Oedipus at Colonus - Sophocles

Also known as the The Oedipus Coloneus (Οἰδίπους ἐπὶ Κολωνῷ, Oidipous epi Kolōnōi)

After the events in the play Oedipus Rex in which Oedipus has blinded himself, he is led by his daughter, Antigone, to Colonus, a deme of Athens at the time ruled by King Theseus,  The play is about his transformation from a helpless and blind beggar into a hero, with a shrine for him at the cult centre of Colonus.  At climactic moments in the veneration of cult heroes, they can be called theoi or ‘gods’. Sophocles, himself, was from Colonus.

Plan of Colonus

ARGUMENT (Hypothesis)

When Œdipus was no longer king, and would fain have left Thebes for ever, the people suffered him not, for so the Oracle bade them. And his children grew up—two sons, Polyneikes and Eteocles, and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone, under Creon's care, and when his sons came to man's estate, and Œdipus had grown calmer, and content to abide in Thebes, they and Creon thrust him forth, a wanderer on the earth, lest he should bring trouble to the city. And many months he journeyed with Antigone over Hellas, begging their bread; but Ismene, though she loved him, stayed at home. And the two brothers quarrelled, and Eteocles, the younger, drove forth Polyneikes, and made himself king. And Polyneikes betook himself to Argos, and took the king's daughter there in marriage, and gathered a great army wherewith to restore himself to the kingdom. And it chanced that Antigone and Œdipus came to Athens, where Theseus was then king, than whom no man in Hellas was braver or more just.

Dramatis Personae

Oedipus [former King of Thebes, now in exile; son of Laius and Jocasta, husband of his mother, and father with her of Antigone, Ismene, Polynices, and Eteocles]

Antigone [Oedipus’ daughter]

Ismene [Oedipus’ daughter]

Polynices [Oedipus’ son]

Creon [Jocasta’s brother, Regent of Thebes]

Theseus [King of Athens, Athenian Hero]

A Stranger [Xenos, a villager of Colonus]

A Messenger [one of Theseus’ attendants

Chorus of the Elders of Colonus [Gerontes]

Non-speaking parts:

 Creon's attendants 

 Theseus’ attendants

Setting: The skene is a sacred grove dedicated to the Eumenides [reformed, they were formerly known as the Erinyes (The Furies)] at Colonus: olives, laurels and vines grow wild here. Nightingales also sing in the grove. Athens can be seen far in the distance. There is a seat, a ledge on a rock. And there is another near a statue of Hippeios Colonus on horseback, legendary founder of Colonus, and after whom the place was named.

Prologue [Lines 1-116]

Enter Oedipus blind and in rags, led by Antigone, his daughter. Oedipus is weary of life, but still has a noble bearing. 

Oedipus asks Antigone where have they come to and who will give alms to the wanderer. And is there a seat on which he can rest himself.

Antigone tells him that they are near a city which is still far off, but which she can see. She tells him that they are in a grove, a holy one, with vines, olives and laurel bushes. Nightingales perch here.

She helps Oedipus to sit on the ledge of a rock.

Antigone tells Oedipus she thinks they are near Athens, but knows not the grove. She will go out and ask someone where they are. Someone is coming.

Enter a Stranger

Oedipus informs the stranger he is blind and his daughter sees for him.

Stranger: "Move away from where you sit. This place is holy. You must not trespass on that ground."

Oedipus: "What god is honoured here?"

Stranger: "The ground is not to be touched. Most feared are its divinities, the Daughters of Darkness [The Furies]."

Oedipus: "How should I address them?"

Stranger: "The people here call them the Gentle All-Seeing Ones [Eumenides]."

Oedipus: "I will not leave this place. It was ordained I should be here."

Stranger: "Without the consent of the city I cannot move you. I must show them what you are doing."

Oedipus: "First tell me where we are."

The Stranger tells him that the area is blessed by Poseidon and Prometheus, the Bringer of Fire, has his influence here, He says that Oedipus is sitting on the Bronze Yhreshold of this land [the top of a flight of brazen steps connecting the upper world with the Underworld: this is called the "Brazen Threshold"  of Hades]; it is the mainstay of Athens. Yon is the statue of the master horseman, Colonus. All here descend from him. This place is honoured in their hearts.

Oedipus asks him "Who rules here?". He is told Theseus. "Would someone please fetch him?" Oedipus is told that he must first wait for the elders of the district who will decide whether he must move on or not.

Oedipus prays to the Eumenides. He tells them that Apollo prophesied that this place would be his final resting-place, that he would find his home amongst the Furies at the end of his life; he promised blessing on those who helped him, cursing those who drove him away. How was it that he found himself there? Hear his prayer. Pity a poor man's carcass, and accept him here.

Antigone warns Oedipus some old men are on their way. 

Exit Oedipus led by Antigone. They hide in a thicket by the side of the road.

Parodos [Lines 117-253]

The Chorus of  the Elders of Colonus enter

They search for the strangers [Oedipus  and Antigone] who have arrived. They can't find them. 

Enter Oedipus led by Antigone
Oedipus and Antigone reveal themselves.  The Chorus promise them a safe home in Attica. The Chorus then ask who they are and where are they from. Oedipus after some hesitation reveals that he is from Thebes, that he is Oedipus its former king, who has been forced into exile. The Chorus are horrified on learning this. They order Oedipus to be gone from the land immediately. Oedipus begs them to allow him to stay as a suppliant, as they had already promised to grant them asylum. Antigone also makes a plea od supplication: "I implore you by everything that you hold dear at home: by child, by wife, or treasure, or god! to look well upon him."  

1st Episode [Lines 254-667]

Episode 1 Part A

The Chorus feels for Oedipus. Oedipus defends himself.  He begs to know why he is considered innately evil when he knew nothing of guilt of his deeds.  He begs the Chorus that he is heard by the king of Athens, that he has something to tell him of benefit to his kingdom. The Chorus agrees to defer judgment to Theseus. Antigone exclaims that she has seen Ismene, her sister, approaching. 

Enter Ismene

There is a joyfule reunion of the siter and their father Oedipus. Ismene brings the news of strife between the brothers, Polyneices and Eteocles. Polyneices, the elder, has been thrown out of the city. He has gone to Argos and is proposing organise an army led by seven generals, each one to attck one of the seven gates of the city of Thebes. Eteocles, the younger, has completely usurped the throne, to assume the power of being sole tyrant; that an oracle has predicted that Oedipus's presence is required back at Thebes to ensure success against this attack. She warns Oedipus that Creon is coming to bring him back to the land of Cadmus, to bury him near Thebes. 

Oedipus curses his sons for their refusal previously to help him. He compares them as being like Egyptians whose menfolk stay at home weaving at the loom when the women go out to do the hard work in the fields, like the sisters Antigone and Ismene are doing with their father. He begs the Chorus and the Eumenides to defend him from this abduction.

The Chorus now take Oedipus' side. The Chorus now invite Oedipus to perform a ritual to expiate his sin of having trespassed upon the Eumenides' holy ground of their sacred grove, to propitiate them. [See Lines 461- 509 below]

Exit Ismene to perform the ritual.

(Kommos 510-548 - Amoibaion)
The Chorus ask for more details on Oedipus' past.  He gives it to them, denying his guilt. He tells them he has suffered greatly through unintended deeds. He reveals that his daughters are, in fact, sisters of their father. The Chorus ask did he kill his father. He tells them, again, that he slew him without knowledge of his act (that it was his father whom he had killed).

 Episode 1 Part B

Enter Theseus

He promises to support Oedipus. He is particularly pleased to hear from him that a oracle has promised to bring a great benefit to the City of Athens after his death, exactly what it is is not revealed. 
He grants Oedipus his full protection, and full citizenship of Athens, and invites him to come to the City if he wants to. Oedipus tells him he prefers to remain at Colonus.

Exit Theseus

1st Stasimon [Lines 668-719]

Essentially an ode of praise chanted by the Chorus of Elders of Colonus. They lionise their deme extolling its virtues, and the wonders of Athens and Attica which are protected emphatically by Athena and Poseidon, and Athens' most especial mastery over the sea, and its horsemanship. Colonus is the shrine to the famous horseman and hero Coloneus Hippeis after whom the place is named, as well as it having shrines and temples associated with a number of different, but important gods and goddesses,  all of which promises military success.

2nd Episode [Lines 720-1043]

  Episode 2 Part A

Antigone says that such a blest land must now prove itself worthy.

Creon is seen approaching

Enter Creon with his guards and attendants.

Creon begins by trying to persuade Oedipus to come back with him.

Oedipus angrily refuses to go. He accuses him of some crafty scheme, that he would become his prisoner. Creon has already driven him out of Thebes by force. His words are worthless. He is content to remain with his new-found friends snd neighbours at Colonus. "Watch me not with ill intent, to plan attack where I should dwell in peace". 

Creon says: "What if I were to seize you?"  He then tells Oedipus that he has already seized Ismene, and that he will soon seize Antigone.

Oedipus appeals to the Chorus about their promised protection and to drive this monstrous beast from their land.

The Chorus tells Creon to leave their country immediately.

Creon orders his guard to seize Antigone.

   (Kommos 1 833-843)  (Iambic 844-875) (Kommos 2 876-886) Amoibaion

Chorus: What means this, stranger? Wilt not let her go?
Soon thou wilt force me to the test of strength.

The Chorus try to rescue Antigone.

Creon. Keep off, I tell thee. ... If thou dost injure me,
Thou with my state wilt have to wage thy war.

Antigone. Ah, friends! ah, friends! they drag me.

Oedipus: Woe is me! all woe.

Creon's Guards carry off Antigone 

Chorus: Though robbed of these girls, we will not let thee go.

Creon: I'll make your state pay a larger ransom. I will also take him [Oedipus]. Unless the ruler of this land forbid me.

Oedipus curses Creon. 

Creon: In a just cause the weak overpower the strong.

Chorus. And is not this an outrage?

Creon. ⁠Outrage, yes, but still thou must bear it!

Episode 2 part B (887-1043)

Enter Theseus, followed by Athenians.

Theseus: What means this cry?

Oedipus: "This Creon, whom thou seest, has torn from me the only pair that I, as children, claim."

Theseus: Let someone ... go [to Athens] with utmost speed to summon all the people, both horse and foot, tarrying not for sacrifice, ... and meet where the two paths of travellers converge [one leading to Eleusis, the other to the Pythian], lest those two maidens slip from out of our hands.

Theseus to Creon: Never will he [Creon] leave this land till he has brought these girls before his eyes. He has done grievous wrong to himself, his fathers, and his country, who, by coming to a state that loves right, and without law does nothing. Creon had trampled on Theseus' rights, by rudely seizing these poor seekers of refuge. What if he had he done the same in Creon's land without permission of its ruler? "Bring the girls back as quickly as you can!"

Oedipus to Creon: Ï call upon the Euminides to come as helpers and allies, that you [Creon] may learn their mettle who this land defend.

Theseus: "And if these girls⁠ are within our borders, you may bring them before me; but if they get beyond, we need not toil for there are others hastening to pursue [his forces from Athens?]"

Exeunt Theseus and Athenians, with Creon and his guards.

2nd Stasimon [Lines 1044-1095]

This is the Battle Ode. The Chorus sing of  the outcome of an imagined location of the encounter between the Athenians and the Thebans. In the middle of this ode the Chorus break up into individual voices, five different men each speaking as if they were individual soldiers, each looking forward to doing battle with Thebes, but fearful in the wait for the actual battle.

3rd Episode [Lines 1096-1210]

Theseus is seen approaching with Antigone and Ismene. He has rescued them both from the clutches of Creon. They enter.

Antigone to Oedipus: "This best of men [Theseus] who has brought us back to thee."
Oedipus to Antigone: "Tell me briefly how the deed was done." 
Antigone tells Oedipus to listen to Theseus how he did it.

Theseus says he swore that he would bring these girls back alive, unscathed by any threatened harm. He says to Oedipus:  "How the fight was won what need have I to boast." 

Theseus says to Oedipus that he is to wait to hear some other matter: "Some one, near of kin to thee, yet not from Thebes, thy city, suppliant sits, close by Poseidon's altar, where it chanced, when summoned here, I offered sacrifice."

Oedipus: I know too well ... Who this strange suppliant is. ... My son. ... a voice that is hateful to a father's ear. I pray thee, prince, constrain me not to yield.

Theseus: His rights as suppliant should constrain us. Take heed that thou shew reverence for our God.

Antigone: Grant to us that this our brother come; for he shall not draw thee on against thy judgment ith words which are not fitting.

Oedipus: Be it as you will ... Bit let no one get the mastery of my life.

Exit Theseus

3rd Stasimon [Lines 1211-1248]

The Chorus reflect on the ills of old age, reflecting both on their fortunes and that of Oedipus,

Never to have been born is much the best; and the next best, by far, to return ... [to] where are beginnings are. While Youth is here ... whose feet can fare beyond the reach of pain. Old age  [is] hateful friendlessness; this is our portion at the close of life, strengthless, companionless, wherewith abide ills passing all beside. Such are the aged, [such as we the Chorus]; but he this man of woes [Oedipus] is beaten down of every hand.  ... Ocean's waves smite him without repose. 

4th Episode [Lines 1249-1555]

Antigone mentions a man coming. Oedipus asks who he is. Antigone tell him that it is Polyneices, her brother and Oedipus's son.

Enter Polyneices

Polyneices begs his father and sisters to listen to him. He says he has been exiled from Thebes, by Eteocles his younger brother. The Erinnyes are to blame. That he has been to Argos, and Adrastos, king of Argos has made his daughter his wife. He has now gathered a force there of the best: seven chiefs and their men to follow him back to Thebes to lay waste to its citadel. That he will lead this army against Thebes.

He has been told that there has been an oracle which states that whichever side in the forthcoming battle clings to Oedipus will win this. He begs his father to come with him, both exiles, both sharing the same fate. That the despot lord [Creon] mocks them both, so he should join with him. 

Oedipus tells the Chorus that Theseus had sent for Polyneices, to listen to him. He turns to Polyneices describing as a vile one. That he and his brother had both driven him away from Thebes, making him homeless, to wear rags. If it were not for his sisters [Antigone and Ismene] to care for him he would have none; they saved his life. He tells Polyneices that he disowns him as a son.

"I breathe these Curses [The Erinnyes] deep upon you both. ... That may ruin seize thee both. ... I am no more thy father. ... Die, slain by a brother's hand, and slaying him."

Antigone tells Polyneices to lead his army back to Argos, and not to bring ruin upon his homeland. "What profit is there in thy country's fall?"

Polyneices replies: "Retreat is base; and base that I, the elder, should thus be mocked and flouted by my brother."

Antigone to Polyneices: "The oracles [foretell] thou leadest to fulfilment, that you both [shall] meet your death, each from the other's hand."

Polyneices:  "Restrain me not. Sad counsel must I take, for this my march, beforehand doomed to fail, by him, my father, and the Erinnyes."

Exit Polyneices

   (Kommos 1447-1499) 

Peals of thunder are heard

The Chorus sing an ode that Zeus has sent the thunder. Oedipus tells them that Theseus must be sent for. The Chorus beg Zeus not to bring darkness upon their mother-land. Oedipus wants and needs to tell Theseus about the benefits he had promised his kingdom. The Chorus beg that Theseus comes quickly.

[It is clear Oedipus is dying]

4th Stasimon [Lines 1556-1578]

The Chorus plead with the King of the Underworld [Hades] and Persephone to give Oedipus a painless death. They repeat this plea to the Errinyes (Daughters of Darkness), Cerberus the guard-dog of the Underworld and Thanatos himself, the lord of endless sleep.

Exodos [Lines 1579-1779]

Part A

Enter Messenger

The Messenger announces to the Chorus that Oedipus has died. He mentions several features about the place where and how this event took place: the Brazen Threshold, the basin where Perithous and Theseus left their pledges before descending into Hades, a place near the Thorician Stone, the hollow pear tree and the stone sepulchre. He mentions Oedipus was stripped of his rags and had bade his two daughters wash him with fresh water from the stream, and to clothe him afresh.

Antigone and Ismene weep after Zeus sends another thunderclap. Oedipus bids his daughters farewell, telling them their lives would become easier when he is gone. A god calls out for Oedipus to come. Oedipus then calls for Theseus to attend his death. Theseus comes. Theseus promises to do as Oedipus requests. Ordipus makes Theseus guardian of his two daughters for their welfare after he has passed away. He tells his two daughters to leave the place and tells Theseus to stay behind.

The Messenger then says that he now went out with the two girls. No one knows how Oedipus finally died. He, the Messenger, was not witness to this. Only Theseus knows.

Exit Messenger

(Kommos 1670-1750)

Enter Antigone and Ismene

They sing a lament with the Chorus over Oedipus death. They express their wish to go back to Thebes but they know not how they will achieve this.

 Part B

Enter Theseus.
He tells the two girls to stop crying. The two girls ask to see their father's grave. Theseus refuses permission to do this. Its exact location must remain a secret. The two girls ask him to send them back to Thebes. He promises to grant them this wish. The Chorus conclude by telling all to stop weeping: it is not appropriate as all of this was pre-ordained.

Exeunt

References

Colonus (Attica) - Wikipedia

Oedipus - Wikipedia

Oedipus at Colonus - Wikipedia

Oedipus at Colonus - Wikisource

Oedipus at Colonus - Greek-Myth.com 

ERINYES - The Furies, Greek Goddesses of Vengeance & Retribution - Theoi.com

PLUTARCH, LIFE OF THESEUS - Theoi Classical Texts Library

(2013). Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus (Οἰδίπους ἐπὶ Κολωνῷ). In The Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy, H.M. Roisman (Ed.). doi:10.1002/9781118351222.wbegt

Oedipus at Colonus - Ancient History Encyclopedia

Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles - GreekMythology.com

The Oedipus Coloneus; with a commentary, abridged from the large ed. of Sir Richard C. Jebb. by E.S. Shuckburgh : Sophocles - Internet Archive

the oedipus coloneus of sophocles. CUP Archive.

Oedipus at Colonus - Cliff's Notes

Theatrical Space and Historical Place in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus - Lowell Edmunds - Google Books

Adrian Kelly (10 October 2013). Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-4725-1971-9.

Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus, - Perseus Digital Library

Sophocles (2014). tr. R.C. Trevelyan. Oedipus at Colonus. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-63428-2.

Wallace, Nathaniel O. “‘Oedipus at Colonus’: The Hero in His Collective Context.” Quaderni Urbinati Di Cultura Classica, vol. 3, 1979, pp. 39–52. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20538597

Birge, Darice. “The Grove of the Eumenides: Refuge and Hero Shrine in Oedipus at Colonus.” The Classical Journal, vol. 80, no. 1, 1984, pp. 11–17. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3297392.

Three Theban plays  tr T.H. Banks Oedipus at Colonus

Greek Version

Οιδίπους επί Κολωνώ by Sophocles - Project Gutenberg
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus (Greek) (ed. Francis Storr)

Translations

Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King; Oedipus at Colonus; Antigone by Sophocles - Project Gutenberg

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus (English) (ed. Sir Richard Jebb)

Oedipus at Colonus tr. Gilbert Murray

The Internet Classics Archive | Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles

Oedipus at Colonus : Sophocles  - Internet Archive - Dover Thrift Edition

Oedipus at Colonus : Sophocles (Jebb translation) - Internet Archive 

Oedipus at Colonus and Electra : Sophocles (P.D. Arnott trans) - Internet Archive

Sophocles (1984). tr Roberts Fagles (ed.). The Three Theban Plays. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-044425-4.

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus - Center for Hellenic Strudies

Audio

Oedipus at Colonus - Librivox (YouTube)

The Thebans : Sophocles - Internet Archive

Oedipus At Colonus : BBC Radio 3 - Internet Archive

Episode_031_the_requiem_at_athens Doug Metzger

Video

Oedipus at Colonus, part 2 of The Theban Plays - Youtube

Ancient Greek theater performance: Oedipus on Kolonna, Sophocles - Youtube

Libation Rite [Lines 461-509]

Chorus: Oedipus, you well deserve our pity.
Your daughters too. And since you add to this

Your pledge to be a savior to our land
I will advise you in the way that you should go.

OED: Counsel me, then. I will do all you ask.

Chorus: Seek absolution from the deities
For your trespass;, when you first came here to find them.

OED: What rites are proper here? Advise me, friends.

Chorus: First you must go with pure hands, where the stream
Of living water flows.  Bring back libations.                 -470

OED: When I have this pure draught, what should I do then?

Chorus: There are pitchers made with care and loving hands;
Wind the handles and the mouth between-

OED: With what? With wreaths of olive? Strands of wool?

Chorus: With the fleece cut from a ewe lamb, newly shorn.

OED: So be it. And when this is done. what next?

Chorus: Face toward the dawn, and pour the offerings.

OED: Pour them from the vessels I have wreathed?

Chorus: Three times.  Be sure you drain the last one dry.

OED: This last what should I fill it with? Inform me.        -480

Chorus: Water and honey. You must add no wine.

OED: And when the earth has drunk there, in the shadows-

Chorus: Then with both hands lay upon the ground
Olive branches, three times nine, and say this prayer.

OED: Tell me. Without the prayer the rest is nothing.

Chorus: That those who we call The Kindly Ones [Eumenides] should greet you
With kind hearts, since you come to ask protection
And offer it. Whoever makes this prayer,
Yourself, or one you trust, must whisper it,
Then go, and look not back. If this is done                 -490
I shall defend you without fear. If not
I tremble when I think what might befall you.  

OED:  Do you hear them, daughters? These men know the place.

ANT: We heard them. Tell us what we have to do.

OED: I cannot go that way. I am not whole,
But doubly blemished, lacking strength and sight.
One of you must go there in my stead,
For in such rites I think a single man,
If he is pure in heart, can stand for thousands.
Go do it, then, and quickly. Yet you must not               -500
Leave me here alone. My strength is gone,
I cannot even walk without a guide.

ISM: Let me go. I shall do it. But this place
I have to find-where is it? You must tell me.

Chorus: On the far side of the grove. If you are lost
There is a guardian there who will inform you.

ISM:  I will run on my errand then. Antigone,
Stay with father and look after him. We must not
Think it trouble when our parents need us.

Exit ISMENE into the grove.

Ajax - Sophocles

Estimated to have been produced ca 445–440 BC (exact date not known).

This is a play of two halves: the first half focuses on the madness (rage) of Ajax and the second part  concentrates on the burial of his body. It is essentially a play about two conflicting moral codes: the traditional one of the age of heroes, one steeped in honor and bravery, and the contemporary one [to its original performance date] of the then current democratic Athens, whose moral code was imbued with reason and objectivity. 

Some have seen  the play as the Tragedy of Man: Man is the toy in the hands of supernatural forces by the very fact of being a human being. Man is subject to the gods' control over Man's fate, and Man's reaction to it. This makes Man's life great as well as tragic.

It is a play about the total helplessness of Ajax in the face of divine opposition.

Map of Troy

Backstory

Ajax came to the Trojan from Salamis with twelve ships. He is an independent chief owing no allegiance other than to Agamemnon, the command-in-chief of the Achaian [Greek] forces.

Before the start of the play, Odysseus and Ajax have contended over who should receive the armour of the Greek warrior-hero Achilles who has been killed. The armour makes its wearer invincible and was specially made for Achilles by a god. Anyone who received this armoour would be recognised as the greatest warrior in the Greek army after Achilles. Trojan captives were asked to vote who had done the most damage to them during the Trojan War. And they voted that the armour should be awarded to Odysseus (they only came to this decision with the help of the goddess Athena). This enraged Ajax so much so that he vowed to assassinate the Greek commanders, Menelaus and Agamemnon, as they had disgraced him; he believed he was the greatest warrior aand deserved the armour more than Odysseus, but before he could get his revenge the goddess Athena has tricked him.


The Argument

Aias, the son of Telamon and Eribœa, was mighty among the heroes whom Agamemnon led against Troia, giant-like in stature and in strength; and in the pride of his heart he waxed haughty, and scorned the help of the Gods, and turned away from Pallas Athena when she would have protected him, and so provoked her wrath. Now when Achilles died, and it was proclaimed that his armour should be given to the bravest and best of all the host, Aias claimed them as being indeed the worthiest, and as having rescued the corpse of Achilles from shameful wrong. But the armour (so Athena willed) was given by the chief of the Hellenes not to him but to Odysseus, and, being very wroth thereat, he sought to slay the Atreidæ who had so wronged him, and would have so done, had not Athena darkened his eyes, and turned him against the flocks and herds of the host.

Dramatis Personae

Athena

Odysseus [warrior hero, commander of the defence of the right flank]

Ajax (Aias) [warrior hero, from Salamis. commander of the defence of the left flank]

Tecmessa [wife of Aias, Phrygian princess, Aias' captive concubine]

Teucros [half-brother of Aias]

Menelaos [King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, commander of the Spartan forces]

Agamemnon [King of Argos, supreme commander of the Achaean [allied Hellenic] forces in the war against Troy]

Eurysakes [son of Aias]

Attendant

Herald/Messenger

Chorus of Sailors from Salamis [Ajax's followers: these are warriors who both manned the ships and fought in the battles]

Setting: Tents of Aias on the shore, near Ilion; a low underwood in the background; and the sea seen in the distance.

[Alternative description of setting: (1) At first, before the tent of Ajax, at the eastern end of the Greek camp, near Cape Rhoeteum on the northern coast of the Troad. (2) After line 814, a lonely place on the shore of the Hellespont, with underwood or bushes.]

Summary:

Prologue [Lines 1-133]
Enter the godess Athena Deus ex Machina on the roof of the skene [Theologeion]

Enter Odysseus into the orchestra carefully examining footprints in the sand. 

Odysseus cannot see Athena but recognises her voice.

Athena tells Odysseus that she is always seeing him on the prowl, looking out for a chance to track down and strike a blow at his foes. Odysseus agrees: he has been tracking Ajax all night, and says that a soldier had told him that  he had seen Ajax commit a most crazed act the slaughter of the sheep and cattle which had been captured from the enemy together with those guarding them. Athena confirms to Odysseus that she knows that this slaughter was truly the work of Ajax. She tells him that it was the fact Achilles armour was not given to him that had driven him to do this, believing he was killing Greeks and especially Odysseus himself. Athena tells Odysseus that she had to stop him from killing the commanders, Menelaus and Agamemnon, when he was outside their tent. To prevent him she had cast a cloud of delusion over his eyes, by tricking him into thinking that the sheep and the cattle around the tents were, in fact, the Greek commanders: this caused him to divert his anger onto them. Ajax kills and mutilates most of them. He has taken by some to his tent. Among these is a ram which he thinks is his rival, Odysseus.

Athena makes Odysseus invisible to Ajax as Odysseus is afraid to enter Ajax's tent. She tells him not to be afraid and to stand outside, and calls for Ajax.

Enter Ajax, in a rage.  He is holding a whip.

Athena asks him whether he has killed the commanders of the army, 
Ajax says he has, as they had robbed him of Achilles' armour, and now he's going to whip Laertes [Odysseus], whom he has chained up inside his tent as his prisoner, to death. 

Exit Ajax back into the tent.

Athena asks Odysseus did he see all that. 

Odysseus answers: "For I see well, nought else are we but mere phantoms, all we that live, mere fleeting shadows."

Athena disappears and Odysseus exits.

Parodos [Lines 134-200]

The Chorus enter. They describe Ajax as their leader and chief.  They are Ajax's warrior followers from Salamis, sailors who are also his shield bearers and fight in the battles as well. They are completely devoted and loyal to him. This is established in the parodos. They have come because they have heard some dreadful rumours concerning their leader which they are fearful of, that he is the author of the slaughter of some livestock. If the deed has really been committed by him, he must have been driven to it by some angry deity who demented him. Or is the rumour a slander which has been put around because of the jealousy amongst the commanders of the Greek forces?  

They are seeking answers to their questions, and have need for further information. that is why they have come. There is irony: the information they seek is already known to the audience, thanks to the prologue. The Chorus do not mention his plot against the commanders of the army, that was revealed by Odysseus to the audience in the prologue. Thanks to this partial awareness, which goes unexplained, they condemn Odysseus as Ajax’s foe, without having to consider the morality of the hero’s motives.

They complain that the booty, the sheep and the cattle, was also meant to be shared with them, and with all in the army. 

The chorus’s prayer that the rumour, rather than the disease, may disappear. Let Ajax arise, and clear his good name, which is theirs too. They urge him to come out of his tent to defend himself. Ajax has such a reputation that by merely appearing causes his enemies to scatter.

1st Episode [Lines 201-595]
Expecting Ajax, instead Tecmessa, Ajax's concubine, comes out of the tent.

 

 Part 1 (201-347) 

 - 1st Kommos [lament] (201-262) Tecmessa and the Chorus chant
She tells the Sailors that Ajax is greatly sickened with a storm of troubles. The Chorus ask her to tell them what has happened during the night in the tent. She confirms that Ajax has extremely violently killed many animals and is struck with a sickness [madness]. She is very sorrowful. The Chorus tell her they fear what might happen, that they and he might be done to death by order of the Commanders of the army, for he has killed the herds which they had captured from the enemy and the mounted soldiers guarding them. Tecmessa then desribes to them in great detail the mass slaughter of the animals inside the tent the previous night, cutting the heads off some, and hacking others. And how he had viciously whipped and especially cursed one which had been tied to the pole holding up the tent.

(263-347) Tecmessa, the Chorus, and the Chorus Leader now speak.

 - 2nd Kommos [lament] [348-429] Ajax singing from within. Tecmessa and the Chorus speaking outside.
Ajax declares the Sailors to be his only true and faithful friends, and describes the slaughter surrounding him; he begs them to kill him. The Chorus refuse. Ajax describes what a mad fool he has been, and the shame of it.  He tells the Sailors to go away out of his sight. The Chorus Leader tells him to calm down: what's done is now past.  Ajax says Odysseus is the evil one, filthiest scoundrel in all the army and tool of all the mischief. The Chorus Leader tells Ajax his situation is desparate. Ajax appeals to Zeus to help him kill Odysseus and the two kings [Agamemnon and Menelaus], and then himself. Tecmessa begs to know why she should live after he is dead. Ajax begs the god of the Underworld to take him away: Athena has undone him. He will be killed by the army. The living and the land will no longer see him. He will lie abject in dishonour.

Part 2 (430-595)

Tecmessa flings the door to Ajax's tent open. Therein, on the ekkuklema [wheeled out for the audience to see], is Ajax sitting in pain amidst the slaughtered bodies of a few animals, his skin is covered in blood, and he is weeping. Ajax has now returned to sanity.  Now he sits in the middle of the slaughter, taking no food or drink, and gives signs that he intends to do something terrible. 

Ajax tells us that his name means Agony. He describes how many years previously his valorous father too had fought the Trojans with bravery and returned home with honour. But he will now bring shame upon the family, left as an outcast. Achilles would himself had given him his armour, but Menelaus and Agamemnon have contrived that a man with a dishonest mind should have them.

The scene ends with a screaming sound coming out of  Ajax's tent: the hero seems to be calling for his son Eurysaces, and for Teucer, his half-brother. Both Tecmessa and the Salaminian sailors now realize that Ajax might have regained his sanity again.

1st Stasimon [Lines 596-645]
The Chorus contrast their harsh life in Troy with the happiness they enjoyed in their homeland, Salamis. Ajax's madness makes their wretched state worse. Ajax's mother and father will be greatly sorrowed when they hear the news of their son's action. They lament Ajax’s fate: better off to hide in Hades than to be a man plagued by such a disease [madness], for he is noblest of the war-tried, but is now wandering outside of himself with alien thoughts.

2nd Episode [Lines 646-692]

Ajax enters from the tent; Tecmessa follows. The Sailors are already present in the orchestra.

Ajax delivers his "Trugrede" [misleading/deception] speech.

Ajax tells Tecmessa and the Chorus that he has overcome his iron will. He tells them that he has stopped being hard and rigid, that he now feels pity at leaving Tecmessa and their son, a widow and orphan amongst his foes. 

He announces he going to the waterside in the meadow by the sea ritually to purify his stained character, in the hope that the goddess Athena's wrath leaves him. He will bury the sword Hector [the Trojan prince] gave him: gifts from an enemy are no real gifts [Trojan Horse?]. He must "Give way to the gods and bow before the sons of Atreus. They are our rulers; they must be obeyed." He says he must, like any soldier, accept his punishment. He says he will learn “to be sensible” (sophronein}.

To Tecmessa he says she must go where he tells her, and that he has found his safety. 

Exit Ajax. Exit Tecmessa into the tent.

2nd Stasimon (Hyporcheme) [Lines 693-718]

The Chorus of Sailors from Salamis singing an ode of joy

They are thrilled to hear that he has overcome his madness, and are eager to dance, great news. They rejoice, thanking the gods, imploring them to teach them to dance. Ares, the god of war has cleared the grief from their eyes. And Zeus has brought the daylight. They joyously call Pan and Apollo to appear and join in the dance and celebration. Ajax can forget his pain; he once more recognises divine law. Time is the great healer.

3rd Episode [Lines 719-865]

Part 1 (719-814)

Enter a Messenger

The messenger has come from the army's HQ and main camp. Teucer, Ajax's half-brother, has returned from Mysia. As soon as he had arrived the whole army began to abuse and taunt him, jeering and jabbing at him; and calling him the brother of a lunatic and traitor. They threatened to stone him to death. They drew their swords. He must tell Ajax about all this immediately. He demands to know where he is.

He is told that Ajax is not here. 

Messenger bemoans that he has not come in a more timely fashion. Teucer instructed the messenger to tell Ajax not to go outdoors.

Chorus: But Ajax has gone out with good intentions.
Messenger: That was foolish. Teucer had told him it was important to keep him in his own tent. He would be safer. Today was only day when Athena would come to vex him with her anger. Indeed Ajax had told her in the midst of a battle when she was standing next to him,  to go away and assist other Greeks. This invoked her hatred of him.

Tecmessa is called for.

Enter Tecmessa.
The Messenger tells her that if Ajax is not here, there is no hope for him. Teucer had given him strict instructions that he was to be kept in his tent and not go out alone. Calchas the seer and prophet had warned us. 

Tecmessa orders the Chorus to split into two groups to go looking for Ajax; one to search eastwards and the other westwards.

Exit Tecmessa carrying Eurysaces, together with the Messenger
The Chorus splits into two groups exiting to both sides of the Orchestra. 

[There is a scene change. The action is transferred to an empty place by the seashore. This one of the only two occasions in all of the extant Greek play literature where this occurs. The normal rule of Greek Theatre is one play = one fixed location, setting and scene.]

The skene represents a bush by the seashore.

Part 2 (815-865)

Enter Ajax carrying a sword. He buries the handle of the sword with the blade pointing upwards inside the skene.

He tells the audience that it was the sword which Hector had given him [a gift, recognition from an enemy that he was a worthy and honourable foe].  

Hector, of all friends
Most unloved, and most hateful to my sight.
Then it is planted in Troy's hostile soil,
New-sharpened on the iron-biting whet.
And heedfully have I planted it, that so
With a swift death it prove to me most kind.

He begs Zeus that Teucer be allowed to find his body first, to save his corpse from dishonour. He begs Hermes to conduct him down to the underworld quickly. He begs the Erinyes [the Furies] to come and sweep ruin upon the the Sons of Atreus, and wreak vengeance upon whole the army as well. And he requests Helios [the sun god] to rise up into the heavens in his chariot to relate the tale of his death to his parents. Finally, he begs Thanatos [the god of death] to attend him in the underworld. 

He bids farewell to Salamis his dear home. and to Athens, and the streams and plains of Troy.

Exit Ajax into the skene where he falls upon his sword.

Epi-parodos [Lines 866-878]

The two halves of the Chorus enter from both sides, singing and speaking alternately.
They say neither of the teams have found Ajax, neither in the east nor in the west.


3rd Kommos (A Lament) [Lines 879-973]
There is a cry from the bush. Tecmessa has found Ajax's body. She covers his corpse with a robe.

The Chorus alternate between speaking [the Chorus Leader] and singing, as does Tecmessa.

Enter Tecmessa

She tells the Chorus that she has found Ajax's body and that he has killed himself  by falling on his sword. "He is dead ... we can only weep for him" 

The Chorus ask if they can see him. Tecmessa, says "No": she covers his corpse with a robe. She asks "Where is Teucer?"

She laments. The Chorus join in with her lament.

4th Episode [Lines 974-1184]

Teucer hurries in. It seems that Zeus had heard the prayers of Ajax ; a rumour, as if from a god, had come to Ajax's brother.

His first thought: "Where is the child, Eurysaces?"

The Chorus Leader tells him he is by the tents.

Teucer tells Tecmessa to fetch him.

Exit Tecmessa

Teucer uncovers Ajax's body. He grieves deeply. He thinks of what their father is going to say. Did Teucer kill him? Will he be cast into exile as a slave, no longer free?  He pulls out the sword from his body, Hector's final fatal gift.

The Chorus Leader tell him to hurry up and bury him, the enemy [Menelaus] is coming.

Enter Menelaus, with attendants

Menelaus orders Teucer by decree of the high command to leave the body where it is.

Teucer asks for his  justification for this

Menelaus tells Teucer that Ajax was supposed to be their ally, but instead he was a traitor worse than the Trojans. He plotted to kill them. Fortunately a god diverted the object of his rage onto some sheep and cattle. Therefore, by his, Menelaus' , order, no one has the right or power to bury him. He is to lie there, his body feeding the seagulls. Whilst he was alive he disobeyed orders. Rules will never be kept in a city whose citizens do not respect authority. Such a city will sink beneath the depths. Neither would an army be well governed if its soldiers did not fear those above them. "If you [Teucer] dare to bury him you will fall into your own grave."

The Chorus Leader comments: "Fine words! but don't shame the dead."

Teucer tells Menelaus men of the humblest birth do no wrong when men of the noblest birth use words like he has just heard. Ajax may have been an ally, but was Menelaus his general?  Teucer begs the question what entitles Menlaus to assume that he had authority over Ajax.  Menelaus had no rights at all. He was no general over Ajax, over the troops from Salamis. "Menelaus, you came here in a subordinate place! ... He owed no service to you. Rule your own! ... I will lay him justly in his tomb despite your prohibitions. He did not come here to rescue Helen, but for the reason of other oaths which he had sworn. I will ignore you. Think this over carefully." 

Chorus Leader: "I can't approve this, but the argument is strong."

Menelaus [scornfully]: "This archer seems to think well of himself!"

Teucer: "Archery is an honourable art, not contemptible at all!"

Menelaus and Teucer now row with each other [stichomythia]: Teucer argues that was it not right that one's enemies had to lie dead and unburied on the field of battle?  But was Ajax Menelaus' enemy? Teucer then claims that the votes obtained for the granting of Achilles' armour were fraudulent, and Menelaus was found out. Menelaus then said don't blame him, but those who judged it. Teucer accuses him of villainy. Menelaus: "This man must not be buried!". Teucer: "He will be buried at once!"

Menelaus describes Teucer's argument as reckless, and that he should calm down.

Teucer describes Menelaus' haughty foolishness, that a wise person has said that by outraging the dead you will live to regret it. 

Menelaus exits saying he could use force.

Teucer taunts him as he goes.

Exit Menelaus and attendants.

The Chorus chant a wrathful contest is in the brewing. 

Tecmessa and the child, Eurysaces, enter.

Teucer: "They have come to perform the due burial rites."  To Eurysaces: "Stand next to your father as a suppliant." He cuts a lock of hair from himself and gives it to Eurysaces. He explains to Eurysaces that by making supplication he may curse anyone who tries to stop him burying his father, that may their body and corpse be thrown out and lie unburied. "Throw yourself onto his body and guard it!" He tells the Chorus to rally round to make a tomb for Ajax.

Exit Teucer

3rd Stasimon [Lines 1185-1222]

The Chorus curse the day they came to Troy and bewail the hardships they have suffered there. Ajax was once their source of strength and defence against the dread of the night, and they have lost him. They wish they could set sail for home and greet sacred Athens!

Exodos [Lines 1223-1420]

Teucer Re-enters. Tells everyone to get ready, Agamemnon is on his way.

Enter Agamemnon

Agamemenon tells Teucer how dare he, the son of a captive slave-woman, go unpunished for making powerful speeches against him. Even if Ajax (as Teucer has said) that Ajax came to Troy under his own command. Where did he stand in battle that I, Agamemnon, did not also stand?

"Nothing yourself [Teucer] that man [Ajax] is now nothing, having sworn that I [Agamemnon] am not the general nor the admiral either of the Achaeans [Greek Forces] or of you [Teucer] since Ajax ... came here under his own command."

Agamemnon continues: Ajax lost the arms: that is no reason why Teucer should attack the judges. "Teucer, you are not a freeborn man, you are unfit to plead before me. Bring someone else, a freeman, to make your case. I [Agamemnon] am not inclined to listen to you [Teucer]." He disqualifies Teucer by birth from being Ajax's champion in this case.

Teucer replies reminding Agamemnon who it was that saved the ships from Trojan fire and sword, and who it was that met Hector [Prince of Troy] in single combat.

Were these deeds not his!

Neither Agamemnon nor Teucer backs down.

Enter Odysseus

Agamemnon says to Odysseus that he, Teucer, refuses to leave Ajax's corpse untombed, but, in spite of his command, will bury it.

Odysseus pleads with Agamemnon. Agamemnon is willing to listen to him [Odysseus] as his friend.

I thee entreat, cast not this man out so unfeelingly, nor leave him there unburied.

...

This man of all the host became my greatest foe,

Since I prevailed to gain Achilles' arms

He was

The best and bravest of the Argive host,

Of all that came to Troy, saving one,

Achilles' self. 

But on the laws of God. It is not right

[to leave such]

A man of noble nature lying dead.

Agamemnon prevaricates, finally saying that, though he will always hate Ajax, Odysseus may do as he pleases.

Exit Agamemnon

Odysseus turns to Teucer and then tells him he will always be his friend and asks may he help in the funeral rites.

Teucer then says to Odysseus that he was the only one to lend a hand, that in his death he no longer wished to outrage him. Agamemon and his detestable brother wanted to leave him rotting on the open ground without a burial. May Zeus destroy them miserably. Teucer then hesitates to allow Odysseus to help out, but tells him he may not touch the corpse but he and any others he wants to bring may watch the proceedings. He tells Odysseus he truly is noble. 

Exit Odysseus

Teucer: To the Chorus, some of you dig a grave, others prepare a cauldron on the fire to heat water water to wash the body with, others fetch his armour from the tent. To the boy, Come, lift him up with me, his blood is still warm. All you who were his friends come quick to share in the labours. There was none as noble as he, whilst he lived.

Chorus:

What men have seen they know;

But what shall come hereafter

No man before the event can see,

Nor what end waits for him.

Exeunt, following the body, Teucer, Eurysaces, Tecmessa and the Chorus

References

Ajax (play) - Wikipedia

Achaeans (Homer) - Wikipedia

Ajax the Great - Wikipedia

Ajax | Encyclopedia Mythica

Tecmessa - Wikipedia

Tecmessa | Encyclopedia Mythica 

ATHENA MYTHS 3 GENERAL - Greek Mythology - Theoi 

(2013). Ajax (Aἴας). In The Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy, H.M. Roisman (Ed.). doi:10.1002/9781118351222.wbegt0440

Ajax (Play) - Ancient History Encyclopedia

AJAX - SOPHOCLES | PLAY SUMMARY & ANALYSIS
www.ancient-literature.com › greece_sophocles_ajax

Ajax by Sophocles GreekMythology.com

Sophoclean Tragedy p. 16 Ajax : C.M. Bowra - Internet Archive

A. S. “Jebb's Ajax.” The Classical Review, vol. 11, no. 2, 1897, pp. 113–116. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/692843.

Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Ajax,

Sophocles (1896). R. C. Jebb (ed.). Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments Volume 7 The Ajax. University Press.
Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments; with Critical Notes, Commentary, and Translation in English Prose by R.C. Jebb Pt 7 : Sophocles - Internet Archive

Jan Coenraad Kamerbeek (1953). The Plays of Sophocles: The Ajax. E. J. Brill.

H.D.F. Kitto (April 2011). Greek Tragedy. Chapter VI - The Philosophy of Sophocles: Taylor & Francis. pp. 123–. ISBN 978-1-136-80690-2.

Bernard M. W. Knox. “The Ajax of Sophocles.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 65, 1961, pp. 1–37. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/310832

Andreas Markantonatos (27 August 2012). Brill's Companion to Sophocles. J.P. Finglass - Ajax: BRILL. pp. 59–. ISBN 978-90-04-21762-1.

The Poetics of Greek Tragedy by Malcolm Heath - Internet Archive

J.P. Finglass (25 August 2011). Sophocles: Ajax. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-50465-2.

Davidson, J. (1985). Sophoclean Dramaturgy and the Ajax Burial Debates. Ramus, 14(1), 16-29. doi:10.1017/S0048671X00005038

Lawrence, Stuart. “Ancient Ethics, the Heroic Code, and the Morality of Sophocles' Ajax.” Greece & Rome, vol. 52, no. 1, 2005, pp. 18–33. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3567855

Golder, Herbert. “Sophocles' ‘Ajax’: Beyond the Shadow of Time.” Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics, vol. 1, no. 1, 1990, pp. 9–34. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20163444

Karakantza, Efimia D. “Polis Anatomy: Reflecting on Polis Structures in Sophoclean Tragedy.” Classics Ireland, vol. 18, 2011, pp. 21–51. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23621460

Hawthorne, Kevin. “The Rhetorical Resolution of Sophokles' ‘Aias.’” Mnemosyne, vol. 65, no. 3, 2012, pp. 387–400., www.jstor.org/stable/23253330 

Simpson, Michael. “SOPHOCLES' AJAX: HIS MADNESS AND TRANSFORMATION.” Arethusa, vol. 2, no. 1, 1969, pp. 88–103. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26307263

MARCH, JENNIFER R. “SOPHOCLES' ‘AJAX’: THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF A HERO.” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, no. 38, 1991, pp. 1–36. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43646729

Barker, Elton. “The Fall-out from Dissent: Hero and Audience in Sophocles' Ajax.” Greece & Rome, vol. 51, no. 1, 2004, pp. 1–20. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3567876

Stevens, P. T. “Ajax in the Trugrede.” The Classical Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 2, 1986, pp. 327–336. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/639277

Keyser, Paul T. “The Will and Last Testament of Ajax.” Illinois Classical Studies, no. 33-34, 2009, pp. 109–126. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/illiclasstud.33-34.0109

Evans, J. A. S. “A Reading of Sophocles' ‘Ajax.’” Quaderni Urbinati Di Cultura Classica, vol. 38, no. 2, 1991, pp. 69–85. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20547094.

Tyler, James. “Sophocles' Ajax and Sophoclean Plot Construction.” The American Journal of Philology, vol. 95, no. 1, 1974, pp. 24–42. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/293816.

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Kelly, Adrian. “AIAS IN ATHENS: THE WORLDS OF THE PLAY AND THE AUDIENCE.” Quaderni Urbinati Di Cultura Classica, vol. 111, no. 3, [Accademia Editoriale, Fabrizio Serra Editore], 2015, pp. 61–92, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24645173.


Clark, James T. "The Skene Door in the Prologue of Sophocles’ Ajax." Mnemosyne 72.5 (2018): 861-866.  https://doi.org/10.1163/1568525X-12342669

Greek hero cults and ideas of immortality; the Gifford lectures delivered in the University of St. Andrews in the year 1920 by L.R. Farnell  p. 305 The Cults of Epic Heroes - Aias Telamonios

SUPPLICATION AND HERO CULT IN SOPHOCLES’ AJAX by Peter Burian 

Greek Versions

The plays and fragments : Sophocles Vol. II (Lewis Campbell) p. 9-    Internet Archive 

Sophocles, Ajax  Perseus Digital Library

Teubner Edition - Ajax

Ajax - Sophocles - Google Books ed. P.J. Finglass,  Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries

Translations

Ajax (Sophocles) - Wikisource, the free online library

The Internet Classics Archive | Ajax by Sophocles

Tragedies of Sophocles (Jebb 1917)/Ajax - Wikisource

Sophocles, Ajax - Perseus Digital Library

Ajax (Trevelyan 1919) - Wikisource,

Video

Ajax by Sophocles - Youtube

The Women of Trachis - Sophocles

Exact date of production of play not known. It is also known as The Trachiniae, named after its Chorus.
 
Heracles had been married to Deianeira for nearly three years, when, at a meal in the house of Oeneus, Deianeira's father, he has killed by accident, the boy Eunomus, the son of Architeles. In accordance with the law Heracles has had to go into exile with his wife. They chose to flee to Tiryns. On their way there they had to cross the river Euenus,

Now the central back story to this play, which is primarily about Deianeira, concerns the tunic of Nessos the centaur. As they were fleeing across the river Euenos, Nessos who was carrying Deianeira had attempted to have sexual relations with her. Heracles rescued her by shooting the centaur with a poisoned arrow. As he lay dying, Nessos persuaded Deianeira to take a sample of his blood, telling her that she could make a love potion from it when mixed with olive oil, and she could give this to Heracles which would ensure that he would never be unfaithful to her. Accordingly she collected the centaur's blood by dipping and soaking a strip of his tunic in it.

Trachis was a city in Thessaly near the eastern coast of Greece by the Malian gulf to which Deineira has escaped after Tiryns where in a rage Hercules has slain Iphitos, the son of Eurytos, king of Oechalia, Iphitos had provoked Hercules and Hercules had killed him by throwing him off the walls of the city. And for this Zeus sentenced him to serve as a bond slave to Omphale for a whole year in Lydia. Deianeira fled from Tiryns to Trachis.

Dramatis Personae

Deianeira – wife of the hero Heracles

Nurse – an attendant of Deianeira

Hyllus – son of Deianeira and Heracles

Chorus of young, unmarried women of Trachis

Messenger

Lichas – Heracles' herald

Old Man – a doctor tending Heracles in his sufferings

Heracles – hero of Greek myth, famed for his twelve labours
Iolè – [object of Heracles' lust whom he wants to make his wife, non speaking part]
Litter‐bearers of Heracles. [non speaking parts]

Assignment of Parts:
Protagonist = Deianeira and Heracles
Deuteragonist = Hyllus and Lichas,
Tritagonist = the Nurse, the Messenger, and the Old Man

Setting: skene: at Trachis, in front of the house of Heracles.

Argument [not Sophoclean original]

Oeneus, king of Pleuron in Aetolia, had a fair daughter, Deianeira, and many sought her in marriage, chiefly the river god Achelous, whom, she dreaded even to look upon. And Heracles came, and defeated the river god, and took Deianeira as his bride. And as they journeyed to Tiryns, they passed the stream Euenos, where Nessos the Kentaur was wont to carry travellers across. And as he bore Deianeira, he laid rude hands on her, and Heracles, seeing this, shot him with an arrow, that had been dipped in the venom of the Lernaean hydra; and Nessos, as he died, gave a rag, dipped in the blood of his wound, to Deianeira, and told her that it would be a love-charm to win back her husband's heart, should he ever prove unfaithful. And they lived together, and she bore him Hyllos and other children; and, though Heracles was light of love, yet she never used the charm, but kept her soul in patience.


And for many years Heracles went to and fro, fulfilling the labours which Eurystheus had laid upon him, and, when these were over, being sore vexed, in his rage he slew Iphitos, the son of Eurytos, king of Oechalia, who had provoked him, and for this Zeus sentenced him to serve [in bondage] Omphale for a whole year in Lydia. And Deianeira fled from Tiryns, for fear of Eurystheus, and abode at Trachis. Now when the year of bondage to Omphale was over, Heracles, being in love with Iole, daughter of Eurytos, invaded her father's kingdom, and laid it waste, and sent Iole and other captive women to Tiryns, while he stayed to offer sacrifice to Zeus after his victory. And all this time Deianeira remained at home in much fear and trembling.

Prologue [Lines 1-93]
Enter Deianeira, her Nurse, and the Chorus of Trachinian Maidens.
Deianeira relates the story of her life and her plight. She says her life has to date been filled with nothing but misery and woe. She tells the story of the river god, Achelous, how he had come to her father's house wooing her several times in different forms: first as a bull in body form, then as a dragon, then as a human trunk with the head of ox. He disgusted her. And she then explains how Heracles had rescued her by killing Achelous,  and afterwards then became her husband.

After this together they have had a family, children, whom, however, Heracles has only seem at rare times, because he has been so often away on quests performing his "Labours". Are they all not coming to an end?

But most of all she is now afraid more than ever that ever since he killed Iphitus, she and their family now living in Trachis in a strange country alone, [Heracles having been made to serve in bondage in a far off land for a year for this deed.]

Now Heracles has been away for 15 months, with not a word from him. She believes him to be in terrible trouble.

The Nurse speaks. She has seen Deianeira cry many times over Heracles' absence. She tells Deianeira that it might be a good idea to send Hyllus in search of him.

Hyllys, Heracles' and Deianeira's son,  enters.

Deianeira agrees with the Nurse's suggestion [worthy of a free woman even though a slave]. She tell Hyllus to go off and enquire about his father. Hyllus says he knows where he is.  He is in Lydia working as a servant to a Lydian woman. But he is now free. Hyllus says he is now in Euboea campaigning against the city of Eurytus. Deianeira says that Heracles before he went away told her of a prophecy: that he would either come to his life's end or have a happy life for the rest of his time once free of this bondage, his "Labours" being over.

Parodos [Lines 94-140]

The Chorus of young maidens of Trachis make a plea to Apollo the god of prophecy begging to learn of Heracles' fate. The Chorus urge Deianeira not to fret herself too much and remind her that Zeus is his father and that the gods will protect him.

1st Episode [Lines 141-496]
Deianeira tells the Chorus that she believes that they are here because they have heard of her suffering; that she is getting older and inevitably  losing her beauty. That when Heracles went away he left a tablet with his will written on it; that he would either survive his latest venture after being a year away or die; that he had heard this prophecy from the oracle of Zeus at Dodona.

Enter a Messenger
He reports that Heracles has been successful in his latest endeavour and is returning to Trachis shortly. Lichas had told him all this. Deianeira asks why isn't Lichas here himself?

 (Hyporchema Dance-Song 205-224) the Chorus sing and dance a song of joy of Heracles' return.

Enter Lichas with a group of captive women; among them is Iole.
Deianeira welcomes Lichas. She asks him if Heracles is alive. He is, and healthy too.  Is he in Greece or overseas? Lichas reveals that Heracles has finished his year of bondage to Omphale, Queen of Lydia; that he is in Euboea fulfilling a vow. He had vowed to overthrow the city  of Oechalia, Eurytus' city. He has killed Eurytus and enslaved the citizens of  that city. That is where the captives are from.   He says that Heracles is still in Euboea building an entire complex of altars and shrines there intended for sacrifices to Zeus  

Deianeira stares at Iole. She seems to be very beautiful and have the bearing of being a noble woman; but D. does not yet know that Heracles has a great desire for her. Lichas has lied to Deianeira about I's importance to Heracles.

Lichas, Iole, and the captive women exit the stage and go into the palace.

The Messenger then tells Deianeira that Lichas has not told her the whole truth, especially the truth about Iole's importance to Heracles, how he has fallen for her.

Lichas re-enters. Deianeira gets him to admit that he has lied. At this juncture she seems she might accept the situation.

1st Stasimon [Lines 497-530]
The Chorus chant an ode about the power of desire. The ode especially makes reference to the tale of Heracles’ of destruction of the river god Achelous because of his love for Deianeira, which had overwhelmed him. The song reminds us as well that Deianeira also feels desire for Heracles too, suggesting that Deianeira might be feeling very jealous because of  the presence of Iole.

2nd Episode [Lines 531-632]
Deianeira says she has taken a young maiden into her home just as a mariner might load his ship with cargo. Now there are now two women in the house, each waiting for its master under a single bedcover for his embrace, two of them sharing the same marriage. What woman could bear this?

However, she is not angry with Heracles; she doesn't know how to be. She only wants Heracles to love her. She has a plan to make him do this.

Deianeira recalls the story of the centaur Nessos who had carried her across the river Evenus, and how he had tried to touch her sexually, and how Heracles had killed the centaur with his famous bow and an arrow which had been dipped in the poisonous blood of the Lernaean Hydra [the killing of which was one of his Labours]. Nessos had told Deianeira that if she collected the blood which had clotted around his wound, she could make a love potion from it for the heart of Heracles, which if he took it he would never be able to look at any other woman nor love her more than Deianeira.

Deianeira has done all that and has kept the blood safely through all these years. She has followed the instructions Nessos had given her and daubed a robe with the charmed potion which she is now carrying in a casket. She believes the spell will work.

Lichas enters
Deianeira gives the robe in the casket to him asking him to take it to Heracles. She tells him only Heracles must put on the robe and no one else. Nor must it be exposed to the sun, nor brought in any holy enclosure, and to avoid the glow from any lit hearth. Only Heracles must wear it on the day when he displaying before the gods a bull which he has slaughtered in their name. He must put on this robe when he makes a new sacrifice to the gods, like wearing new clothes for the occasion. Deianeira gives Lichas a message with a copy of her seal proving that the robe has come from her.

Lichas exits saying he will fulfil this task.

Deianeira exits into the palace.

2nd Stasimon [Lines 633-662]

The Chorus sing an ode of hope that Heracles not only that he will return home victorious, but also with his heart full of a new-found love for his devoted wife.

3rd Episode [Lines 663-820]

Deianeira re-enters from the palace. She is worried and fearful that she may soon learn she has committed a great wrong. 

The Chorus beg to know what is the cause of her fear.

Deianeira then explains it: a terrible trick has been played concerning the ceremonial robe which she had prepared and sent to Heracles. She had used a tuft of white wool from a sheep to daub it with the blood from the centaur. Somehow she had thrown that tuft out into the courtyard. There in the sunlight not eaten by any animal it simply disappeared of its own accord, crumbling into dust, dust looking just like the sawdust from wood which had been sawn. That dust then fell onto the ground where it mingled with the earth. That earth then bubbled up into a clotted foam, as if the juice from the vine had been poured onto the ground. 

Hyllus enters and tells the story of what he saw with his own eyes what happened to his father.  After sacking Eurytus he marched away with the spoils and booty of victory. On the shores of Euboea there was a place called Cenaeum. There he marked out altars and a sanctuary dedicated to Zeus. Then when he was about to sacrifice some bulls Lichas entered with the casket containing the robe Deianeira had sent. He put it on and killed the first group of 12 bulls proud to wear such a fine robe. Then a herd of another 100 was brought for slaughter.  But the flames of the pinewood fires began to grow and the sanctuary started to grow hot. And as he sweated the robe began to cling to his body. Spasms of pain bit into his bones; then like a poisonous viper the robe began to consume him, wrapping itself around him.

Then Heracles demanded Lichas tell him what was the plot behind this robe all about? Lichas simply said it was a gift from Deianeira. Heracles then picked up Lichas by the ankle, and threw him at some rocks on the seashore dashing his brains out. 

Then Heracles started to writhe on the ground in pain shrieking his head off, declaring his marriage wretched. The poisoned robe was making him mad. He begged his son to take him away to a place where he could not be seen. 

Hyllus explains that he has now brought the angry and half-mad Heracles home. He demands to know from his mother whether she planned this, and if she did may justice avenge his father. And he curses her.

Deianeira exits immediately without attempting to defend her actions.

The Chorus Leader declares that she has by her silence accused herself. 

Hyllus exits.

3rd Stasimon [Lines 821-862]
The Chorus sings that the prophecy has come true: perversely that the end of Heracles' Labours also proves to be the end of Heracles himself. The Hydra's venom is killing him and together with Nessos, Heracles' enemy, both have got their revenge. They declare Deianeira knew none of this and is therefore not guilty. The bringing of Iole to his home and the power of desire has caused all this. It is Aprodite who is behind all this. 

4th Episode [Lines 863-946]

A cry of grief is heard from inside the palace

Nurse enters from the palace.

The Chorus beg to know what is happening.

The Nurse tells them that Deianeira has killed herself  and horribly so using a sword.  And described how she gone from room to room weeping. Finally she had run into Heracles' bedchamber. There on the marriage-bed bursting into a torrent of tears she cut her torso open with a double bladed sword.  Then she says  it was Hyllus who had shrieked for he knew it was his words that made his mother kill herself, and then he had lain next to her body weeping.

Exit Nurse

4th Stasimon [Lines 947-970]
The Chorus sing a short ode of lament for the sufferings of the family. Should they sing for the suffering of those in the house? Or for the pain of  Heracles who is being carried towards the house?

Exodos [Lines 971-1278]

Enter from the side Heracles borne on a litter, together with an Old Man. Hyllus enters from the palace.

Hyllus chants with the Old Man, asking if Heracles is alive or dead. The Old Man says he has passed out because the pain is unbearable.

(Melos Lines 1004-1043)  Heracles awakens  and starts to sing. He begs for someone to come and kill him to relieve him of his torments. The Old Man sings begging Hyllus to help his father. Hyllus sings he can only do so much to stop his pain, the rest is the will of Zeus.  Heracles sings that the vision he is seeing of the Hydra is destroying him. He calls for his son to take pity and kill him.

Heracles starts to speak. No one or thing had ever before caused him to suffer so much agony. Now the daughter of Oenus [Deianeira] has. He instructs his son to bring Deianeira before him for punishment.  "Do not think of her as your mother. See how I suffer". He then relates a summary of the story of some of his Labours. 

Hyllus then tells his father to listen to him. Upon being told by Hyllus that she had acted in error because of the centaur Nessos had tricked her, Heracles now realises that a second prophesy which foretold that he would be killed by one of the dead he had killed; that this has now come true.

He regains self-control, and prepares himself mentally for his death.

He forces Hyllus to make two promises which he must carry out on oath; first, Hyllus must arrange for Heracles’ death  which must take place on the funeral pyre. He must follow the ritual: Hyllus must first carry him up Mount Oeta sacred to Zeus; then he must cut down an oak tree, chopping it up so as to build a pyre, adding faggots from a wild olive tree; then he must lay his body on top of the pyre and then plunge a sword into his chest, killing him; he is then to set fire to the pyre using a pine cone torch. If he does all this correctly there will be no dishonour or shame in what he has done.

Secondly,  he also tells Hyllus that when he is dead, he must promise in his memory  that after he has died  that he, Hyllus, will take Iole to be his wife, letting no other have her.

Hyllus so swears.

The play ends with the characters exiting to Mt. Oeta and Heracles’ funeral.

References

Women of Trachis - Wikipedia 

Deianira - Wikipedia

Heracles - Wikipedia

Iole - Wikipedia

Lernaean Hydra - Wikipedia

ACHELOUS (Akheloios) - Aetolian River-God of Greek Mythology

NESSUS (Nessos) - Centaur of Greek Mythology

Tiryns - Wikipedia

Omphale - Wikipedia

Iphitus of Oechalia - Wikipedia

Hyporchema - Wikipedia

Sophocles: Women of Trachis (Τραχίνιαι) - - Major Reference Works - Wiley Online Library

Women of Trachis by Sophocles - GreekMythology.com

Women of Trachis - Ancient History Encyclopedia

The Trachiniae - Sophocles - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature

Women of Trachis Study Guide - Course Hero

Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Trachiniae,

Sophocles Part 5 : Trachiniae -  Jebb Internet Archive

Brill's Companion to the Reception of Sophocles. BRILL. 3 April 2017. ISBN 978-90-04-30094-1.

Andreas Markantonatos (27 August 2012). Brill's Companion to Sophocles. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-21762-1.

Hoey, T. F. “The Date of the ‘Trachiniae.’” Phoenix, vol. 33, no. 3, 1979, pp. 210–232. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1087433.

Segal, C. (1977). Sophocles' Trachiniae: Myth, poetry, and heroic values. In T. Gould & C. Herington (Authors), Greek Tragedy (Yale Classical Studies, pp. 99-158). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511933738.005
In: Charles Segal (30 June 2009). Sophocles' Tragic World: Divinity, Nature, Society. Chapter 2: Harvard University Press. pp. 26–. ISBN 978-0-674-04342-8.

Sophoclea : studies on the text of Sophocles : Lloyd-Jones, Hugh  - Internet Archive
Page 150-  Chapter V  - Trachiniae

Jacques Jouanna (25 July 2012). Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen: Selected Papers. "Disease as Aggression in The Hippocratic Corpus And Greek Tragedy: Wild and Devouring Disease": BRILL. pp. 81–. ISBN 90-04-20859-3.

Internet Archive Search: Women of Trachis

Greek Versions

Trachiniae : Sophocles, Wilhelm Dindorf  - Internet Archive

Sophocles, Trachiniae - Perseus Digital Library

Sophocles: The Trachiniae - Google Books

Sophocles: Plays: Trachiniae (Classic Commentaries): 9781853996429 - Amazon Books
The Trachiniae of Sophocles, with a Commentary : R.C. Jebb

Translations 

Trachiniae - Wikisource, the free online library

Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878)/Maidens of Trachis - Wikisource,

Tragedies of Sophocles (Jebb 1917)/Trachiniae - Wikisource

Sophocles, Trachiniae - Perseus Digital Library

Women of Trachis by Sophocles - Internet Archive

The Internet Classics Archive | The Trachiniae by Sophocles

Sophocles (19 April 2013). David Grene (ed.). Sophocles II: Ajax, The Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes, The Trackers. University of Chicago Press. pp. 77–. ISBN 978-0-226-31156-2.

Sophocles (24 April 2008). Electra and Other Plays. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-191356-8.

Audio

Trachiniai by Sophocles : Audiobooks Full Length - YouTube