Reader

AGAMEMNON If you went mad, Ajax, and killed only yourself, instead of all of us as you had intended, why do you blame Odysseus? Why wouldn’t you look at him the other day, when he came to consult the prophet, Tiresias; cf. Odyssey, XI. 90 ff. and 541-565. or even deign to speak to your fellow-soldier and comrade, but went striding past him with your head in the air? AJAX And quite right, too, Agamemnon. He was personally to blame for my madness, by being my only rival for the arms. The arms of the dead Achilles offered by Thetis as a prize for the bravest of the Greeks. AGAMEMNON Did you expect to be unopposed and to overcome us all without a struggle? AJAX Yes, under the circumstances. The armour belonged to me by natural right, as it was my cousin’s, and the rest of you, though far superior to him, wouldn’t compete, but left the prize for me; the son of Laertes, however, whom I’d often saved when in danger of being cut to pieces by the Phrygians, claimed he was my superior and more deserving of the arms.

AGAMEMNON Blame Thetis, then, my good man. She ought to have left you the arms as a legacy to a kinsman, but she brought them and delivered them up to the community. AJAX No, Odysseus is to blame, as the only one to make a rival claim. AGAMEMNON There’s some excuse for him, Ajax, as he’s only a man, and was eager for glory, the sweetest thing of all, the thing for which each of us faced danger, especially as he was judged your better—and, what’s more, by Trojans. Cf. Odyssey, XI, 547. AJAX I know who voted against me, but it’s not right to discuss the gods. However, as far as Odysseus is concerned, I couldn’t stop myself from hating him, even if Athena herself ordered me to do so.