Ajax [in translation]

By and large, Daly's translation of Sophocles' original scans like dialogue, following natural if distinctly modern speech patterns. This is evident in some turns of phrase ("He'll call me ... bastard son of a captured slave ... / Betrayer. There'll be no end to it. Or worse / He'll accuse me of treachery ..."), or the stutter-stop, punctuated rhythm of casual conversation. For example, Daly has more than one character use fragments rather than full sentences. (At one point, Teucer stands over Ajax's corpse and spits: "Grim, ghastly form. Stubborn manhood. Your death has sown a bitter fruit which is mine to eat.") I suspect neither affectation was typical of Attic Greek either in Sophocles's original or dramatic verse generally, but it show more successfully blends the elevated tone of the play with a modern colloquialism, and this appears to have been Daly's intent.

The play's key concept for me is Ajax's berserker episode in which he massacres a herd of goats, sheep, and dogs in the warped belief they are fellow Greeks who betrayed him. The meaning of this event will shade the reader's entire understanding of the work. Most straightforwardly, it could be Ajax is cruel and succumbed to murderous passion, a familiar CSI plotline. Alternatively, it could be Ajax's will was bent to this act: Athena appears and explains to Odysseus this is in fact what happened, reinforcing what I take to be a contemporary interpretation of such events, that she "clouded" Ajax's mind to deny him revenge, in effect "siding with his enemies". It's as though Sophocles included this early scene explicitly to reject it, suggesting to his audience it is too easy to explain this away. Blurbs on the back cover substitute PTSD for Athena's interference in human events. I suspect there are other cultural references at play, obscure to me but quite evident to Sophocles' original audiences, beyond ideals of nobility and honour, and more culturally grounded than the scapegoat of capricious Gods -- but, whether or not that is true, it speaks to the enduring relevance of Sophocles that his play supports such a rich diversity of interpretation.

Daly's translation is quite brief, though there is no mention in his foreward or introduction it was abridged. show less

The last time I read this I was still getting familiar with Greek myths but this play left an impression.

Reading it again I can see why this play is easy to relate to knowing very little about Greek myths.

The play highlights how easily it is forgotten that Ajax fought valiantly against the Trojans for the Greeks, a war that is so bloody and violent that could trigger trauma like PTSD. It’s tragic how Ajax sees only one way out of this, and even more tragic the glee Athena feels for putting him in his place; Athena who in these moments comes across as the weaker one in how she enjoys his misery. I know if I was watching this back in Ancient times I’d feel very differently, where the core message of the play would hit me hard, the show more message being: know your place, or else, I’m paraphrasing this, as what happens in the play is more complicated with how Odysseus steps in diffusing the anger of Menelaus and Agamenon to not bury Ajax’s body and leaving it to rot.

By the end of reading this play I should feel uplifted, but like the last time I read this I’m left with a cold realization that that you are only as good as your last act; the play shows how hard Ajax fought, and the many lives he saved, counts for very little when he doesn’t know his place. By being buried, Ajax regains that honour, which if he hadn’t would have had huge repercussions for his brother, wife and son, so this is a happier ending then it could have been; the chorus have the last word pointing out that no one knows what the future has in store for them. True, but did Ajax deserve this ending? show less

The comparison isn't entirely accurate, but the protagonist in this piece, the Greek hero Ajax, reminded me very strongly of the sulking Achilles in Homer's Iliad. He, too, went to great lengths in his anger after being publicly humiliated by the Greek commander Agamemnon. Achilles withdrew, cursed the Greeks, and due to his aloofness, numerous Greek warriors fell under the sword of the Trojans; at one point, they even stood in the Greek camp. Actually, Achilles has more Greek deaths on his conscience than Ajax, for the latter only killed sheep, goats, and horses, which he mistook for Greeks in his (divinely indused) delusion. But it is the intensity of Ajax’s rage and his bloodthirsty revenge (albeit imagined) that lingers during the show more read, culminating in Ajax throwing himself onto his own sword; I know of no other Greek text in which a suicide is effectively depicted.
Nevertheless, I personally find the second part of this piece more worthwhile. For this is actually a foreshadowing of Sophocles' most famous play, *Antigone*. Here, the dispute regarding what should be done with Ajax's body is described: the Greek commanders Menelaus and Agamemnon forbid its burial, but Ajax's half-brother Teucer opposes this. Compared to the later *Antigone*, there is less reliance here on moral arguments than on arguments of authority, and in a very mixed manner. Menelaus and Agamemnon invoke their rank as nobles and their authority as commanders, but even cite the democratic argument, as their decision is, according to them, supported by the majority of the army. It will ultimately be Odysseus (who is portrayed here in a remarkably positive role, whereas in other tragedies he is invariably depicted as the villain) who wins the argument by referring to the divine order (everyone has the right to burial).
And so, in the first play we know of him (written somewhere between 460 and 440 BCE), Sophocles seems to present himself as a rather pious, religious person. I was struck by the many moralizing messages included in this play:
• “Never be arrogant if you surpass someone in strength or by an abundance of great wealth. One day causes everything that belongs to mortals to fall and then rise again. Gods love the wise; those who are corrupt are hated.”
• “He who knows no measure and no reason falls prey to the wrath of the gods,”
• “Oft we know not till we see. Weak is human prophecy. Judge not, till the hour have taught thee What the destinies have brought thee.”
Compared to his older colleague Aeschyles, what Sophocles has to offer seems much richer, more layered, and above all more focused on personal development and drama. This will, of course, feature much more prominently in his later plays.

Disclaimer: I'm reading and reviewing all classic ancient Greek plays, more or less in chronological order. But I'm not giving a rating. How could I, given their age? I'll make an exception only when a play is exceptional and still strikes an emotional and/or intellectual chord. show less

I hadn't read a translation of Ajax before,and I don't read ancient Greek, so I can't comment on the accuracy of Daly's translation; but I am familiar with both the Iliad and the Odyssey, so I knew the story which forms the basis for Sophocles' play. However, there are points which seem a bit obscure, where footnotes or end notes could have helped. The language on the whole is relentlessly modern, which I suppose was the intention; but then we get passages such as "...devise a wicked doom for those wretches who sneer at our fallen lord." Line breaks often seem arbitrary and sometimes confusing; this wouldn't matter in performance, but in a printed text this is unhelpful, to say the least, making the reading mind pause where it shouldn't show more and obscuring the sense. An example:

"Paths of churning
Seas, beach caves, and salt-pastures,
Too long have you held me
To this land of Troy; I'll not be kept
Living any longer. The
River Scamander, whose
chill waters have cooled the hot
Blood of the Argives, shall
Never see this man again."

Reading this sort of thing is like repeatedly tripping on an uneven sidewalk; both as a poet and a reader, I disapprove.

I also have a feeling the book would have been more enjoyable in a better layout; it all seems to be set in at least 14 point type, with little or no gutter allowance and obtrusively large page numbers at the bottom. It might also benefit from better spacing between lines. Again, this layout might make sense in a play script, but as poetry to be read for pleasure, it's a strain.

All in all, a valiant and commendable effort, but I'm not impressed. show less

Dennis Daly has done a more than admirable job bringing alive a play that I have always found tedious. At first I was somewhat put off by the very plain -almost boring phrasing of much of the text but then I realized that was appropriate and indeed just what this play calls for. The story is ancient and new at the same time of course and his rendering of Ajax and Athena and Agamemnon up against the endlessly virtuous Odysseus has more than a few howlers in it and Daly's prosaic everydayness hits just the right chord for this reader. Well done -looking forward to more Sophocles translations from this man.

On the 9th of March 2012 an American patrol was travelling through Afghanistan when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. Of the occupants two were severely injured (I believe they lost limbs). Two days later, on the 11th March 2012, one of the soldiers that had escaped injury took up an assault rifle, left the camp, and proceeded to slaughter 16 Afghani civilians from two villages. This event hit the media like a storm, and as of the writing of this commentary, the soldier is up on charges and has made the statement that he cannot remember anything of the incident itself. The question that you may be asking is, what has this got to do with a play written 2500 years ago? My answer is quite a lot actually. In fact this recent show more incident in Afghanistan is almost identical to the plot of the Ajax (with the exception that the soldier did not kill himself whereas Ajax did).
When I first picked up this book last night I was thinking that I would just read this play, which I quite like, and comment on it like I have been doing with the other Greek plays that I have read recently. However, my mind had already been triggered by some books that I have ordered from the US that discuss mental illnesses, particularly PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that appeared in Ancient Greek literature. A friend of mine at work has read one of them and speaks very highly of the scholarship that is involved in it. Another book that I have picked up deals with PTSD as it appears in Heracles by Euripides. However, I have noticed that there seems to be a lack of literature relating to a similar condition arising in the Ajax.
The story of Ajax is that Ajax is a commander in the Trojan War and after Paris killed Achilles, there was a competition over who would get armour - Odysseus won. However it turns out that Odysseus (surprise, surprise) cheated and that Ajax should have got the armour instead. Ajax then descends into a fit of madness and begins to slaughter the Greeks' cattle, believing them to be the Greeks themselves. Upon discovering the truth, he descends into depression and finishes off by killing himself. There is more to the play than that, particularly when Odysseus then steps up afterwards and defends Ajax's honour against Menelaus and Agamemnon.
The events of the play show elements of psychosis and major depressive disorder leading to suicidal ideation (you can tell I work in personal injury). The depressive elements are very clear, particularly when it is Ajax's honour that has been destroyed. As the saying goes, it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a moment to destroy it. Ajax's fit of madness destroyed his reputation in minutes. However we note that with the exception of Odysseus, there is absolutely no sympathy for Ajax from any of the other commanders. As far as they are concerned he has betrayed them and his people. Ajax sees himself having no friends: the Trojans hate him and the Greeks hate him, and despite his mother and brother loving him, his guilt pervades him to the point that he has no choice but to fall onto his sword.
Now, as I read through the English translation (with the Greek being on the opposite page) I noticed Ajax's illness being mentioned numerous times. I flicked my eyes over to the Greek, located the word, and indeed the word is Greek for illness. The play clearly demonstrates a recognition of mental illness being a legitimate sickness, and this was 2500 years before Freud. Further, as we look into other Greek literature, particularly Plato, we discover that there were systems in place that were designed to assist people suffering from mental illness: this being called the Therapy of the Soul. It appears that not only did the Greeks recognise mental illness, but also recognised the need and a system in an attempt to cure it.
However, if we consider this play and Heracles we notice that the Greeks seemed to believe that the origin of mental illness was divine. This is not necessarily limited to the Greeks though since we see episodes of psychosis in the Bible and a recognition that demonic forces can be behind it. The main incident that I refer to is the story of Legion, where a man was banished to the wastelands because he was possessed by a legion of demons, and Jesus comes along, cures him, and casts the demons into a herd of pigs. In Greek tragedy, mental illness comes about from the gods fogging the mind of the victim. Athena fogs Ajax's mind in an attempt to prevent him from killing Odysseus, and Madness descends upon Herakles since he had completed his tasks, and the prohibition from harming him had been lifted.
This is why I love to study the ancients. It is not because of my love of antiquity, but because it is clear that they were much more intelligent and switched on than we give them credit for. In Shakespeare's time, while there was a recognition of mental illness (King Lear suffers from a Major Depressive Disorder while Hamlet shows elements of psychosis, despite the fact that he is faking it). However, it is accepted and unchangeable. We see no attempt by Shakespeare to attempt to address it though there are elements looking at their underlying causes. However we cannot forget that, with the exception of King Lear, the other madnesses that come to mind (Titus Andronicus and Hamlet) the madness is faked. show less

In reviewing a translation of a classic, one can broadly comment upon the quality of the translation, and the quality of the physical book. In this case, there is the additional necessity to respond to the translator's wish that his translation will help families and others with an interest, understand that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an inescapable part of coming home from war.

In brief, the quality of the book as an object is perfectly acceptable: it's meant to be read and maybe acted, so we have a paperback with large type.

As to the translation, as a comparator I took from the 1998 Penn Greek Drama Series, Frederic Raphael's and Kenneth McLeish's translation. This is fast company, with the former (among other things) an show more Oscar winning screenwriter, and the latter (particularly when Ted Hughes wasn't around) the best dramatic translator of his generation. Somewhat at random, I pulled the following comparison excerpt, from Ajax's wife Tecmessa's first speech:

Raphael/McLeish:

Friends,
Lord Ajax’ friends,
his crewmen,
weep for him,
your prince so far from home,
weep for him.
Ajax is down,
our great one, our champion:
his pride is smashed,
his dazzle dimmed,
his strength storm-tossed.

Daly:

Shipmates of Ajax, descendants
Of the soil-sprung Erechthid line,
There is no joy for those who long
For the distant house of Telamon.
Our grim and absolute leader,
Ajax, is bewildered and storm-
Tossed by frightening tides.

On the translation comparison, we can see that Daly is going for longer line length and a considerably more complicated vocabulary; Raphael/McLeish are going for one and two syllable words, and very short line lengths. Their conception is the play as a chant; Daly is presenting a more literary version. We can also see that Daly's choices on where to break a line, while perhaps following the Greek, don't always make the most sense in English.

Now moving to a considerably less random selection, from Ajax' death speech:

Raphael and McLeish:

Avenging Furies, help me,
Grave Furies who bestride the world,
forever virgin, who supervise all mortal pain,
witness. The sons of Atreus have destroyed my life
evil for evil, snatch them down to Hell,
let them die as I do now. Come now!
Be quick, be just, and glut yourselves on Greeks.

Daly:

Immortal maidens, dread furies who watch
Forever the miseries of mankind, witness
My death and know that the guilt of this deed
Rests with the sons of Atreus. As I will
Die wretchedly, self-slain, let them perish
By kindred hands. Go, catch them with your
long strides,
Revenge me on their host, hold back nothing.

Again: one version short lines and short words; Daly version longer (and oddly broken) lines and a more dense vocabulary. Which you prefer, and for what purpose, is a matter of taste. Daly's version is certainly competent, and a worthwhile read. I would prefer to act the Raphael/McLeish version, as they sometimes hit heights that Daly misses, such as "glut yourselves on Greeks" vs "hold back nothing".

So far, so good: we have a more than acceptable modern translation.

Let's now turn to the PTSD issue, where I am afraid that I have a fundamental difference from Daly. His forward notes that the U.S. Department of Defense recently spent several million dollars on dramatic readings of Ajax. Daly closes this forward with the wish that his Ajax might help readers in a modern society better understand PTSD and its associated symptoms. Perhaps so, and impossible to argue with the aspiration, but what about the effect when returned soldiers read the play? The basic plot is that Ajax, a military hero, at the end of the war is swindled by a colleague, betrayed by his commanding officers, and befuddled by his god. As a result he engages in a killing spree (the play focuses on the livestock, but several men died too). When Ajax returns to his senses, his wife begs him not to do anything rash, and leave her a widow and his son an orphan. But no: Ajax falls on his sword, and the play finishes more or less positively with a posthumous reconciliation with the afore-mentioned colleague and commanders. Is this really the message we want to send to the many soldiers coming back from the war, who may already be entertaining suicidal thoughts? I claim no expertise in the psychology of this matter, but on its face a play in which the hero commits an "honourable" suicide would not seem a firm foundation for helping a PTSD-afflicted veteran. I hope that I am wrong on this matter, but fear that I am not.

In summary, the book is an reasonable addition to the literature, but its professed special purpose as a PTSD assistance tool seems dubious. show less