Ajax: The Hero Of Ajax By Sophocles

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In Sophocles’ tragic play, Ajax, there are several diverse characters who bring varying character traits to the plot. Amongst all of these characters, Ajax, the hero of the play, emerges as a significantly strong character representing greatness, despite his flaws. The plot is centered around Ajax’s demise and the way this is dealt with by these characters in the play. While there are numerous factors that cause Ajax to commit suicide by impaling himself on Hector’s sword, perhaps the goddess Athena is the most culpable of his death, thereby making her an unattractive character, at least in this play. The play begins with a speech from Athena, with this being the only Sophoclean play to open with the lines of a god (2). This probably shows …show more content…
We learn from the exchange of dialogue between Athena and Odysseus that she, with a sort of divine intervention, has cast “hard-to-bear imaginings over his eyes and kept him from this incurable joy, diverting him to the flocks of sheep and mingled oxen” (5, 52-53). The grey-eyed goddess even enjoys using her powers in this way, and this is seen when she makes Odysseus invisible to Ajax upon visiting him at Odysseus’ hut. She insists that Odysseus stay to see the ‘madman’, asking him rhetorically “Isn’t it the sweetest pleasure to laugh in the face of one’s foes?” (6, …show more content…
This makes Ajax’s character, in many ways, the most pitiable character of the play. While some would argue that his intention to kill his ally undermines his innocence, it can be noted that, as Odysseus puts it “anything can happen if a god contrives it” (7, 87), and such is the case with Ajax. If Athena please, instead of making Ajax see mirages of the warriors in cattle, she could have dissuaded him from killing anyone, or made the mirages

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