Ajax

Claims him. Alas! When, when again Shall joy befall me? Oh once more to stand, where on the wooded headland The ocean is breaking, under The shadow of Sunium's height; thence could I greet from far The divine city of Athens. (TEUCER enters, followed by AGAMEMNON and his retinue.) TEUCER In haste I come; for the captain of the host, Agamemnon, I have seen hurrying hither. To a perverse tongue now will he give rein. AGAMEMNON Is it you, they tell me, have dared to stretch your lips In savage raillery against us, unpunished? 'Tis you I mean, the captive woman's son. Verily of well-born mother had you been bred, Superb had been your boasts and high your strut, Since you, being nought, have championed one who is nought, Vowing that no authority is ours By sea or land to rule the Greeks or you. Are not these monstrous taunts to hear from slaves? What was this man whose praise you vaunt so loudly? Whither went he, or where stood he, where I was not? Among the Greeks are there no men but he? In evil hour, it seems, did we proclaim The contest for Achilles' panoply, If come what may Teucer is to call us knaves, And if you never will consent, though worsted, To accept the award that seemed just to most judges, But either must keep pelting us with foul words, Or stab us craftily in your rage at losing. Where such discords are customary, never Could any law be stablished and maintained, If we should thrust the rightful winners by,

If we should thrust the rightful winners by, And bring the rearmost to the foremost place. But such wrong must be checked. 'Tis not the big Broad-shouldered men on whom we most rely; No, 'tis the wise who are masters everywhere. An ox, however large of rib, may yet Be kept straight on the road by a little whip. And this corrective, I perceive, will soon Descend on you, unless you acquire some wisdom, Who, though this man is dead, a mere shade now, Can wag your insolent lips so freely and boldly. Come to your senses: think what you are by birth. Bring hither someone else, a man born free, Who in your stead may plead your cause before us. For when you speak, the sense escapes me quite: I comprehend not your barbarian tongue. LEADER OF THE CHORUS Would that you both might learn wisdom and temperance. There is no better counsel I can give you. TEUCER Alas! how soon gratitude to the dead Proves treacherous and vanishes from men's minds, If for thee, Ajax, this man has no more The least word of remembrance, he for whom oft Toiling in battle thou didst risk thy life. But all that is forgotten and flung aside. Thou who but now wast uttering so much folly, Hast thou no memory left, how in that hour When, pent within your lines, you were already No more than men of nought, routed in battle, He alone stood forth to save you, while the flames Were blazing round the stern-decks of the ships

Were blazing round the stern-decks of the ships Already, and while Hector, leaping high Across the trench, charged down upon the hulls? Who checked this ruin? Was it not he, who nowhere So much as stood beside thee, so thou sayest? Would you deny he acted nobly there? Or when again chosen by lot, unbidden, Alone in single combat he met Hector? For no runaway's lot did he cast in, No lump of clammy earth, but such that first It should leap lightly from the crested helm? His were these exploits; and beside him stood I the slave, the barbarian mother's son. Wretch, with what face can you fling forth such taunts? Know you not that of old your father's father Was Pelops, a barbarian, and a Phrygian? That your sire Atreus set before his brother A feast most impious of his own children's flesh? And from a Cretan mother you were born, Whom when her father found her with a paramour, He doomed her for dumb fishes to devour. Being such, do you reproach me with my lineage? Telamon is the father who begat me, Who, as the foremost champion of the Greeks, Won as his bride my mother, a princes By birth, Laomedon's daughter: a chosen spoil She had been given him by Alcmena's son. Thus of two noble parents nobly born, How should I shame one of my blood, whom now, Laid low by such calamity, you would thrust Unburied forth, and feel no shame to say it? But of this be sure: wheresoever you may cast him,

But of this be sure: wheresoever you may cast him, Us three also with him will you cast forth. For it beseems me in his cause to die In sight of all, rather than for the sake Of your wife-or your brother's should I say? Look then not to my interest, but your own. For if you assail me, you shall soon wish rather To have been a coward than too bold against me. (ODYSSEUS enters.) LEADER In good time, King Odysseus, hast thou come, If 'tis thy purpose not to embroil but reconcile. ODYSSEUS What is it, friends? Far off I heard high words From the Atreidae over this hero's corpse. AGAMEMNON Royal Odysseus, but now from this man We have been listening to most shameful taunts. ODYSSEUS How shameful? I could find excuse for one Who, when reviled, retorts with bitter words. AGAMEMNON Yes, I repaid his vile deeds with reviling. ODYSSEUS What has he done thee whereby thou art wronged? AGAMEMNON He says he will not leave yon corpse unhonoured By sepulture, but will bury it in my spite. ODYSSEUS May now a friend speak out the truth, yet still As ever ply his oar in stroke with thine? AGAMEMNON Speak: I should be witless else; for thee Of all the Greeks I count the greatest friend. ODYSSEUS Then listen. For the gods' sake venture not Thus ruthlessly to cast forth this man unburied: And in no wise let violence compel thee To such deep hate that thou shouldst tread down justice. Once for me too this man was my worst foe,

Once for me too this man was my worst foe, From that hour when I won Achilles' arms; Yet, though he was such towards me, I would not so Repay him with dishonour as to deny That of all Greeks who came to Troy, no hero So valiant save Achilles have I seen. So it is not just thou shouldst dishonour him. Not him wouldst thou be wronging, but the laws Of heaven. It is not righteousness to outrage A brave man dead, not even though thou hate him. AGAMEMNON Thou, Odysseus, champion him thus against me? ODYSSEUS Yes; but I hated him while hate was honourable. AGAMEMNON Shouldst thou not also trample on him when dead? ODYSSEUS Atreides, glory not in dishonouring triumphs. AGAMEMNON 'Tis hard for a king to act with piety. ODYSSEUS Yet not hard to respect a friend's wise counsel. AGAMEMNON A good man should obey those who bear rule. ODYSSEUS Relent. 'Tis no defeat to yield to friends. AGAMEMNON Reflect who it is to whom thou dost this grace. ODYSSEUS This man was once my foe, yet was he noble. AGAMEMNON Can it be thou wilt reverence a dead foe? ODYSSEUS His worth with me far outweighs enmity. AGAMEMNON Unstable of impulse are such men as thou. ODYSSEUS Many are friends now and hereafter foes. AGAMEMNON Do you then praise such friends as worth the winning? ODYSSEUS I am not wont to praise a stubborn soul. AGAMEMNON Cowards you would have us show ourselves this day. ODYSSEUS Not so, but just men before all the Greeks.

ODYSSEUS Not so, but just men before all the Greeks. AGAMEMNON You bid me then permit these funeral rites? ODYSSEUS Even so: for I myself shall come to this. AGAMEMNON Alike in all things each works for himself. ODYSSEUS And for whom should I work, if not myself? AGAMEMNON Let it be known then as your doing, not mine. ODYSSEUS So be it. At least you will have acted nobly. AGAMEMNON Nay, but of this be certain, that to thee Willingly would I grant a greater boon. Yet he, in that world as in this, shall be Most hateful to me. But act as you deem fit. (AGAMEMNON and his retinue go out.) LEADER After such proof, Odysseus, a fool only Could say that inborn wisdom was not thine. ODYSSEUS Let Teucer know that I shall be henceforth His friend, no less than I was once his foe. And I will join in burying this dead man, And share in all due rites, omitting none Which mortal men to noblest heroes owe. TEUCER Noble Odysseus, for thy words I praise thee Without stint. Wholly hast thou belied my fears. Thou, his worst foe among the Greeks, hast yet Alone stood by him staunchly, nor thought fit To glory and exult over the dead, Like that chief crazed with arrogance, who came, He and his brother, hoping to cast forth The dead man shamefully without burial. May therefore the supreme Olympian Father, The remembering Fury and fulfilling Justice Destroy these vile men vilely, even as they Sought to cast forth this hero unjustly outraged.

But pardon me, thou son of old Laertes, That I must scruple to allow thine aid In these rites, lest I so displease the dead. In all else share our toil; and wouldst thou bring Any man from the host, we grudge thee not. What else remains, I will provide. And know That thou towards us hast acted generously. ODYSSEUS It was my wish. But if my help herein Pleases you not, so be it, I depart. (ODYSSEUS goes out.) TEUCER 'Tis enough. Too long is the time we have wasted In talk. Haste some with spades to the grave: Speedily hollow it. Some set the cauldron On high amid wreathing flames ready filled For pious ablution. Then a third band go, fetch forth from the tent All the armour he once wore under his shield. Thou too, child, lovingly lay thy hand On thy father's corpse, and with all thy strength Help me to lift him: for the dark blood-tide Still upward is streaming warm through the arteries. All then who openly now would appear Friends to the dead, come, hasten forwards. To our valiant lord this labour is due. We have served none nobler among men. CHORUS (chanting) Unto him who has seen may manifold knowledge Come; but before he sees, no man May divine what destiny awaits him. THE END