Classic Poem

The chiefs were seated, and the soldiers form
a circle round them. Then Ajax, the approved
lord of the seven-fold shield, arose and spoke.
Impatient in his wrath, he looked with stern,
set features, out over Sigaean shores,
and over the fleet of ships upon the beach,
and, stretching out his hands, he said,

" We plead,
O Jupiter, our cause before the ships, —
Ulysses vies with me! He did not shrink
from giving way before the flames of Hector,
when I withstood them and I saved the fleet.
'Tis safer then to fight with lying words
than with his hands. I am not prompt to speak,
nor he to act. I am as good in war
and deadly battle as he is in talk.
Pelasgians, I do not suppose my deeds
must here be mentioned: you have witnessed them
but let Ulysses tell of deeds which he
performed without a witness and which Night
alone is conscious of. I own the prize
we seek is great, but such a rival makes
it small. To Ajax there s no cause for pride
in having any prize, however great,
for which Ulysses hoped. But he has won
reward enough already. He can boast,
when vanquished, that he strove with me.

" I, even if my merit were in doubt
should still excell in birth. I am the son
of Telamon, who with great Hercules
brought low the power of Troy and in the ship
of Jason voyaged even to the Colchian shores.
His father, Aeacus, now is a judge
among the silent shades — where Sisyphus
toils and is mocked forever with the stone.
Great Jove himself calls Aeacus his son.
Thus, Ajax is the third from Jupiter.
But, Greeks, let not this line of my descent
avail me, if I do not share it with
my cousin, great Achilles. I demand
these arms now due me as a cousin. Why
should this one, from the blood of Sisyphus,
and like him for his thefts and frauds, intrude
the names of that loathed family upon
honored descendants of brave Aeacus?

" Will you deny me arms because I took
arms earlier, no man prompting me,
and call this man the better, who last of all
took up arms, and, pretending he was mad,
declined war, till the son of Naplius
more shrewd than he (but to his future cost)
discovered the contrivance of the fraud
and had the coward dragged forth to the arms
he had avoided. And shall this man have
the world's best arms, who wanted none?
Shall I lack honor and my cousin's gift
because I faced the danger with the first?

" Would that his madness had been real, or
had been accepted as reality
and that he never had attended us,
as our companion to the Phrygian towers,
this counsellor of evil! Then, good son
of Poeas, Lemnos would not hold you now,
exposed through guilt of ours! You, as men say,
hidden in forest lairs, are moving with your groans
the very rocks and asking for Ulysses
what he so well deserves — what, if indeed
there still are gods, you shall not ask in vain.
And now, one of our leaders, he that was
sworn to the same arms with ourselves! by whom
the arrows of great Hercules are used,
as his successor; broken by disease
and famine, clothed with feathers, now must feed
on birds and squander for his wretched fare
the arrows destined for the wreck of Troy.

" At least he lives, because he has not stayed
too near Ulysses. Hapless Palamedes
might wish that he too had been left behind,
then he would live or would have met a death
without dishonor. For this man, who well
remembered the unfortunate discovery
of his feigned madness, made a fraudulent
attack on Palamedes, who he said
betrayed the Grecian interest. He proved
his false charge to the Greeks by showing them
the gold which he himself hid in the ground.
By exile or by death he has decreased
the true strength of the Greeks. And so he fights,
for such things men have cause to fear Ulysses!

" Should he excel the faithful Nestor by
his eloquence, I'd yet be well convinced
the way he forsook Nestor was a crime,
old Nestor, who implored in vain his aid,
when he was hindered by his wounded steed
and wearied with the years of his old age,
was then deserted by that scheming man.
The charge that I have made is strictly true,
and the son of Tydeus knows it all too well;
for he at that time called him by his name,
rebuked him and upbraided his weak friend
for coward flight.

" The gods above behold
the affairs of men with justice. That same man
who would not help a friend now calls for help;
he who forsook a friend, should be forsaken,
the law he made returns upon himself.
He called aloud on his companions;
I came and saw him trembling, pale with fear,
and shuddering, at the thought of coming death.
I held my shield above him where he lay,
and that way saved the villain's dastard life,
and little praise I have deserved for that.
If you still wish to claim this armor, let
us both return to that place and restore
the enemy, your wound, and usual fear —
there hide behind my shield, and under that
contend with me! Yet, when I faced the foe,
he, whom his wound had left no power to stand,
forgot the wound and took to headlong flight.

" Hector approached, and brought the gods with him
to battle; and, wherever he rushed on,
not only this Ulysses was alarmed,
but even the valiant, for so great the fear
he caused them. Hector, proud in his success
in blood and slaughter, I then dared to meet
and with a huge: stone from a distance hurled
I laid him flat. When he demanded one
to fight with, I engaged him quite alone,
for you my Greek friends, prayed the lot
might fall upon me, and your prayers prevailed.
If you should ask me of this fight, I will
declare I was not vanquished there by him.

" Behold, the Trojans brought forth fire and sword
and Jove, as well, against the Grecian fleet,
where now has eloquent Ulysses gone?
Truly, I did protect a thousand ships
with my breast, saving the hopes of your return. —
for all these many ships, award me arms!
But, let me speak the truth, the arms will gain
more fame than I, for they will share my glory.
And they need Ajax, Ajax needs not them.

Let the Ithacan compare with deeds like mine
his sleeping Rhesus, his unwarlike Dolon,
Helenus taken, and Pallas gained by theft —
all done by night and all with Diomed.
If you must give these arms for deeds so mean,
then give the greater share to Diomed.

" Why give arms to Ulysses, who by stealth
and quite unarmed, has always done his work,
deceiving his unwary enemy
by stratagems? This brilliant helmet, rich
with sparkling gold, will certainly betray
his plans, and will discover him when hid.
His soft Dulichian head beneath the helm
of great Achilles will not bear the weight;
Achilles' heavy spear from Pelion must
be burdensome for his unwarlike hands:
nor will the shield, graven with the vasty world
beseem a dastard left hand, smooth for theft.

" Why caitiff, will you beg them for a gift,
which will but weaken you? If by mistake,
the Grecian people should award you this,
it would not fright the foe but offer spoils
and that swift flight (in which alone you have
excelled all others, dastard wretch!) would soon
grow laggard, dragging such a weight. And that
good shield of yours, which has but rarely felt
a conflict, is unhurt; for mine, agape
with wounds a thousand from swift-striking darts,
a new one must be found.

" In short, what need
is there for words? Let us be tried in war.
Let all the arms of brave Achilles now
be thrown among the foe; order them all
to be retrieved; and decorate for war
whoever brings them back, a worthy prize. "

Ajax, the son of Telamon, stopped speech,
and murmuring among the multitude
followed his closing words, until Ulysses,
Laertian hero, stood up there and fixed
his eyes a short time on the ground; then raised
them towards the chiefs; and with his opening words,
which they awaited, the grace of his art
was not found wanting to his eloquence.

" If my desire and yours could have prevailed,
O noble Greeks, the man who should receive
a prize so valued, would not be in doubt,
and you would now enjoy your arms, and we
enjoy you, great Achilles. Since unjust
fate has denied him both to me and you,
(and here he wiped his eyes dry with his hands,
as though then shedding tears,) who could succeed
the great Achilles better than the one
through whom the great Achilles joined the Greeks?
Let Ajax win no votes because he seems
to be as stupid as the truth declares.
Let not my talents, which were always used
for service of the Greeks, increase my harm:
and let this eloquence of mine (if such
we call it) which is pleading now for me,
as it has pleaded many times for you,
awake no envy. Let each man show his best.

" Now as for ancestors and noble birth
and deeds we have not done ourselves, all these
I hardly call them ours. But, if he boasts
because he is the great grandson of Jove,
the founder of my family, you know,
is Jupiter; by birth I am just the same
degree removed from Jupiter as he.
Laertes is my father, my grandsire is
Arcesius; and my great grandsire is Jove,
and my line: has no banished criminal.
My mother's grandsire, Mercury, would give
me further claims of birth — on either side a god.

" But not because my mother's line is better
and not because my father certainly,
is innocent of his own brother's blood,
have I advanced my claim to own those arms.
Let personal merit weigh the cause alone.
Let Ajax win no credit from the fact
that Telamon, was brother unto Peleus.
Let not his merit be that he is near by blood,
may honor of manhood weigh in your award!

" But, if you seek the heir and next of kin,
Peleus is father, and Pyrrhus is the son
of great Achilles. Where is Ajax then?
These arms might go to Phthia or to Scyros!
Teucer might claim the prize because he is
Achilles' cousin. Does he seek these arms?
And, if he did, would you allow his claim?

" Since then the contest lies in deeds alone,
though I have done more than may be well told,
I will recall them as they have occurred.

" Achilles' Nereid mother, who foresaw
his death, concealed her son by change of dress.
By that disguise Ajax, among the rest,
was well deceived. I showed with women's wares
arms that might win the spirit of a man.
The hero still wore clothing of a girl,
when, as he held a shield and spear, I said
" Son of a goddess! Pergama but waits
to fall by you, why do you hesitate
to assure the overthrow of mighty Troy?"
With these bold words, I laid my hand on him —
and to: brave actions I sent forth the brave:
his deeds of Bravery are therefore mine
it was my power that conquered Telephus,
as he fought with his lance; it was through me
that, vanquished and suppliant? he at last was healed.

I caused the fall of Thebes; believe me, I
took Lesbos, Tenedos, Chryse and Cilla —
the cities of Apollo; and I took
Scyros; think too, of the Lyrnesian wall
as shaken by my hand, destroyed, and thrown
down level with the ground. Let this suffice:
I found the man who caused fierce Hector's death,
through me the famous Hector now, lies low!
And for those arms which made Achilles known
I now demand these arms. To him alive
I gave them — at his death they should be mine.

" After the grief of one had reached all Greece,
and ships a thousand, filled Euboean Aulis;
the breezes long expected would not blow
or adverse held the helpless fleet ashore.
Then ruthless oracles gave their command,
that Agamemnon should make sacrifice
of his loved daughter and so satisfy
Diana's cruel heart. The father stood
up resolute, enraged against the gods,
a parent even though a king. I turned,
by tactful! words, a father's tender heart
to the great issue of the public weal.
I will confess it, and when I have confessed,
may the son of Atreus pardon: I had to plead
a difficult case before a partial judge.
The people's good, his brother's, and stern duty,
that followed his great office, won his ear,
till royal honor outweighed claims of blood.
I sought the mother, who could not be won
by pleading but must be deceived by craft.
Had Ajax gone to her, our thousand sails
would still droop, waiting for the favoring breeze.

" As a bold envoy I was even sent
off to the towers of Ilium, and there
I saw the senate-house of lofty Troy,
and, fearless, entered it, while it was full
of heroes. There, undaunted, I spoke for
the cause which all the Greeks had given me.
Accusing Paris, I demanded back
the gold and stolen Helen, and I moved
both Priam and Antenor. All the while
Paris, his brothers, and their robber crew
could scarce withhold their wicked hands from me.
And all this, Menelaus, is well known to you:
that was the first danger I shared with you.

" I need not linger over the many things
which by my counsel and my bravery
I have accomplished through this long-drawn war.

" A long time, after the first battle clash,
the foe lay quiet within city walls,
giving no challenge for an open fight —
he stood nine years of siege before we fought
what were you doing all that tedious time,
what use were you, good only in a fight?
If you will make inquiry of my deeds:
I fashioned ambuscades for enemies;
and circled our defenses with a trench;
I cheered allies so they might all endure
with patient minds a long, protracted war;
I showed how our own army might subsist
and how it could be armed; and I was sent
wherever the necessity required.

" Then, at the wish of Jove, our king, deceive
by A false dream, bids us give up the war —
he could excuse his order by the cause.
Let Ajax tell him Troy must be laid low
or let him fight — at least he can do that!
Why does he fail to stop the fugitives?
Why not take arms and tell the wavering crowd
to rally round him? Would that be too much
for one who never speaks except to boast?
But now words fail me: Ajax turns and flees!
I witnessed it and was ashamed to see
you turn disgraced, preparing sails for flight.
With exclamations and without delay,
I said, " What are you doing? O my friends,
has madness seized you that you will quit Troy,
which is as good as taken? What can you
bear home, after ten years, but your disgrace?"

" With these commanding words, which grief itself
gave eloquence, I brought resisting Greeks
back from their purposed flight. Atrides called
together his allies, all terror struck.
Even then, Ajax the son of Telamon
dared not vouchsafe one word. But impudent
Thersites hurled vile words against the kings,
and, thanks to me, he did not miss reproof.
I rose and spoke to my disheartened friends,
reviving their lost courage with my words
from that time forth, whatever deeds this man,
my rival, may have done, belong to me.
'Twas I who stayed his flight and brought him back.

" Which of the noble Greeks has given you praise
or sought your company? Yet Diomed
has shared his deeds with me and praises me,
and, while Ulysses is with him, is brave
and confident. 'Tis worthy of regard,
when out of many thousands of the Greeks,
a man becomes the choice of Diomed!

" It was not lot that ordered me to go;
and yet, despising dangers of the night,
despising dangers of the enemy,
I slew one, Dolon, of the Phrygian race,
who dared to do the very things we dared,
but not before I had prevailed on him
to tell me everything, by which I learned
perfidious actions which Troy had designed.

" Of such things now, I had discovered all
that should be found out, and I might have then
returned to enjoy the praise I had deserved.
But not content with that, I sought the tent
of Rhesus, and within his camp I slew
him and his proved attendants. Having thus
gained as a conqueror my own desires,
I drove back in a captured chariot, —
a joyous triumph. Well, deny me, then.
The arms of him whose steeds the enemy
demanded as the price of one night's aid.
Ajax himself has been more generous.

" Why should I name Sarpedon's Lycian troops
among whom I made havoc with my sword?
I left Coeranos dead and streaming blood,
with the sword I killed Alastor, Chromius,
Alcander, Prytanis, Halius, and Noemon,
Thoon and Charops with Chersidamas,
and Ennomus — all driven by cruel fate,
not reckoning humbler men whom I laid low,
battling beneath the shadow of the city walls.
And fellow citizens, I have my wounds
honorable in the front. Do not believe
my word alone. Look for yourselves and see! "
Then with one hand, he drew his robe aside.
" Here is a breast, " he cried, " that bled for you!
But Ajax never shed a drop of blood
to aid his friends, in all these many years,
and has a body free of any wound.

" What does it prove, if he declares that he
fought for our ships against both Troy and Jove?
I grant he did, for it is not my wont
with malice to belittle other's deeds.
But let him not claim for himself alone
an honor in which all may have a share,
let him concede some credit due to you.
Disguised within the fear inspiring arms
of great Achilles, Actor's son drove back
the host of Trojans from our threatened fleet
or ships and Ajax would have burned together.

" Unmindful of the king, the chiefs, and me,
he dreams that he alone dared to engage
in single fight with Hector — he the ninth
to volunteer and chosen just by lot.
But yet, O brave chief! What availed the fight?
Hector returned, not injured by a wound.

" Ah, bitter fate, with how much grief I am
compelled to recollect the time, when brave
Achilles, bulwark of the Greeks, was slain.
Nor tears, nor grief, nor fear, could hinder me:
I carried his dead body from the ground,
uplifted on these shoulders, I repeat,
upon these shoulders from that ground
I bore off dead Achilles, and those arms
which now I want to bear away again.
I have the strength to walk beneath their weight,
I have a mind to understand their worth.
Did the hero's mother, goddess of the sea,
win for her son these arms, made by a god,
a work of wondrous art, to have them clothe
a rude soldier, who has no mind at all?
He never could be made to understand
the rich engravings, pictured on the shield —
the ocean, earth, and stars in lofty skies;
the Pleiades, and Hyades, the Bear,
which touches not the ocean, far beyond
the varied planets, and the fire-bright sword
of high Orion. He demands a prize,
which, if he had it, would be lost on him.

" What of his taunting me, because I shrank
from hardships of this war and I was slow
to join the expedition? Does he not see,
that he reviles the great Achilles too?
Was my pretense a crime? then so was his.
Was our delay a fault? mine was the less,
for I came sooner; me a loving wife
detained from war, a loving mother him.
Some hours we gave to them, the rest to you.
Why should I be alarmed, if now I am
unable to defend myself against
this accusation, which is just the same
as you have brought against so great a man?
Yet he was found by the dexterity
of me, Ulysses, and Ulysses was
not found by the dexterity of Ajax.

" It is no wonder that he pours on me
reproaches of his silly tongue, because
he charges you with what is worthy shame.
Am I depraved because this Palamedes has
improperly been charged with crime by me?
Then was it honorable for all of you,
if you condemned him? Only think, that he,
the son of Naplius, made no defence
against the crime, so great, so manifest:
nor did you only hear the charges brought
against him, but you saw the proof yourselves,
and in the gold his villainy was shown.

" Nor am I to be blamed, if Vulcan's isle
of Lemnos has become the residence
of Philoctetes. Greeks, defend yourselves,
for you agreed to it! Yes, I admit
I urged him to withdraw from toils of war
and those of travel and attempt by rest
to ease his cruel pain. He took my advice
and lives! The advice was not alone well meant
(that would have been enough) but it was wise.
Because our prophets have declared, he must
lead us, if we may still maintain our hope
for Troy's destruction — therefore, you must not
intrust that work to me. Much better, send
the son of Telamon. His eloquence
will overcome the hero's rage, most fierce
from his disease and anger: or else his
invention of some wile will skilfully
deliver him to us. — The Simois
will first flow backward, Ida stand without
its foliage, and Achaia promise aid
to Troy itself; ere, lacking aid from me,
the craft of stupid Ajax will avail.

" Though, Philoctetes, you should be enraged
against your friends, against the king and me;
although you curse and everlastingly
devote my head to harm; although you wish,
to ease your anguish, that I may be given
into your power, that you may shed my blood;
and though you wait your turn and chance at me;
still I will undertake the quest and will
try all my skill to bring you back with me.
If my good fortune then will favor me,
I shall obtain your arrows; as I made
the Trojan seer my captive, as I learned
the heavenly oracles and fate of Troy,
and as I brought back through a host of foes
Minerva's image from the citadel.

" And is it possible, Ajax may now
compare himself with me? Truly the Fates
will hold Troy from our capture, if we leave
the statue. Where is valiant Ajax now,
where are the boasts of that tremendous man?
Why are you trembling, while Ulysses dares
to go beyond our guards and brave the night?
In spite of hostile swords, he goes within
not only the strong walls of Troy but even
the citadel, lifts up the goddess from
her shrine, and takes her through the enemy!
If I had not done this, Telamon's son
would bear his shield of seven bull hides in vain.
That night I gained the victory over Troy —
'Twas then I won our war with Pergama,
because I made it possible to win.

" Stop hinting by your look and muttered words
that Diomed was my partner in the deed.
The praise he won is his. You, certainly
fought not alone, when you held up your shield
to save the allied fleet: a multitude
was with you, but a single man gave me
his valued help.

" And if he did not know
a fighting man can not gain victory
so surely as the wise man, that the prize
is given to something rarer than a brave right hand,
he would himself be a contender now
for these illustrious arms. Ajax the less
would have come forward too, so would the fierce
Eurypylus, so would Andraemon's son.
Nor would Idomeneus withhold his claim,
nor would his countryman Meriones.
Yes, Menelaus too would seek the prize.
All these brave men, my equals in the field,
have yielded to my wisdom.

" Your right hand
is valuable in war, your temper stands
in need of my direction. You have strength
without intelligence; I look out for
the future. You are able in the fight;
I help our king to find the proper time.
Your body may give service, and my mind
must point the way: and just as much as he
who guides the ship must be superior
to him who rows it; and we all agree
the general is greater than the soldier; so,
do I excel you. In the body lives
an intellect much rarer than a hand,
by that we measure human excellence.

" O chieftains, recompense my vigilance!
For all these years of anxious care, award
this honor to my many services.
Our victory is in sight; I have removed
the opposing fates and, opening wide the way
to capture Pergama, have captured it.
Now by our common hopes, by Troy's high walls
already tottering and about to fall,
and by the gods that I won from the foe,
by what remains for wisdom to devise
or what may call for bold and fearless deeds —
if you think any hope is left for Troy,
remember me! Or, if you do not give
these arms to me, then give them all to her! "
And he pointed to Minerva's fateful head.

The assembled body of the chiefs was moved;
and then, appeared the power of eloquence:
the fluent man received, amid applause,
the arms of the brave man. His rival, who
so often when alone, stood firm against
great Hector and the sword, and flames and Jove,
stood not against a single passion, wrath.
The unconquerable was conquered by his grief.

He drew his sword, and said: — " This is at least
my own; or will Ulysses also claim
this, for himself. I must use this against
myself — the blade which often has been wet,
dripping with blood of Phrygians I have slain,.
Will drip with his own master's: blood,
lest any man but Ajax vanquish Ajax. "
Saying this, he turned toward the vital spot
in his own breast, which never had felt a wound,
the fated sword and plunged it deeply in.
though many sought to aid, no hand had strength
to draw that steel — deep driven. The blood itself
unaided drove it out. The ensanguined earth
sprouted from her green turf that purple flower
which grew of old from Hyacinthine blood.
Its petals now are charged with double freight —
the warrior's name, Apollo's cry of woe.