La morte di Aiace in Sofocle e nei poemi del ciclo epico

In this essay I will examine the different versions of Ajax' death in the poems of the epic cycle (Aithiopis, Little Iliad), and in Sophocles' tragedy. In this context I will deal with many themes with special reference to Homer and Pindar, but the main aim of this study is to exploit the meaning of the changes in the plot and the development in the characterization of the protagonist in Sophocles' tragedy. As far as we know, the events in the Aithiopis were quite simple. The madness of Ajax showed itself just after the verdict of the Achaean leaders. According to Arktinos the first signs of the hero's madness probably didn't mean a complete lack of the correct exercise of the thought. In the Little Iliad, a more recent epic poem in which characters are quite far from following the traditional heroic code, we can recognise two elements which probably were an innovation: the part of Athena as a determinant presence for the madness of Ajax and the slaughter of the animals. The alteration of the sight, the consequent madness of the hero - two elements which must be considered together as a consequence of the goddess's wrath - and the following slaughter of the animals deprived the protagonist of social reputation (time) and consequently of his social standing in the Achaean army. In this new condition suicide is presented not as a personal choice but as a necessity. The Ajax' solution is clearly announced just after he becomes sane again and understands what he really did just before. The new development of the dramatic action gives also a new meaning to Calchas' prophecy and makes it necessary to place the events in two following days, from the beginning of his madness to his death. In fact, the decisive interference of Athena in the events and the consequences of Ajax' madness, which lasted a whole day, made it necessary to place the events subsequent to the beginning of protagonist's mania in two days' time.