not
theirs. No! [970]
So let Odysseus vaunt his empty jests.
For them Ajax is dead—for me he’s gone, 1150
abandoning me to grief and mourning.
TEUCER [heard offstage]
No,
no . . . No!
CHORUS LEADER
Be quiet. I think I hear Teucer’s voice.
His shouts send out a tone which penetrates
the heart of this disaster.
[Enter TEUCER]
TEUCER [moving
up to Ajax’s body]
O
dearest Ajax,
my bright source of joy, my brother,
what’s happened to you. Is the rumour
true?
CHORUS LEADER
He’s dead, Teucer. That’s the truth.
TEUCER
Alas! Then I bear a heavy destiny! [980]
CHORUS LEADER
Given how things stand . . . .
TEUCER
This
is too sad.
CHORUS LEADER
. . . you have good cause to grieve.
TEUCER
This
act of his,
1160
so rash and passionate . . . .
CHORUS LEADER
Yes,
Teucer,
passion in excess.
TEUCER
This
is disastrous.
What about his son? Where on Trojan soil
can I find him?
CHORUS LEADER
He’s
in the hut—all by himself.
TEUCER [To Tecmessa]
You—bring him here as soon as possible,
in case he gets snatched by an enemy,
the way a hunter grabs a lion cub
and leaves its mother childless. Go quickly!
We need your help. For it’s a fact all men
love to laugh in triumph above the dead, 1170
when they’re stretched out before them.
[Exit TECMESSA]
CHORUS LEADER
Teucer,
when Ajax was alive, he said that you [990]
should look after his son, as you’re now
doing.
TEUCER
O this is surely the most painful sight
of anything my eyes have ever seen.
And, of all the roads I’ve travelled, the
worst,
the one most deeply painful to my heart,
is that pathway I’ve just walked along,
while trying to track you down, dearest
Ajax,
once I’d learned your fate. There was some
gossip, 1180
some tale to do with you. It spread quickly,
as if sent by a god, to all the Argives.
It said that you had wandered off and died.
I heard the details far away from here
and there I groaned with sorrow. Now I’m
here,
I see it for myself. It breaks my heart. [1000]
It’s dreadful. Come, take off this
covering,
so I get a full view of this horror.
[Attendants remove the cloak covering Ajax’s body]
O that
face—it’s so painful to see now,
so full of bitter daring. How many sorrows 1190
you have sown for me by this destruction!
Where can I go? What sort of people
will take me in, when I was no use to you
in times of trouble? No doubt Telamon,
who fathered you and me, will welcome me,
perhaps with smiles and words of kindness,
when I reach home without you. Of course he
will! [1010]
For he’s the kind of man who never smiles,
not cheerfully, even when things go well.
A man like that—what will he not say? 1200
What sort of insult will he not hurl at
me—
a bastard spawned by some battle-prize of
his,
who, because of his unmanly cowardice,
betrayed you, dearest Ajax, or by treachery
tried to seize your power and your home,
once you were dead. That’s what Telamon
will say.
He’s a bad-tempered man, and his old age
has made him harsh—his anger likes to
argue
over nothing. He’ll end up banishing me,
throw me from the land. What he’ll say of
me 1210
will make me seem a slave instead of free.
[1020]
That’s what will happen if I go back home.
Here in Troy I have many enemies,
and few ways of getting help. All this
has happened to me because you’ve been
killed.
It’s a disaster. What am I to do?
How do I raise you up, you sad corpse,
from the sharp bite of this glittering
sword,
your murderer, on which you breathed your
last?
You’ve come to sense how, in good time,
Hector, 1220
though dead, was going to slaughter you.
Look here,
by the gods—see the fate of these two men.
First, Hector was lashed tight to that
chariot rail [1030]
with the very belt Ajax had given him,
and underwent continual mutilation
until he gasped his life away.* Then
Ajax
took Hector’s gift in hand and used it
to kill himself in that death-dealing fall.
Surely a vengeful Fury forged this blade,
and that harsh craftsman Hades made that
belt? 1230
For my part, I would assert that gods
have plotted these events—they always do
in everything that mortal men go through.
If someone finds this view objectionable,
let him love his own beliefs, as I do mine.
CHORUS LEADER
Don’t stay too long. You need to think [1040]
how we can bury Ajax. And what to say.
It’s urgent. For someone coming here,
a man who is our enemy. It could be
he comes to mock at our misfortunes, a man 1240
who thrives on harm.
TEUCER
Who
is it—the man you see?
What member of the army?
CHORUS LEADER
It’s
Menelaus,
the one for whom we launched this
expedition.
TEUCER
I see him. He’s not hard to recognize
when he’s so close.
[Enter MENELAUS, with a small escort of soldiers]
MENELAUS
You
there—I order you
not to take up that corpse for burial.
Leave it where it is.
TEUCER
Why
waste your words
with such an order?
MENELAUS
I
think it’s fitting, [1050]
as does the commander of our army.
TEUCER
Then would it bother you to tell me why 1250
you issue this command?
MENELAUS
The
reason’s this:
we hoped that we were leading Ajax here,
away from home, so he’d be our ally,
someone friendly to the Argives, but
instead,
when we saw him more closely, we found out
he was more hostile than the Phrygians.*
He planned to destroy our entire army
and set off at night to take us with his
spear.
If some god had not frustrated his attempt,
we would have met the same fate he did—
1260
we’d be dead and lying there, struck down
by shameful fate, and he’d be still alive. [1060]
But now, it’s clear a god changed these
events,
and so the violence in his heart fell
elsewhere,
on sheep and cattle. And that’s the reason
there’s no one powerful enough right now
to take his corpse and set it in a grave.
Instead it will be tossed away somewhere
on the yellow sand, food for shore birds.
Remember that. Curb the anger in your heart. 1270
If we could not control him when he lived,
at least he will obey us now he’s dead.
Even if you don’t agree, our forceful
hands
will take charge of him. When he was alive,
Ajax never listened to a word I said. [1070]
And it’s a fact that when a common man
thinks it’s appropriate to disobey
those in command, he truly demonstrates
his worthless character. Within the city
the laws could never foster benefits 1280
if there was no established place for fear.
Nor can one lead the troops with wise
restraint
where there is neither fear or reverence
to act in their defence. So any man,
no matter how powerful his body grows,
must realize he’ll fall, even when
the harm to him seems trivial. A man
who has in him a sense of fear and shame
is quite secure—you can be sure of that— [1080]
but where there’s room for hostile
arrogance 1290
and men do what they want, consider how
a state like that, though it has raced ahead
with favouring winds, will, in the course of
time,
sink in the ocean depths eventually.
And so for me let fear be set in place
where it’s appropriate. Let’s not
believe
we can just do whatever we desire
and not pay the painful consequence.
These matters fluctuate—Ajax was once
a man of fiery insolence, but now 1300
it’s time for me to manifest my power.
And thus I warn you not to bury him. [1090]
If you do, you just might fall yourself
into your grave.
CHORUS LEADER
Menelaus,
after setting out such well-thought
precepts,
do not become too arrogant yourself
in dealing with the dead.
TEUCER
Fellow
soldiers,
never again will I be much surprised
if someone born a nobody goes wrong,
since those apparently of noble birth 1310
can make so many errors when they speak.
Come, tell me once more from the
beginning—
do you really think it was you personally
who led Ajax here an Argive ally?
Did he not sail to Troy all on his own,
under his own command? In what respect
are you this man’s superior? On what
ground [1100]
do you have any right to rule those men
whom he led here from home? You came to Troy
as king of Sparta. You do not govern us. 1320
Under no circumstance did some right to rule
or give him orders lie within your power,
just as he possessed no right to order you.
You sailed here a subordinate to others,
not as commander of the entire force
who could at any time tell Ajax what to do.
Go, be king of those you rule by right—
use those proud words of yours to punish
them.
But I will set this body in a grave,
as justice says I should, even though you 1330
or any other general forbids it.
I am not afraid of your pronouncements.
Ajax did not join the expedition
because that woman was a wife of yours,
as did those toiling Spartan drudges—no—
but because he’d sworn an oath to do it.*
You were no part of it. He never valued
men worth nothing. And so when you return,
come back here and bring more heralds with
you,
as well as the commander. Your vain chat 1340
is not something that really bothers me,
not while you stay the kind of man you are.
CHORUS LEADER
When things go badly, I don’t like to hear
a tone like that. Even when it’s
justified,
harsh language stings.
MENELAUS
This
mere archer [1120]
seems to entertain some big ideas.*
TEUCER
Indeed
I do.
My skill is not something to underrate.
MENELAUS
My, my—if only you possessed a shield,
how grand your boasts would be.
TEUCER
Even
with no shield,
I’d get the better of you fully armed. 1350
MENELAUS
That tongue of yours, how it likes to feed
the savage spirit inside!
TEUCER
When
a man is right,
he’s entitled to make impressive claims.
MENELAUS
Do you mean to tell me it is just
for someone to be treated generously
when he’s killed me?
TEUCER
Killed
you? Your words sound odd,
if, after being killed, you are now alive.
MENELAUS
Some god saved me. As far as Ajax knows,
I’m dead and gone.
TEUCER
Since
the gods rescued you,
you should not dishonour them.
MENELAUS
You
mean 1360
I could be violating sacred laws? [1130]
TEUCER
Yes, if you personally intervened
to prevent the burial of the dead.
MENELAUS
That’s not so with a personal enemy.
To bury him would not be right.
TEUCER
What’s
that?
Did Ajax ever march ahead in battle
as your enemy?
MENELAUS
He
hated me,
and I hated him. But you knew that.
TEUCER
Yes, he did, because you were found out—
you tampered with the vote which robbed him. 1370
MENELAUS
The judges beat him in that competition,
not me.
TEUCER
With
your deceitful secrecy
you can conceal so many crimes.
MENELAUS
Words
like that
could well prove painful to someone I know.
TEUCER
Well, I don’t think they will bring more
pain
than we’ll inflict.
MENELAUS
Once
and for all, then, [1140]
I tell you this: that man will not be
buried.
TEUCER
Then hear my answer: Ajax’s corpse
will have a burial.
MENELAUS
I
have already seen a man
with a bold tongue urging sailors on 1380
to launch a voyage during winter storms.
But you could hear no sound from him at all
once the storm got nasty. He hid himself
under a cloak and then let the sailors
step on him at will. You’re just like him,
you and your braggart mouth—a mighty
squall,
even from a tiny cloud, in no time
will snuff out your constant shouting.
TEUCER
And I have seen a man stuffed with
stupidity, [1150]
whose pride delighted in his neighbours’
grief.