Editing Ajax the Great

{{short description|Character in Greek Mythology}}
{{redirect|Aias|other uses|AIAS (disambiguation)|and|Ajax (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| image =  File:Antimenes Painter - Black-figure Amphora with Ajax Carrying the Dead Achilles - Walters 4817 - Side A.jpg
| caption = A black-figure amphora with Ajax carrying the dead [[Achilles]]. [[Walters Art Museum]], [[Baltimore]].
| name = Ajax the Great
| offspring = [[Eurysaces]], Philaeus
| consort = [[Tecmessa of Phrygia|Tecmessa]]
| abode = [[Phthia]]
| siblings = [[Teucer]], [[Trambelus]]
| parents = [[Telamon]] and [[Periboea]]
| deity_of = Prince of [[Salamis Island|Salamis]]
}}

{{Trojan War}}

'''Ajax''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|dʒ|æ|k|s}}) or '''Aias''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|aɪ|.|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Αἴας|Aíās}} {{IPA|grc|aí̯.aːs|}}, {{abbr|gen.|genitive}} {{lang|grc|Αἴαντος}} ''Aíantos''; [[Archaic Greek alphabets|archaic]] {{lang|grc|ΑΣϜΑϺ}} {{IPA|grc|aí̯.waːs|}}){{efn|Inscription on the so-called [[:File:The Suicide of Ajax.svg|Eurytios Krater]], a Corinthian black-figured column-krater dated c. 600 BC, using the [[Archaic Greek alphabets#Corinthian|Corinthian iota]] shaped like Σ.}} is a [[Greek mythology|Greek mythological]] [[Greek hero cult|hero]], the son of King [[Telamon]] and [[Periboea]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=[[Tzetzes]]|first=John|title=Allegories of the Iliad|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library|year=2015|isbn=978-0-674-96785-4|location=Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England|pages=41, Prologue 526|translator-last=Goldwyn|translator-first=Adam|translator-last2=Kokkini|translator-first2=Dimitra}}</ref> and the half-brother of [[Teucer]].<ref>[http://www.salamina.gr/english/index.htm "Salamis The Island"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090222020020/http://www.salamina.gr/english/index.htm |date=2009-02-22 }} ''Salamis The Island{{snd}}Salamina Municipality{{snd}}Greek Island''</ref> He plays an important role in the [[Trojan War]], and is portrayed as a towering figure and a warrior of great courage in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' and in the [[Epic Cycle]], a series of [[epic poems]] about the [[Trojan War]], being second only to [[Achilles]] among Greek heroes of the war.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mike Dixon-Kennedy|title=Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2U7okUE3PIcC&dq=Trojan+war+Ajax++second+only+to+Achilles&pg=PA20|year=1998|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=1-57607-094-8|page=20}}</ref> He is also referred to as "'''Telamonian Ajax'''" ({{lang|grc|Αἴας ὁ Τελαμώνιος}}, in [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] recorded as ''Aivas Tlamunus''), "'''Greater Ajax'''", or "'''Ajax the Great'''", which distinguishes him from Ajax, son of [[Oileus]], also known as [[Ajax the Lesser]].

==Family==
Ajax is the son of [[Telamon]]. Telamon was the son of [[Aeacus]] and grandson of [[Zeus]], and his first wife Periboea. By Telamon, he is also the elder [[Sibling|half-brother]] of [[Teucer]]. Through his uncle [[Peleus]] (Telamon's brother), he is the cousin of [[Achilles]].

The [[etymology]] of his given name is uncertain. By [[folk etymology]], his name was said to come from the root of ''aiazō'' {{lang|grc|αἰάζω}} which means "to lament", translating to "one who laments; mourner". [[Hesiod]] provided a different folk etymology in a story in his "[[Catalogue of Women|The Great Eoiae]]", where Ajax the great receives his name when Heracles prays to Zeus that a son might be born to Telemon and Eriboea: Zeus sends an eagle (''aetos'' αετός) as a sign, and Heracles then bids the parents call their son Ajax after the eagle.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Most |first1=Glenn Warren |title=Hesiod, The Shield. Catalogue of Women. Other fragments. |date=2007 |publisher=Loeb Classical Library |isbn=978-0-674-99721-9 |page=295, fragment 188 |edition=2018 revised}}</ref>

Many illustrious [[Athenians]], including [[Cimon]], [[Miltiades the Younger|Miltiades]], [[Alcibiades]] and the historian [[Thucydides]], traced their descent from Ajax. On an Etruscan tomb dedicated to Racvi Satlnei in [[Bologna#Antiquity and Middle Ages|Bologna]] (5th century BC), there is an inscription that says ''aivastelmunsl'', which means "[family] of Telamonian Ajax".<ref>Papachristos, Maria. ''Miti e Leggende. Volume 5 of Miti e Leggende dell'antica Grecia''. Edizioni R.E.I. (2015). {{ISBN|9782372971621}}</ref>

== Mythology ==

=== Description ===
In the account of [[Dares Phrygius|Dares the Phrygian]], Ajax was illustrated as ". . .powerful. His voice was clear, his hair black and curly. He was perfectly single-minded and unrelenting in the onslaught of battle."<ref>[[Dares Phrygius]], ''History of the Fall of Troy'' [https://www.theoi.com/Text/DaresPhrygius.html 13]</ref> Meanwhile, In Homer's ''Iliad'' he is described as of great stature, colossal frame, and strongest of all the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]]. Known as the "bulwark of the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]]",<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+6.5 6.5].</ref> he was trained by the [[centaur]] [[Chiron]] (who had trained Ajax's father Telamon and Achilles' father [[Peleus]] and later died of an accidental wound inflicted by a poison arrow belonging to [[Heracles]]). He was described as fearless, strong, and powerful but also with a very high level of combat intelligence. Ajax commands his army wielding a huge shield made of seven cowhides with a layer of bronze. Most notably, Ajax is not wounded in any of the battles described in the ''Iliad'', and he is the only principal character on either side who does not receive substantial assistance from any of the gods (except for Agamemnon) who take part in the battles, although, in book 13, [[Poseidon]] strikes Ajax with his staff, renewing his strength. Unlike [[Diomedes]], [[Agamemnon]], and [[Achilles]], Ajax appears as a mainly defensive warrior, instrumental in the defense of the Greek camp and ships and that of [[Patroclus]]' body. When the Trojans are on the offensive, he is often seen covering the retreat of the Achaeans. Significantly, while one of the deadliest heroes in the whole poem, Ajax has no [[aristeia]] depicting him on the offensive.[[File: The Belvedere Torso depicting Ajax.jpg|thumb|The [[Belvedere Torso]], a marble sculpture carved in the first century BC depicting Ajax.]]

===Trojan War===
In the ''Iliad'', Ajax is notable for his abundant strength and courage, seen particularly in two fights with [[Hector]]. In Book 7, Ajax is chosen by lot to meet Hector in a duel which lasts most of a whole day. Ajax at first gets the better of the encounter, wounding Hector with his spear and knocking him down with a large stone,<ref>''[[Iliad]]'', 7.268–272.</ref> but Hector battles on until the [[herald]]s, acting at the direction of Zeus, call a draw, with the two combatants exchanging gifts, Ajax giving Hector his "war-belt, glistening purple" and Hector giving Ajax his "silver-studded sword"<ref>''[[Iliad]]'', 7.349–351.</ref>

The second fight between Ajax and Hector occurs when the latter breaks into the Mycenaean camp, and battles with the Greeks among the ships. In Book 14, Ajax throws a giant rock at Hector which almost kills him.<ref>''[[Iliad]]'', 14.408–417.</ref> In Book 15, Hector is restored to his strength by [[Apollo]] and returns to attack the ships. Ajax, wielding an enormous spear as a weapon and leaping from ship to ship, holds off the [[Troy|Trojan]] armies virtually single-handedly. In Book 16, Hector and Ajax duel once again.  Hector then disarms Ajax (although Ajax is not hurt) and Ajax is forced to retreat, seeing that Zeus is clearly favoring Hector. Hector and the Trojans succeed in burning one Greek ship, the culmination of an assault that almost finishes the war. Ajax is responsible for the death of many Trojan lords, including [[Phorcys (Trojan War)|Phorcys]].

Ajax often fought in tandem with his brother Teucer, known for his skill with the bow.  Ajax would wield his magnificent shield, as Teucer stood behind picking off enemy Trojans.

Achilles was absent during these encounters because of his feud with Agamemnon. In Book 9, Agamemnon and the other Mycenaean chiefs send Ajax, [[Odysseus]] and [[Phoenix (son of Amyntor)|Phoenix]] to the tent of Achilles in an attempt to reconcile with the great warrior and induce him to return to the fight. Although Ajax speaks earnestly and is well received, he does not succeed in convincing Achilles.

When Patroclus is killed, Hector tries to steal his body. Ajax, assisted by [[Menelaus]], succeeds in fighting off the Trojans and taking the body back with his chariot; however, the Trojans have already stripped Patroclus of Achilles' armor. Ajax's prayer to Zeus to remove the fog that has descended on the battle to allow them to fight or die in the light of day has become proverbial.  According to [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], in total, Ajax killed 28 people at Troy.<ref>Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae3.html 114].</ref>
[[File:François Tomb Carlo Ruspi 01.jpg|thumb|A copy of the 4th century BC fresco from the [[François Tomb]], showing the sacrifice of Trojan slaves. Ajax the Great is the second from the right]]

====Death====
[[File:The Argument between Ajax and Odysseus over Achilles' armour, by Agostino Masucci.jpg|thumb|The Argument between Ajax and Odysseus over Achilles' armour, by Agostino Masucci]]
[[File:Ajax (Carstens).jpg|thumb|''Sorrowful Ajax'' (Asmus Jacob Carstens, c. 1791)]]
As the ''Iliad'' comes to a close, Ajax and the majority of other Greek warriors are alive and well. When Achilles dies, killed by [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]] (with help from Apollo), Ajax and Odysseus are the heroes who fight against the Trojans to get the body and bury it with his companion, Patroclus.<ref>Homer, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Od.+24.2 ''Odyssey''].</ref> Ajax, with his great shield and spear, manages to recover the body and carry it to the ships, while Odysseus fights off the Trojans.<ref>Arctinus Miletus, "Aethiopis"</ref> After the burial, each claims Achilles' magical armor, which had been forged on [[Mount Olympus]] by the smith-god [[Hephaestus]], for himself as recognition for his heroic efforts. A competition is held to determine who deserves the armor. Ajax argues that because of his strength and the fighting he has done for the Greeks, including saving the ships from Hector, and driving him off with a massive rock, he deserves this magical protection.<ref>Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'', translated by Rolfe Humphries (Indianapolis: Indiana University, 1955), Book XIII, pp. 305–309</ref>  However, Odysseus proves to be more eloquent, and with the aid of Athena, the council gives him the armor. Ajax, distraught by this result and "conquered by his own grief", plunges his sword into his own chest, killing himself.<ref>''Metamorphoses'', trans. Humphries, p.&nbsp;318</ref> In the [[Little Iliad]], Ajax goes mad with rage at Odysseus' victory and slaughters the cattle of the Greeks. After returning to his senses, he kills himself out of shame.<ref>Lesches of Mitylene, "The Little Iliad (Ilias Mikra)"</ref>  
The [[Belvedere Torso]], a marble torso now in the Vatican Museums, is considered to depict Ajax "in the act of contemplating his [[Suicide of Ajax vase|suicide]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Schede/MPCs/MPCs_Sala06_01.html|title=The Belvedere Torso; Cat. 1192|publisher=[[Vatican Museums]]|access-date=29 January 2015}}</ref>

In [[Sophocles]]' play ''[[Ajax (Sophocles)|Ajax]]'', a famous retelling of Ajax's demise, after the armor is awarded to Odysseus, Ajax feels so insulted that he wants to kill Agamemnon and Menelaus. Athena intervenes and clouds his mind and vision, and he goes to a flock of sheep and slaughters them, imagining they are the Achaean leaders, including Odysseus and Agamemnon. When he comes to his senses, covered in blood, he realizes that what he has done has diminished his honor, and decides that he prefers to kill himself rather than live in shame. He does so with the same sword which Hector gave him when they exchanged presents.<ref>''[[Iliad]]'', 7.303</ref> From his blood sprang a red flower, as at the death of [[Hyacinth (mythology)|Hyacinthus]], which bore on its leaves the initial letters of his name ''Ai'', also expressive of lament.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] 1.35.4</ref> His ashes were deposited in a golden urn on the [[Rhoiteion#The Tomb of Ajax|Rhoetean]] promontory at the entrance of the [[Hellespont]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Ajax (son of Telamon)|display=Ajax |volume=1 |page=452}}</ref>

Ajax's half-brother Teucer stood trial before his father for not bringing Ajax's body or famous weapons back. Teucer was acquitted for responsibility but found guilty of negligence. He was disowned by his father and was not allowed to return to his home, the island of [[Salamis Island|Salamis]] off the coast of Athens.

Homer is somewhat vague about the precise manner of Ajax's death but does ascribe it to his loss in the dispute over Achilles' armor; when Odysseus visits [[Hades]], he begs the soul of Ajax to speak to him, but Ajax, still resentful over the old quarrel, refuses and descends silently back into [[Erebus]].

Like Achilles, he is represented (although not by Homer) as living after his death on the [[Snake Island (Black Sea)|island of Leuke]] at the mouth of the [[Danube]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''[http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias3B.html Description of Greece]'' iii. 19. § 13</ref> Ajax, who in the post-Homeric legend is described as the grandson of Aeacus and the great-grandson of Zeus, was the [[tutelary deity|tutelary hero]] of the island of Salamis, where he had a temple and an image, and where a festival called ''Aianteia'' was celebrated in his honour.<ref>Pausanias 1.35</ref> At this festival a couch was set up, on which the [[panoply]] of the hero was placed, a practice which recalls the Roman [[Lectisternium]]. The identification of Ajax with the family of Aeacus was chiefly a matter which concerned the Athenians, after Salamis had come into their possession, on which occasion [[Solon]] is said to have inserted a line in the ''[[Iliad]]'' (2.557–558),<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=0AE5CEA2E5E28FE965FF802C44870114?doc=Hom.+Il.+2.557 2.557–258].</ref> for the purpose of supporting the Athenian claim to the island. Ajax then became an [[Attica|Attic]] hero; he was worshipped at Athens, where he had a statue in the market-place, and the tribe ''Aiantis'' was named after him.<ref name="EB1911"/> Pausanias also relates that a gigantic skeleton, its kneecap {{convert|5|in|cm}} in diameter, appeared on the beach near [[Sigeion]], on the Trojan coast; these bones were identified as those of Ajax.

===Gallery===
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Akhilleus Aias MGEt 16757.jpg|[[Achilles]] and Ajax Playing a Game. Black-figure vase painting by [[Exekias]], ca. 540 BCE. Currently in the [https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/museo-gregoriano-etrusco/sala-xix--emiciclo-inferiore--collezione-dei-vasi--ceramica-atti/anfora-attica-a-figure-nere-firmata-da-exekias.html Vatican Museum].
File:Exekias Suicide d Ajax 01.jpg|[[Suicide of Ajax Vase|Suicide of Ajax]]. Black-figure vase painting by [[Exekias]], ca. 540 BCE. Currently in the Château-musée de [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]] in France.
File:Ajax suicide BM F480.jpg|The suicide of Ajax. Etruscan red-figured calyx-krater, ca. 400–350 BC. Currently in [https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1867-0508-1328 British Museum].
File:(11) Flaxman Ilias 1795, Zeichnung 1793, 186 x 283 mm.jpg|Ajax battling [[Hector]], engraving by [[John Flaxman]], 1795
File:Achilles Ajax dice Louvre MNB911 n2.jpg|[[Achilles]] and Ajax play a game of dice on this early 5th-century BC [[lekythos]], a type of oil-storing vessel associated with funeral rites
File:Attic red-figure kylix by Brygos Painter, top - Getty Museum (86.AE.286).jpg|A [[Red-figure pottery|red-figure]] [[kylix]] with a depiction of the suicide of Ajax, attributed to the [[Brygos Painter]], ca. 490-480 BCE. Currently in the [https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103W7A Getty Museum collection]. 
</gallery>

==Palace==
In 2001, Yannis Lolos began excavating a [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] palace near the village of Kanakia on the island of [[Salamis Island|Salamis]] which he theorized to be the home of the mythological Aiacid dynasty. The multi-story structure covers {{convert|750|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} and had perhaps 30 rooms. The palace appears to have been abandoned at the height of the Mycenaean civilization, roughly the same time the Trojan War may have occurred.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.thetimes.com/article/palace-of-homers-hero-rises-out-of-the-myths-s0l095p6cg5 | location=London | work=[[The Times]] | title=Palace of Homers hero rises out of the myths | first=John | last=Carr | date=2006-03-28|access-date=1 April 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12080932| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201029174010/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12080932| url-status = dead| archive-date = October 29, 2020| location=Athens | work= NBC News | title=Archeologist links Palace to Legendary Ajax | first=Nicholas | last=Paphitis | date=30 March 2006|access-date=1 April 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Corpus vasorum antiquorum]]
* [[Troy VII]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Homer. ''Iliad'', 7.181–312.
* Homer, ''Odyssey'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=32D8E739DAB152D0549392B735061727?doc=Hom.+Od.+11.543&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136 11.543–67].
* ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]''. ''Epitome'' III, 11-V, 7.
*[[Robert Graves|Graves, Robert]], ''The Greek Myths'', Harmondsworth, London, England, Penguin Books, 1960. {{ISBN|978-0143106715}}
*Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition.'' Penguin Books Limited. 2017. {{ISBN|978-0-241-98338-6}}
* Ovid. ''Metamorphoses'' 12.620–13.398.
* [[Friedrich Schiller]], ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311231522/http://www.autoren-gedichte.de/schiller/das-siegesfest.htm Das Siegerfest]''.
* [[Pindar]]'s ''Nemeans'', 7, 8; ''Isthmian 4''
*[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes, John]], ''Allegories of the Iliad'' translated by Goldwyn, Adam J. and Kokkini, Dimitra. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Harvard University Press, 2015. {{ISBN|978-0-674-96785-4}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* A translation of the debate and Ajax's death. http://classics.mit.edu/Ovid/metam.13.thirteenth.html
* {{cite web
  | first=Nicholas
  | last= Paphitis
  | url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12080932
  | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531122234/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12080932/
  | url-status=dead
  | archive-date=May 31, 2014
  | title=Archaeologist links palace to legendary Ajax
  | work=[[NBC News]]
  | date=2006-03-30
  | access-date=2006-03-31
}}

{{Characters in the Odyssey}}
{{Characters in the Iliad}}
{{Metamorphoses in Greek mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajax (Mythology)}}
[[Category:Suitors of Helen]]
[[Category:Achaean Leaders]]
[[Category:Kings of Argos]]
[[Category:Characters in the Odyssey]]
[[Category:Suicides in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Tutelary gods]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Mythological Salaminians]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses into flowers in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Greek mythological heroes]]