11.538-567

Ajax is the last of the major Homeric heroes whose ghost Odysseus meets. He is always a vivid presence in Homeric epic, physically imposing, brutally effective on the battlefield. When he, Odysseus, and Phoenix are sent to persuade Achilles to return to the battle in Book 9 of the Iliad, he dismisses Achilles’ attempts at self-justification:

"διογενὲς Λαερτιάδη πολυμήχαν᾽ Ὀδυσσεῦ 
ἴομεν: οὐ γάρ μοι δοκέει μύθοιο τελευτὴ 
τῇδέ γ᾽ ὁδῷ κρανέεσθαι: ἀπαγγεῖλαι δὲ τάχιστα 
χρὴ μῦθον Δαναοῖσι καὶ οὐκ ἀγαθόν περ ἐόντα 
οἵ που νῦν ἕαται ποτιδέγμενοι. αὐτάρ Ἀχιλλεὺς 
ἄγριον ἐν στήθεσσι θέτο μεγαλήτορα θυμὸν 
σχέτλιος, οὐδὲ μετατρέπεται φιλότητος ἑταίρων 
τῆς ᾗ μιν παρὰ νηυσὶν ἐτίομεν ἔξοχον ἄλλων 
νηλής:"

"Zeus-born son of Laertes, resourceful Odysseus, 
let us go. For I think nothing will be accomplished 
with words on this mission. We should go back quickly 
and tell the Greeks this story, though it is not good. 
They sit there now, waiting. But Achilles 
has made savage the great-hearted spirit in his chest, 
unyielding. Nor does he care for the love of his companions 
wherein we honored him above all others by the ships, 
pitiless."

Iliad 9.624–32

Coming after Odysseus’s and Phoenix’s carefully calculated appeals to Achilles’ need for personal honor, Ajax is characteristically blunt. What finally matters to him is not whether Achilles is right in holding out for a suitable apology from Agamemnon, but whether he cares enough about his friends, who are dying in his absence. Ajax is unique among all the heroes in the Iliad for his unlikely combination of stubborn independence and self-sacrificing devotion to his companions. Patroclus also epitomizes the need for human connection amid the rampant self-regard of the Iliad’s warriors, but exists for the most part in the shadow of Achilles. Ajax defers to no one.

The origins of Ajax’s implacable hatred of Odysseus lie in a story that seems to have circulated before the composition of the Odyssey, about the contest arranged by Achilles’s mother Thetis to decide which hero will inherit the arms of Achilles after his death. No details of the contest survive, except that it was not a trial of physical strength but perhaps one involving some of Odysseus’s famous eloquence. We only know that Odysseus was chosen over Ajax, who committed suicide in shame over his failure. His proud isolation continues even death:

οἴη δ᾽ Αἴαντος ψυχὴ Τελαμωνιάδαο 
νόσφιν ἀφεστήκει,

The ghost of Ajax, son of Telamon 
stood apart, alone.

Odyssey 11.543–44

The adjective οἶος, οἴη, “alone,” carries significance beyond its denotative meaning in Homeric epic, especially in the first position in the verse. For all their proud independence, characters in Homer are not often alone. For male heroes, one sign that they are in their customary status is the phrase οὐκ οῖος, as when Achilles finally acts to end his isolation from his fellow warriors and return the body of Hector to Priam:

οὐκ οἶος, ἅμα τῷ γε δύω θεράποντες ἕποντο 
ἥρως Αὐτομέδων ἠδ᾽ Ἄλκιμος;

Not alone, but his two henchmen followed him, 
the hero Automedon and Alkimos;

Iliad 24.573-74

For a woman, the corresponding phrase, οὐκ οἴη, appears when she is accompanied in public by her maids, signifying an appropriate modesty, as when Penelope descends the stairs to face the suitors (Od. 18.207). When the adjective appears without οὐκ, its meaning can be emphatic, Nausicaa is οἴη—and thus potentially vulnerable—when she faces Odysseus after he emerges nearly naked from behind the bushes (Od. 6.139); Poseidon is the only god who is angry at Odysseus (Od.1.79).

Ajax, unlike Achilles, does not change in the underworld, but remains just as he is in the Iliad, unbendingly alone. Odysseus is ready to put aside their quarrel, eager to talk, but Ajax cannot let go of his anger. Like Agamemnon and Achilles, Ajax models for Odysseus traits that he must avoid. He continues to be isolated because he cannot control his emotions, in particular, his anger. As we have seen, self-control at all costs is the key to success for Odysseus, if he is to make it home. We might add one other aspect of Ajax’s character, which is prominent in the Book 9 of the Iliad: considering the welfare of his comrades a prominent part of his calculations when making crucial choices. The ever-thinning ranks of Odysseus’ crew suggest a different calculation for him. As Ajax strides away, Odysseus makes his choice:

"ἔνθα χ᾽ ὅμως προσέφη κεχολωμένος, ἤ κεν ἐγὼ τόν: 
ἀλλά μοι ἤθελε θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι φίλοισι 
τῶν ἄλλων ψυχὰς ἰδέειν κατατεθνηώτων."

"All the same, he might then have spoken to me in his anger, 
and I to him; but the heart in my chest wished 
to see the souls of other dead men."

Odyssey 11.565–67

If, Odysseus seems to be saying, I cared a little bit more about Ajax, we might have overcome the anger. But curiosity, the desire to seek out knowledge, trumps the need to preserve his connection to a former companion.

Further Reading

Nagler, M. 1974. Spontaneity and Tradition: The Oral Art of Homer, 97–111. Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press.

Van Nortwick, T. 2008. Imagining Men: Ideals of Masculinity in Ancient Greek Culture, 77–79. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.