Aias

Also known as: AI. / Ajax / Telamonian child / child of Telamon · Family: Greeks · Role: son of Telamon · First appears: Sophocles, Aias — Scene 1

Aias, son of Telamon and Eriboea, was the half-brother of Teucer, the husband of Tecmessa, and the father of Eurysakes. After the death of Achilles, although he was the most valiant of the surviving Greeks, the judges awarded Achilles’ armour to Odysseus, making them rivals and enemies. Aias had received Athena’s support, but her wrath followed his pride: after he attacked the Greek generals, she drove him into madness, causing him to slaughter the army’s livestock while imagining the animals were his enemies.

When reason returned, Aias faced the loss of his honour and the Greeks’ favour, and wished to kill Odysseus before dying himself. He recalled his marriage to Tecmessa, gave his unpierceable shield to Eurysakes, and entrusted the child to Teucer, commanding him to take him to Telamon and Eriboea. Though Calchas warned that Athena would destroy him if he remained outside that day, Aias left, concealing his purpose as he declared, “Honour in life or honour in the grave / Befits the noble heart.”

At Trojan soil, Aias planted Hector’s sword and fell upon it. Tecmessa found him newly slain, while Teucer uncovered his body and defied Menelaus’s order that it remain unburied. Agamemnon maintained his hatred, but Teucer prepared the burial, bringing Tecmessa and Eurysakes to tend the dead, and accepted Odysseus’s offered assistance; thus Aias received an honoured funeral despite the opposition of Agamemnon and Menelaus.