Ajax [Paperback]

Sophocles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2008

Poetry. Translated from the Greek by John Tipton. Written in the fifth century B.C., Sophocles' tragedy concerns the shame and death of Ajax, a Greek who had won fame for his prodigious strength in the Trojan War. A brutal farewell to the valor and values of the heroic world, the play moves through a series of reversals: old allies become enemies, honor becomes disgrace, and divine power becomes temporal authority. Formally terse, this translation conveys the force and urgency of Sophocles' Greek. Indeed, as Tipton suggests in his afterword, the tragedy has renewed relevance for our times: "AJAX demands our attention, not only for its clear-eyed account of the bitter aftermath of victory but also for its treatment of unscrupulous politics." With a foreword by Stanley Lombardo.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Richard III's stage history is especially interesting and well presented." Bibliotheque Humanisme --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English
Original Language: Greek --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Flood Editions (February 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978746759
• ISBN-13: 978-0978746759
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sophocles makes his case for the burial of the hero Ajax, April 29, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sophocles: Ajax (Cambridge Translations from Greek Drama) (Paperback)

I have always thought of the character of Ajax from the Trojan War to be the prototype of the "dumb jock" stereotype. Next to Achilles he was the best of the Achean warriors, but Ajax was deeply flawed in that he was stubborn and egotistical. I think his intelligence is further called into question by the myth regarding his death, which is the subject of this play by Sophocles. After the death of Achilles it is decided his glorious armor, forged by Hephaestus, will be given to the worthiest of the chieftains. Ajax expects the prize to come to him, but instead the other chieftains vote to give it to "wily" Odysseus. The inference to be drawn is that craftiness and intelligence are to be prize more than brute strength, which is why I tend to identify Odysseus and Ajax with that distinction between brains and brawn. Enraged by this slight, Ajax decides to kill Odysseus and the other chieftains who have slighted him, but Athena clouds his sight and he thinks the camp's livestock are his intended victims. When he comes to his senses, butchering a sheep he thought was Odysseus, Ajax is humiliated to the point he chooses to kill himself. The climax of this play, the oldest of the seven surviving plays written by Sophocles, is not the suicide of Ajax but rather a debate amongst the Achean leaders as to whether or not Ajax should be buried.

The issue central to the play "Ajax" is whether the title character should or should not be considered a true hero by the Greek audience attending the play. Homer, of course, has nothing to say regarding Ajax's fate in the "Iliad," although in the "Odyssey" when Odysseus encounters the shade of Ajax, the dead hero refuses to speak and turns away. However, in his telling of the tale Sophocles adds an important element to the suicide of Ajax. In his first scene when he is discovered amongst the slaughtered livestock, Ajax realizes that his intentions were wrong and that what he has done will make him look ridiculous; he decides to kill himself, ignores the pleas of the chorus, says his farewells to his son and departs. However, in the next episode Ajax returns, apparently reconciled to life; instead of killing himself he will bury his unlucky sword and live a peaceful life. Then a messenger brings the warning of Calchas that Ajax must be kept out of the battle that day. The next thing we know Ajax is cursing the Atreidae and falling on his sword. The change is significant because it makes Ajax's suicide a more rational act. Instead of taking his life in the heat of his embarrassment over what he has done, Sophocles has the character changing his mind twice and ending his life in the grips of a cold hatred against the chieftains.

This sets the stage for the debate amongst the chieftains regarding the burial of Ajax. When Teucer wants to bury the body he is forbidden to do so by Menelaus, who calls Ajax his murderer, focusing on the intentions behind his rampage. Agamemnon also forbids the burial, making an impassioned argument for the rule of law and warning against the reliance of the army upon the strength of a single man, whether he be Ajax or Achilles. Ironically (and we surely expect no less from Sophocles), it is Odysseus who makes the argument in favor of burial. For Odysseus the good outweighs the bad and it is not right to do a man injury when he is dead. This argument certainly echoes the moral at the end of the "Iliad" with regards to way Achilles treats the corpse of Hector. Certainly Ajax was a arrogant brute, obsessed with self-glorification and unfeeling towards his family and people. But when the Trojan army almost succeeded in burning the Achean ships, it was Ajax who stemmed their attack. For Odysseus, and for Sophocles, it is clear that such a man deserves to be considered a hero and demands an appropriate burial. "Ajax" is a minor play by Sophocles, relative to what little has survived of his work, but it does speak to one of the playwright central themes, which is to find that which is heroic in a tragic situation. Having found that spark in the life of Ajax, Sophocles seeks to redeem the tragic figure in this play.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Mighty Destroy Themselves, March 9, 2006

By 

Marcus Tullius Wardo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sophocles: Ajax (Cambridge Translations from Greek Drama) (Paperback)

The Classics are not so-called because they are old, but because they are most worthy. Plays by Sophocles survive today because they have spoken to every generation between his time and ours. "Ajax" tells the story of one of the great heroes of the Trojan War and how he destroyed himself through his own overweening pride. Hubris remains very much an issue among the powerful today. Ajax's inability to accept that Odysseus could be awarded the armor of Achilles instead of him, Ajax's rationalization that Odysseus could only achieve such an award by scheming against him, and Ajax's unwillingness to admit his mistakes to his superiors, all seem like things that only someone totally foolish would do. Yet the world's political and economic landscape today is littered with leaders and businessmen who are jealous, paranoid, dishonest, and unwilling to admit failure.

There is real drama in reading this play, it does not feel stale or antique but rather resonates and makes the reader want to join the chorus in admonishing Ajax to do the right thing. Sophocles also gives us an engaging depiction of Odysseus. Odysseus shows the reader how to win graciously, lobbying for an honorable burial for a bitter adversary, which he does because he must answer to the gods for his behavior at all times -- the very lesson that Ajax refused to learn.

I recommend this play unconditionally, it is something everyone should read. I do not highly recommend this particular edition, however (thus the 4 rather than 5 stars). The translation seems good and a lot of the notes add interesting information. But some of the marginal commentary consists of overly simplistic questions (e.g., "How does X make you feel?") that seem like they would insult almost anyone's intelligence and not be all that helpful as a teaching aide. I bought this edition because I wanted a slim volume that contained only this play, and it may yet be the best purchase for that purpose. Whether you buy this version or browse for another, read this play.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars John Tipton's translation of Ajax, December 2, 2008

By 

Joe Kenney "buttergun" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ajax (Paperback)

With its Damien Hurst-esque cover art of gore-spattered, tongue-lolling, severed goat heads, this new translation of Sophocles' Ajax is calculated to shock. This is a slim and menacing-looking little book, with lots of white space in the text and a grittiness to the sprinkles of dialog.

Ajax appears to be one of Sophocles' earliest plays; it takes place toward the end of the Trojan War, immediately after the funeral games for Achilles. During these games Ajax came in second for each of the competitions, but what really set him over was that he lost to Odysseus in the wrestling match for Achilles' divine armor. Ajax goes nuts, furious that he, the "bulwark" (as Lombardo refers to him in his Iliad) of the Greeks, the first to fight, the first to save his comrades in need, has been passed over in favor of the wily and conniving Odysseus. So Ajax does what any Homeric hero would do; he dives into a blind rage and storms out to kill the assembled Greek leaders. Only the goddess Athena obscures his vision, setting him after livestock instead; Ajax kills the whole lot, thinking he's really killing Greeks. The play opens immediately after this slaughter.

Ajax offers more introspection and compassion than Homer (and, to be fair, none of the above is actually IN Homer; it all takes place after the Iliad). Rather than focusing on war and glory, Ajax instead focuses on the melancholic aftereffects of bloodshed. There is a despair which clings to the play, as Ajax comes to grips with what he's done and decides upon the only course of self-punishment which he believes available to him. The last half of the play deals with those left in the wake of this decision.

John Tipton approaches his translation as more poetry than drama, which suits me fine. This means that a lot of the more "alien" aspects of Greek drama are shucked aside in favor of a clean read. Tipton gives each line of dialog a six-beat structure, which results in a fast-moving and breathless tale devoid of hope. This is a bleak and nihilistic translation, as if Cormac McCarthy in his "Blood Meridian" days turned his hand to poetic drama. Tipton gets a bit freer with the Chorus, that stumbling block for any modern reader. Tipton melds the Chorus into one genderless voice which spews out avant garde gibberish. This is probably my biggest problem with the translation; whereas the Chorus in most Greek drama does in fact get in the way (ie Aristophanes' "Lysistrata"), in Ajax it actually helps move the plot forward. Yet Tipton has hamstrung all of this. The dialog he gives the Chorus further increases the terror of the entire play, true, yet I'd much prefer some lines that make sense.

Stanley Lombardo (whose translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey are the only ones for me) provides a brief Foreword which is to be avoided for those new to the play; rather, read it after, as instead of providing info on Sophocles it instead plumbs the depths of the play's meaning, which would of course ruin it for those who've never read it. That being said, a little info on Sophocles - who he was, when he lived, what other works he produced - would've been useful for those new to him. Yet this book seems catered for those already familiar with Greek drama, which actually makes sense: in this pathetic age, readers of the Classics really are a niche market, so it's sensible to speak to them on their level. A recap of Sophocles and his life might come off like a "tell me something I don't know" slap to the face.

Tipton himself provides an "Account" for the afterword, detailing his translation choices and noting his influences, Christopher Logue chief among them. I'm a Logue fanatic; his "War Music" is my favorite published work ever. Tipton's Ajax is clearly cut from the same mould: characters curse, anachronisms abound, and the atmosphere seems more "Mad Max" than ancient Greece. Yet I find this translation better than any others I've read of Sophocles. It seems a perfect fit for these tough times we live in: tough times call for a tough translation. I'll be curious to see how those in a (hopefully) better tomorrow look back on Tipton's Ajax.