Sophocles' AJAX Complete

Translated by R. Trevelyan.

Sophocles Bilingual Anthology  Studies  Sophocles in Print

69 Pages

Page 8

Ajax: Athena, in all else will I do thy will;
But his shall be no other doom than this.

Athena: Thou then, since thy delight is to act thus,
Smite, spare not, abate nought of thy intent.

Ajax: To my work I return: and thus I charge thee,
As now, so always fight thou upon my side. (Ajax goes back into the
tent.)

Athena: Seest thou, Odysseus, how great the strength of gods?

Whom couldst thou find more prudent than this man,
Or whom in act more valiant, when need called?

Odysseus: I know none nobler; and I pity him
In his misery, albeit he is my foe,
Since he is yoked fast to an evil doom.
My own lot I regard no less than his.
For I see well, nought else are we but mere
Phantoms, all we that live, mere fleeting shadows.

Athena: Warned therefore by his fate, never do thou
Thyself utter proud words against the gods;
Nor swell with insolence, if thou shouldst vanquish
Some rival by main strength or by wealth's power.
For a day can bring all mortal greatness low,
And a day can lift it up. But the gods love
The wise of heart, the froward they abhor. (Athena vanishes and Odysseus
departs. The Chorus of Salaminians enters.)

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