Ajax

Not to be confused with Sophocles’ tragedy Ajax.

Ajax was a hero in Greek mythology, son of King Telamon of Salamis and Periboea. In Homer’s Iliad he is the greatest Greek warrior at Troy after Achilles, the “bulwark of the Achaeans”. He is also known as Telamonian Ajax, Greater Ajax, or Ajax the Great, to be distinguished from Ajax the Lesser, son of Oileus.

Who Was Ajax in Greek Mythology?

Ajax was the second greatest warrior in the Greek army at Troy, ranked below only his cousin Achilles (Iliad 2.768–769). He was the son of King Telamon of Salamis, famous for his enormous tower shield and his role as the defender of the Greek camp, and he ended his own life after losing the contest for the armour of Achilles.

• Parents: Telamon, king of Salamis, and Periboea, daughter of Alcathous (Apollodorus, Library 3.12.7; Pausanias 1.42.4); half-brother of the archer Teucer
• Lineage: grandson of Aeacus and great-grandson of Zeus, which makes him a first cousin of Achilles, whose father Peleus was Telamon’s brother (Apollodorus, Library 3.12.6)
• At Troy: led twelve ships from Salamis (Iliad 2.557)
• Death: suicide by his own sword, after Achilles’ armour was awarded to Odysseus instead (Sophocles, Ajax; Apollodorus, Epitome 5.6–7)

Why Is He Called Ajax the Great?

He is called Ajax the Great, or Telamonian Ajax, to separate him from a second Greek commander of the same name who fought in the same war – Ajax the Lesser, son of Oileus. The two appear side by side in the Iliad and are sometimes called the Aiantes (Iliad 12.335).

• His Greek name is Aias (Αἴας); Ajax is the Latin form that reached English
• Ajax the Great came from Salamis and was famous for his size, his shield, and his steadiness
• Apollodorus says that Telamon named his son Ajax because, when Heracles had prayed that Telamon might have a male child, an eagle appeared after the prayer (Library 3.12.7)
• Ajax the Lesser came from Locris and was much smaller than Telamonian Ajax (Iliad 2.527–529); he is remembered mainly for his outrage against Cassandra during the sack of Troy (Pausanias 1.15.2; 5.11.5)

Ajax in the Trojan War

Ajax was the wall the Greek army stood behind. Where Achilles and Diomedes are attackers, Ajax is almost always defending – the camp, the ships, a retreat, or the body of a fallen comrade.

• Helen, pointing out the Greek leaders to Priam, names him “huge Ajax, the bulwark of the Achaeans”, and Priam had first asked who was the great warrior who stood taller than the rest by head and shoulders (Iliad 3.226–229)
• He fought Hector to a draw in single combat (Iliad 7.206–312), knocked Hector down with a stone (Iliad 14.409–420), held the ships until Zeus’ will turned the battle: Hector cut off the head of his spear and the Trojans set a ship on fire while Ajax gave way (Iliad 16.102–124)
• After Achilles was killed, Ajax carried his body out of the fighting while Odysseus held off the Trojans (Apollodorus, Epitome 5.4)
• He often fought beside his half-brother Teucer, who shot arrows from behind his shield (Iliad 8.266–272)

Ajax Portrayal

He was described as being particularly tall, extremely strong and steadfast; Priam sees him as the huge Achaean who stands head and shoulders above the rest (Iliad 3.226–229). The old claim that the centaur Chiron taught him alongside Achilles is not found in the ancient texts (Homer names only Achilles as Chiron’s pupil, Iliad 11.831–832) and has been removed.

The Shield of Ajax

His shield was his emblem: a tower of seven layers of oxhide faced with an eighth layer of bronze, made by the leatherworker Tychius of Hyle (Iliad 7.219–223). It is the opposite of Achilles’ shield in one respect: Achilles’ armour was forged by the god Hephaestus, while Ajax’s shield was made by a mortal craftsman.

• Teucer sheltered behind it between shots, making the pair a single fighting unit (Iliad 8.266–272)
• His son was named Eurysaces, meaning “broad shield,” after it; in Sophocles Ajax gives the boy the seven-hide shield on his deathbed (Ajax 574–576)

Ajax and Hector

During the Trojan War, Ajax was chosen by lot to duel Hector, prince of Troy, a duel which lasted into the evening (Iliad 7.181–189). As night fell the heralds Talthybius and Idaeus stopped the fight (Iliad 7.274–282) and the two warriors exchanged gifts. Ajax gave Hector a bright purple belt and received a silver-studded sword (Iliad 7.299–305). The two heroes met again later in the war, when the Trojans had almost reached the Greek ships. Ajax struck Hector in the chest with a great stone and knocked him down (Iliad 14.409–420). In another fight Hector cut off the head of Ajax’s spear, Zeus favouring the Trojans, and a ship was set on fire (Iliad 16.114–123). Ajax is not described as wounded in these fights: Hector’s spear strikes the crossed straps on his chest but the straps protect him (Iliad 14.402–406).

Ajax and Achilles

In the battles described above, Achilles was absent as a result of a dispute between him and Agamemnon, leader of the Achaeans. Ajax took the lead in the fighting, and he was one of the three envoys sent to persuade Achilles to return, where he spoke bluntly to him (Iliad 9.622–642). Achilles returned to fight only after the death of his friend Patroclus.

Ajax's Death

After Achilles was killed, Ajax along with Odysseus fought against the Trojans to retrieve his body. His arms were then offered as a prize to the bravest, and Ajax and Odysseus came forward as competitors. In the Odyssey the judges were the sons of the Trojans and Pallas Athena, and Odysseus won (Odyssey 11.543–547); Apollodorus says that the judges were the Trojans or, according to some, the allies (Epitome 5.6). Ajax, disordered by chagrin, planned a night attack on the army (Epitome 5.6) and ended by killing himself with his sword (Epitome 5.7).

The Madness of Ajax

Between the lost contest and the suicide comes the episode that made Ajax a tragic figure. In Sophocles’ play, Athena drives him mad as he goes to kill the Atreidae and Odysseus, and he slaughters the army’s cattle and herdsmen instead, taking them for the Achaeans (Apollodorus, Epitome 5.6; Sophocles, Ajax 91–117). Athena then shows him to Odysseus (Ajax 1–90).

• When his sanity returned and he saw what he had done, the shame was worse than the original injustice; his concubine Tecmessa pleads with him for her own sake and for their son Eurysaces (Sophocles, Ajax 485–524).
• The sword he fell on was the one Hector had given him after their duel: in the play Ajax himself calls it a gift of his greatest enemy (Sophocles, Ajax 661–665, 815–822). The belt Ajax gave Hector is mentioned in the same exchange of gifts (Iliad 7.303–305).
• Apollodorus says that Agamemnon forbade his body to be burnt, so that he alone of all who fell at Ilium was buried in a coffin; his grave was at Rhoeteum (Epitome 5.7).
• In Sophocles, Menelaus and Agamemnon forbid his burial; Teucer defends his brother and Odysseus persuades Agamemnon to allow it (Sophocles, Ajax 1047–1049, 1332–1345).
• The story is told in full in Sophocles’ tragedy Ajax, in which Odysseus himself calls him the best of the Greeks at Troy after Achilles (Ajax 1340–1341).

The Silence of Ajax in the Underworld

Ajax has the most famous silence in Greek literature. When Odysseus meets the dead in the Odyssey, the shade of Ajax stands apart, still angry about the armour. Odysseus says he wishes he had never won it, because the earth holds so great a man as a result, and he addresses him gently (Odyssey 11.543–562). Ajax says nothing and walks away into the darkness among the other shades (Odyssey 11.563–564).

• Odysseus says the Achaeans mourn Ajax as they mourn Achilles, and blames Zeus for his fate (Odyssey 11.553–560)
• Teucer had to defend himself before Telamon over his brother’s death (Pausanias 1.28.11)
• Ajax was honoured on Salamis, where Pausanias saw a temple of Ajax with an ebony statue; the Athenians also paid him honours, and he is one of the heroes after whom an Athenian tribe was named (Pausanias 1.35.3; 1.5.2; Herodotus 5.66.2). Before the battle of Salamis the Greeks called on Ajax and Telamon for help (Herodotus 8.64.2)

Ajax Sources

Homer, Iliad 7.206–312, 2.527–529, 2.557, 2.768–769, 3.226–229, 7.219–223, 8.266–272, 9.622–642, 12.335, 14.402–420, 16.102–124, and Odyssey 11.543–564; Sophocles, Ajax; Apollodorus, Library 3.12.6–7 and Epitome 5.4–7; Pausanias 1.5.2, 1.15.2, 1.28.11, 1.35.3, 1.42.4, 5.11.5; Herodotus 5.66.2, 8.64.2.

See Also: Trojan War, Hector, Odysseus, The Madness of Ajax, Telamon, Achilles, Teucer, Ajax the Lesser, Chiron