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A review by notwellread
Sophocles: Ajax by Sophocles
5.0
Edit: Originally I gave this a 5, then on re-rereading a 4.5, but I'm putting it back up to a 5 because (although I still have qualms about Ajax's characterisation) I think that 5 stars best reflects how I regard it in relation to Sophocles' other tragedies (I'd say it's almost as good as Antigone, though not quite, but I consider it (even) better than Electra, which I gave 4 stars).
I really love this play, and my only real critique that holds me off from giving five stars is that I’m not entirely comfortable with the way Ajax himself is characterised (in short, he treats his supporters horribly, although they are essentially all he has). There is a great deal to say on the positive side, however, and this is a very ‘deep’ play both psychologically and dramatically, so I cannot possibly cover everything but I will try and deal with the major points.
We are obviously meant to sympathise with him, and although I feel for his situation a great deal I cannot connect with his response to it. In the end it is Odysseus, who we would expect to pose as the antagonist, who gives us the most sympathetically portrayed heroic figure, and the Atreidae (Agaememnon and Menelaus, the sons of Atreus) who provide antagonists in a sense, and although Odysseus is portrayed very differently in Sophocles’ Philoctetes both characterisations are in keeping with the Iliad. Again in connection with epic, the rivalry between Odysseus and Ajax is one of brains versus brawn, and one that never comes close to any resolution – in Book 23 of the Iliad the two have a wrestling match and Achilles essentially has to pull them off one another, telling them that they’ve both demonstrated their prowess, and similarly here, although Odysseus obviously gets both the armour and the better ending, the competition, and the animosity it brings, is never properly resolved. By extension, Odysseus’ popularity and favour over Ajax (both by the gods and the army) provide a key source of sympathy for Ajax, rejected by the gods, humiliated by Athena, and sabotaged by Odysseus and the rest of the troops alike: he is not one who can be forgiven for his actions, (like Oedipus or Antigone), but one who is pitied for his desperate circumstances, (like Medea or even Clytemnestra and her children in the Oresteia).
I haven’t read this in Greek, unfortunately (though I have read many of Sophocles’ other plays in Greek), and I am sure it is even better in Greek, but unless I eventually come to read it in the original I don’t think I can presume this judgement entirely. This is a reread for me, however, returning to the text after a few years, and this time around the conflicts of loyalties particularly stood out and drew me in: it came to light that in the argument over Ajax’s funerary rites (the debate over the right to a proper burial mirroring another Sophoclean favourite, Antigone) Agamemnon only agrees to it because he needs Odysseus’ loyalty in the long term, and still disagrees with it fundamentally, and similarly Teucer makes his peace with Odysseus and his request to participate but still will not let him touch the body – indeed, many people today still fear leaving someone on bad terms and never getting the chance to reconcile. Sophocles is generally considered the best tragedian, and this is without a doubt one of his best works: people who only have the time or patience to cover one or two should feel compelled to seek it out.
I really love this play, and my only real critique that holds me off from giving five stars is that I’m not entirely comfortable with the way Ajax himself is characterised (in short, he treats his supporters horribly, although they are essentially all he has). There is a great deal to say on the positive side, however, and this is a very ‘deep’ play both psychologically and dramatically, so I cannot possibly cover everything but I will try and deal with the major points.
We are obviously meant to sympathise with him, and although I feel for his situation a great deal I cannot connect with his response to it. In the end it is Odysseus, who we would expect to pose as the antagonist, who gives us the most sympathetically portrayed heroic figure, and the Atreidae (Agaememnon and Menelaus, the sons of Atreus) who provide antagonists in a sense, and although Odysseus is portrayed very differently in Sophocles’ Philoctetes both characterisations are in keeping with the Iliad. Again in connection with epic, the rivalry between Odysseus and Ajax is one of brains versus brawn, and one that never comes close to any resolution – in Book 23 of the Iliad the two have a wrestling match and Achilles essentially has to pull them off one another, telling them that they’ve both demonstrated their prowess, and similarly here, although Odysseus obviously gets both the armour and the better ending, the competition, and the animosity it brings, is never properly resolved. By extension, Odysseus’ popularity and favour over Ajax (both by the gods and the army) provide a key source of sympathy for Ajax, rejected by the gods, humiliated by Athena, and sabotaged by Odysseus and the rest of the troops alike: he is not one who can be forgiven for his actions, (like Oedipus or Antigone), but one who is pitied for his desperate circumstances, (like Medea or even Clytemnestra and her children in the Oresteia).
I haven’t read this in Greek, unfortunately (though I have read many of Sophocles’ other plays in Greek), and I am sure it is even better in Greek, but unless I eventually come to read it in the original I don’t think I can presume this judgement entirely. This is a reread for me, however, returning to the text after a few years, and this time around the conflicts of loyalties particularly stood out and drew me in: it came to light that in the argument over Ajax’s funerary rites (the debate over the right to a proper burial mirroring another Sophoclean favourite, Antigone) Agamemnon only agrees to it because he needs Odysseus’ loyalty in the long term, and still disagrees with it fundamentally, and similarly Teucer makes his peace with Odysseus and his request to participate but still will not let him touch the body – indeed, many people today still fear leaving someone on bad terms and never getting the chance to reconcile. Sophocles is generally considered the best tragedian, and this is without a doubt one of his best works: people who only have the time or patience to cover one or two should feel compelled to seek it out.