Greek mythology · 3 chapters

Ajax: The Arms of Achilles

The greatest warrior at Troy after Achilles, and he is given nothing

After Achilles falls, his magnificent armor must go to the greatest remaining warrior. Ajax and Odysseus both claim it. A panel of Trojan prisoners is asked to judge. They award it to Odysseus, whose cleverness they found more threatening than Ajax's brute strength. Ajax, who had twice carried Achilles's body off the battlefield, is humiliated beyond endurance. Athena sends madness upon him. He slaughters a flock of sheep and cattle believing them to be his enemies. When the madness clears and he sees what he has done, he cannot live with the shame. He falls on his own sword. His death is the last great tragedy of the Trojan War, a man destroyed not by the enemy but by the verdict of his own side.