著者

吉武 純夫

出版者

日本西洋古典学会

雑誌

西洋古典學研究 (ISSN:04479114)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.37, pp.23-33, 1989-03-15

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It has often been said that if Ajax is manifesting his decision not to kill himself in his third speech, we have to assume that Ajax is lying But this is not true Ajax can at the same time be sincere throughout the third speech After abandoning suicide at the beginning of the third speech, Ajax comes to understand, first at 666 f and then at 677, what will be the result of his longer life, if he purges his "defilements", escapes the anger of Athena and buries his sword to hide it, he will come actually to obey the gods and honor the Atreidae, learning discipline Now these thoughts of Ajax make him realize the fact that reconciliation with fatal enemies will be inevitable if he continues to live A close examination of 666 f and 677 leads to such an interpretation of the third speech And if we are right in this interpretation, there is no question as to how and why Ajax, behind the stage, decided again to kill himself after the third speech, for the first speech has shown how dominant is the hatred for the Atreidae in the mind of Ajax Though gentle enough to abandon suicide in response to his wife's entreaty, he is so obstinate in his hatred as to refuse reconciliation with his enemies at the cost of his own life Ajax' hatred, shown in the play as an element always leading him to ruin, is continued by his wife and brother after his death And again, at the end of the play, dead Ajax' hatred is mentioned as an important dramatic motif Thus the play is unified by Ajax' hatred However, it is always presented in contrast to other mental elements the sense of honour and humanity It follows that Sophocles gave a dynamism (rather than a pathos) of the mind of Ajax to the traditional monotonous image of hateful Ajax