3 - Ajax
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 June 2024
Summary
The opening lines of Ajax are spoken by the goddess Athena, who addresses her favourite, Odysseus, as an adherent of Harm Enemies: he is tracking down an enemy as usual, in a manner worthy of his traditionally tricky persona. She is the dearest of gods to him, and they enjoy a solidarity inherited from the Odyssey. He places himself in her hands, as he has always done in the past. But despite the bond between them, a conflict of values emerges. When Odysseus is reluctant to view the mad Ajax Athena scolds him as a coward. She implies that any kind of fear or ’reluctance’ constitutes cowardice.
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- Information
- Helping Friends and Harming EnemiesA Study in Sophocles and Greek Ethics, pp. 60 - 105Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024