Ajax's
final speech Menelaus
discovers Ajax's body
Agamemnon
& Teucer argue Odysseus
& Teucer
From the fourth episode, Ajax's final speech. Translation: Shomit Dutta.
AJAX:
The executioner is set where it can cut
Most cleanly, if there
is time for such thoughts.
The gift of hector, whom
I loathe so much,
Whose sight I hated most
of all my enemies,
is planted in this hostile
Trojan soil,
The blade just sharpened
on a grinding stone.
I have embedded it with
care so that it may
Oblige me kindly with an
instant death.
Everything is set.
After this, O Zeus,
Be first to help me, as
is only right.
It is a modest favor that
I ask of you:
To send a bearer of my
grievous news to Teucer,
That he may be the first
to life me up
From where I fall on this
freshly stained sword,
So that I am not found
first by some enemy
And thrown carrion to the
dogs and birds.
This, Zeus, is all I ask
of you. I also call on
Hermes, who guides the
dead, to put me gently
To rest, without a struggle,
in one swift leap,
Once I puncture my ribcage
with this sword.
And I ask the help of the
ever-living maidens
Who look for ever on all
human suffering,
The stern, far-ranging
Furies. Let them mark
How I am ruined by the
sons of Atreus.
Strike that evil pair with
harshest evils!
Obliterate them! And as
they see me fallen
From a self-inflicted blow,
so let them perish
At the hands of their own
beloved children.
Come, you Furies, swift
avengers! Glut your rage!
Do not spare a soul in
the army! And you
Who steer your chariot
along high heaven,
Helios, when you spy my
native land,
Check your reins, all laden
with gold,
And tell my aged father
and poor mother
Who raised me of my disastrous
downfall.
Unhappy woman, when she
hears the news
She will send a great cry
throughout the city.
Bu all such wailing is
useless. And now
The deed must be done and
done quickly!
Death, Death, come gaze
upon me now-
Wait, I will speak to you
later below.
But you, light of this
radiant day,
And Helios, in your chariot,
I salute you
One last time and never
again!
O light, O sacred soil
of my birthplace,
Salamis, bedrock of my
native hearth,
And glorious Athens, kindred
race to mine,
You springs and rivers,
and you plains of Troy,
You who have nursed me,
I bid you farewell!
These are the last words
Ajax has to say.
The rest I'll tell in Hades
to the dead.
Fifth episode, Teucer and Menelaus discover Ajax's body. Translation: Shomit Dutta.
Teucer: I see him. He's not hard to make out at this range.
Menelaus:
You there! I warn you not to lift a finger
To move that body.
Leave it where it is.
Teucer: Why waste your breath on such an order?
Menelaus: I will it; so does the commander of the army.
Teucer: And can you tell me what your reasons are?
Menelaus:
When we led him from home, we hoped that he
Would be a friend and ally
to the Greeks. Instead
We have found him more
hostile than the Trojans.
He intended to murder the
whole army,
Coming by at night to put
us to the sword.
And if a god had not foiled
his attempt
We would have me the fate
that is now his-
Lying low in a miserable
death-
While he survived.
But as things are, a god
Deflected his assault onto
our sheep and cattle.
For this reason no man
has power enough
To lay his body to rest
in a grave. Instead,
He will by cast out on
the yellow sand
To become food for the
birds of the shore.
Raise no angry threats
in response to this.
We would not control him
when he was alive,
But now he is dead we shall
rule him with a firm hand,
Whether you like it or
not. While he lived
He never listened to a
word I said.
It is a mark of evil when
a common man
Will not heed those in
charge of him.
The laws of state can never
function freely,
Not unless fear is properly
in place.
Nor can an army be sensibly
led
Without a curtain of fear
and respect.
A man must realize, however
strong he is,
That he may fall to the
gentlest of blows.
If he maintains a sense
of fear and shame,
Be sure that such a man
will remain safe.
But where insolence and
license are rife,
Such a state, though sailing
smoothly at first,
Will one day plummet to
the very depths.
So let me see fear in its
rightful place,
And let us not hope to
act as we please
Without later paying the
price in pain.
These things go by turns.
In the past this man
Blazed with disrespect.
Now it's my turn to be proud.
Therefore, I warn you,
do not bury him, in case
By doing so you earn yourself
a grave.
Episode six, Agamemnon and Teucer argue. Translation: Shomit Dutta
Agamemnon:
It is you, they say, that have dared to spout
Dangerous words against
us with impunity!
I am talking to you, slave
woman's son!
If you were the child of
a well-born mother,
No doubt you'd use fine
words and strut on high,
Since as one nobody you
stand up for another,
Swearing solemnly that
we are not leaders
O the Greek army or the
fleet.
You say Ajax sailed her
as his own man.
Is it not a scandal to
hear such talk from slaves?
What was this man you boast
of with such pride?
Where did he go or take
his stand that I did not?
Are there no other men
among the Greeks but him?
It seems that we shall
rue the day we called
The Greeks to contest the
wars of Achilles
If we are denounced by
Teucer at every turn,
And if you are still not
prepared, though beaten,
To bow to the decision
of the judges,
But must keep on hurling
abuse and stabbing
Us in the back-those of
you that are left.
Where such behavior is
allowed,
No law can be established
properly;
Not if we thrust aside
those who win fairly
And bring to the fore those
who come behind.
Such things must be stopped!
It is not the thickset,
Broad-shouldered men that
can be counted on;
It is men of good sense
who flourish everywhere.
An ox with a large frame
can still
Be kept in line by a small
whip.
I see such medicine in
store
for you
Unless you acquire some
wisdom. You boldly
Insult us with a ready
tongue, even though
This man is no more, but
already a ghost.
Have you no sense?
Remember who you are!
Bring somebody else here-
a freeborn man-And let him speak to us on your behalf.
When you speak, I can't
understand;
I cannot interpret your
barbarian tongue.
Episode seven: Odysseus and Teucer. Translation: Shomit Dutta
Odysseus:
Listen, then. In heaven's name, don't dare cast
This man out in cold blood
without a burial!
You must not let violence
make you hate
The man so much that you
trample on justice.
He was also my worst enemy
in the army,
Ever since I won the arms
of Achilles.
Be that as it may, I would
not seek to
Dishonor Ajax by denying
that
In him I saw the best of
all the Greeks
Who came to Troy, apart
from Achilles.
You cannot dishonor him
justly;
You would harm not him,
but the laws of heaven.
Even if you hate him, it
is not right
To harm a noble man once
he is dead.
Teucer:
Noble
Odysseus, I have only praise for you.
You have wholly belied
my expectations.
Of all the Greeks you were
his greatest enemy,
Yet you alone came to his
aid. You did not dare,
As one of the living, to
stand and wrong the dead,
While the demented general
and his brother
Were hoping to outrage
his body,
And cast him out without
a burial.
For that, may the great
father of Olympus,
The mindful Fury, and almighty
Justice
Destroy those evil men
with evil, just as they
Sought to cast out Ajax
in undeserved disgrace.
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