In the introduction to Ajax by Peter Meineck & Paul Woodruff, they highlight the main idea of the tragedy play:

Ajax shows the aftermath of an altercation over the honors that warriors feel are due to them after battle.

I love that this is a theme that shows up strongly in the Iliad as well. In fact, Ajax has so many connection point to the Iliad that it’s almost required reading before this play.

Sophocles highlights so many themes that were perhaps birthed in Homer and have started percolating deeper with the tragedy writers. Some of these include:

* Force vs Persuasion (Ares vs the Areopagus)

* The will of the gods

* Fate

* Honor

* Glory

In this episode, I talk about some of these themes, how they relate to other Greek literature, and what we learn about them in Sophocles’ Ajax.