Anger and revenge in Sofocles’ Ajax

Abstract

In Sophocles' Ajax, the revenge desired by the protagonist of the same name is an important element of the plot, but it is somewhat secondary, since the action itself takes place before the drama begins and it fails, since Ajax is delirious when he believes he is punishing his enemies and there is no second attempt. What is more interesting, however, is that the very energy manifested in this vengeful violence circulates throughout the tragedy as a whole, most clearly in the final third of the drama, when it is Menelaus and Agamemnon who try to take revenge on their former ally and, by extension, his protector Teucro. Before that, however, this destructive force is already present in the protagonist's speeches after he regains consciousness, including his last speech before his suicide. Although most readings of this tragedy argue for the presence of a cathartic process in its last scenes, above all through the structure of compassion (eleos), we insist here on the poetic and affective multiforms of the energy of revenge, which stands out again and again throughout the tragedy.