Ajax's Play : Athena And Odysseus

Greek theater encompassed many aspects that reflected the moral values and ideals of society. Their customs were tightly woven into the scripts of plays. Antigone and Oedipus the King, two renowned works of the Greek playwright Sophocles, explore these values through a plot thick with corruption, virtue, and determination. These plays reveal the burdens two Theban kings, Oedipus and Creon, as their lies and poor judgment corrode the integrity of their city, their families and themselves. Possessing a strong faith in their respective gods, the characters of these Greek plays are often led astray as they try to escape the twisted hand of fate, further warping their perception of reality. As their vain

The stories of mythology involve numerous tales about the Gods and their interactions with humans and creatures alike that led to the unforeseen creations. In the tales of the Earliest Heroes, the materials are taken from a number of sources that vary from Greek/Roman poets to the Odyssey itself, and are then woven together to create a more static tale. The classic tale of Odysseus and the Cyclops display some of the more prevalent roles in Greek mythology. An intriguing aspect is that the first part of the story told in the book goes back to the Odyssey, though a thousand years separate the beginning from the end. This demonstrates the degrees of the course of Greek literature. Evidently, the tale focuses on the craftiness and valor of Odysseus for being able to escape the Cyclops that he encounters on his way home from the Trojan War. His ability to do so pertains to not only his brute strength but also his clever insight and thinking.When none of the men that accompany Odysseus are able to conjure a plan to escape

Odysseus is a quintessential hero of greek culture, embodying many of the traits and ideals that the greeks valued in a hero. His qualities and behavior stand in stark contrast to many of the antagonists of the story, who spurn the traditions and customs of the greeks and threaten the safety of Odysseus and his crew. By analyzing the nature of these antagonists, and the interactions between them and Odysseus, greek values and ideals become apparent. Furthermore, while it is obvious that greek culture played a major role in shaping the events and outcomes of the story, these values reflect how the greeks saw themselves and how they saw other peoples. By closely examining the elements of the epic, such as the actions and portrayals of the characters,

However, it must be added that Creon’s points of view and actions can nevertheless also be justified. By studying the destiny of each character, and how each of their fates come to pass, one can get a clearer understanding of how and why Sophocles influences the audience into favoring Antigone and her domestic role, rather than Creon and his cold inflexibility. The contrasting views and principles that drive each character deserve assessment as the opposing passions driving each of them, lead to the play’s tragic, dramatic and poignant conclusion.

The idea of gender fluidity is not necessarily an incorrect statement as both Odysseus and Athena take on both female and male disguises and possess both “male” and “female” qualities. Similarly, in one Greek comedy “Thesmophoriazusae,” men dress up as women to infiltrate a conference as they believe these “mad” women are planning to kill one of the Greek playwrights Euripides. However, in the festival the men discover women acting as noble citizens of Greece and make peace with them by the end of the comedy. While not written in entirely similar time periods, these two texts suggest the concept of crossdressing existed and furthers the concept of gender fluidity. While one thing does not obviously lead to

For a play titled Ajax, the exposition serves as a curious contrast to the rest of the story. By introducing the tragedy in media res with Athena and Odysseus, Sophocles skips past the fuss of the armor debacle and instead delves straight into the aftermath of the event. Athena, who knows of Ajax’s deadly intentions, chooses to redirect his violence towards the innocent livestock. Seeing that this act was Ajax’s definitive moment, not including it in the play raises the question, what role does Athena play in setting the course of the story? It is generally thought Athena is callous and cruel and that she is punishing Ajax for his attempt upon the chieftains, but there is hardly anything in the play to justify such assumptions. I will argue Athena’s spell over Ajax is an act of salvation rather than an act of punishment and through this intervention Ajax attains honor after death with his proper burial. This not only provides insight into Athena’s behavior but also brings the play to a full circle with the reintegration of Odysseus as an instrument of Athena’s intentions.

Throughout the many novels and plays written throughout time, each story demonstrates an importance found in the world. From classic plays to merely masterpieces in literature, we learn lessons about life and detect similarities between characters and figures of today’s society. Woven into Sophocles’ Antigone are the many underlying themes, motifs, and concepts that teach us still today. We use these instances of learning to compare them to our lives and to the lives of modern-day figures. For instance, the main character Antigone shows a wide range of passion through her actions.

We see Athena and Odysseus’ relationship develop through The Odyssey. In book seven, we see Athena care for Odysseus. Odysseus wanted to speak with the lord of the Phaiakians who, “do not have very much patience with men from the outlands.. (Page 112, line 32)” Athena, the cunning goddess she is, advises Odysseus to seek the queen and she protects him in a “magical mist … as she cared for him lovingly.

Each time he confronts an obstacle, he accepts it without anger or doubt and takes the guidance and advice that he receives along the way and follows it precisely. The goddess, Leucothea, appears to him in the form of a bird and instructs him to use her veil in order to save himself from drowning, and then to throw it back into the sea once he reaches land safely. In spite of the terrible storm (the obstacle/conflict), he remains calm because he is physically capable and does what he is told, and thus reaches land safely. Achilles deals with external conflicts impulsively, selfishly, and without any formation of an overall plan. For example, when he has an argument with Agamemnon (about stealing his girl, which is the conflict) he decides to refrain from battle and pout in his tent for months. As a result, many Achaean warriors die, as well as Achilles’ closest friend (Patroclus). These are not the actions that one should expect from a

The build up of Ajax’s story, and its resolute end, remain consistent in both Ovid’s and Sophocles’ versions, but the circumstances around the reasons of Ajax’s emanant suicide, change, resulting in the Sophocles version no longer being Ajax’s own decision. True, both versions have Ajax’s life coming to an end by his own hand, but when another person influences one’s thoughts and actions, are the resulting decisions truly one’s own?

There are many factors that made Sophocles’ personal background uniquely qualified to see both sides of the central conflict in the play. Sophocles’ early background comes from a wealthy family who had him well educated in music, theater, and dance. (CITE HERE) Without any interested in politics, Sophocles was elected twice as a general in Athens. (CITE HERE) In addition to his education background and military experience, Sophocles conducted priestly duties in “…connection with worship of Asclepius…” (CITE HERE)”

By introducing Ajax in media res with Athena and Odysseus, Sophocles skips the fuss of the armor debacle and instead delves straight into the aftermath. Athena knows of Ajax’s deadly intentions and chooses to redirect his violence toward the innocent livestock. Seeing that this act was Ajax’s definitive moment, not including it in the play raises the question, what role does Athena play in setting the course of the story? I will argue Athena’s spell over Ajax is an act of salvation rather than an act of punishment and through this intervention, Ajax attains honor after death with his proper burial. This not only provides insight into Athena’s behavior, but also brings the play to a full circle with the reintegration of Odysseus as an

Sophocles’ Oedipus is a dramatic play that deals with tragedy and comedy. Tragedy can awaken humans to the place of grasping hope and growth; Aristotle’s and Sophocles’ display an all-inclusive story of the tragedy of fate. Sophocles’ tragedy is an emotional story of a ruler who kills his father and unwarily takes his mother as his significant other. A tragic hero characterizes one who makes unwise decisions that prompts catastrophe overcome. Due to the prophecy that their new son would kill his father, Laius and, Jocasta, King and Queen of Thebes, gave their infant to a shepherd with orders that he be left on a mountainside to die. The shepherd, however,

Actions speak louder than words and apparently, Ajax stood no chance in surviving this mental illness. After Ajax went complete schizophrenic, he was no longer the war-hero instead everyone saw him as a bloodthirsty monster. However, once Ajax died, everyone seemed to forget his “sins” and start reminiscing on the positive actions Ajax made. Apparently, there was more to Ajax than this whole “macho” man. With this in mind, Ajax was a man who kept his oath no matter the consequences, he came through. As his brother Teucer states, “no – / but because he’d sworn an oath to do it” (ll. 1335-36). Another admirable characteristic would be that aside from keeping his oath, he believed in justice. Nevertheless, whether you were or weren’t royal blood,

The start of the passage opens with Ajax commenting on his mentality of being a hero. Throughout his life as a hero, Ajax had accepted the principle of hating one’s enemy and loving one’s friend. But as time goes on, the traditional definition of a hero changed, yet Ajax refused to alter his mindset. Not until after past the point of no return did he come to the realization that heroes like Odysseus, who have a contrasting attitude, are becoming the ideal hero of the time. Ajax states that he learned “To hate my enemy while knowing/That one day he may be my friend”(Sophocles 679-680). This is foreshadowing Odysseus, Ajax’s sworn enemy, helping him at the end of the play. By stating this, it confirms that Odysseus is the ideal hero and that Ajax has failed to be a hero that is supported in the current times. Ajax further reveals his view on relationships by saying “friendship is a treacherous harbor.”(Sophocles 683), which relates to his relationship with the Greek army, who was once his ally that he betrays. Relationships are often hard for heroes, especially for Ajax due to his principals. Ajax believes that he must punish his sworn enemies, which is Odysseus since he received Achilles arms instead of Ajax. These two heroes were once allies, which is why it’s hard for Ajax to have friendships since his principals left no option besides betrayal.