Sophocles’ Ajax
Discussion Questions | Classical Reference Library
Richer Resources Editorial Team
Introduction
Sophocles’ Ajax raises difficult questions about heroic honor, shame, personal responsibility, divine power, and justice.
The play begins with the humiliation of a great warrior and continues beyond his death to examine how his enemies, family, and fellow soldiers respond to his actions.
The following questions are designed to encourage careful reading, thoughtful discussion, and interpretations supported by evidence from the play.
They may be used in classroom discussions, small groups, written responses, or independent study.
Part I. Understanding the Opening
1. Why is Odysseus investigating Ajax at the beginning of the play?
What does he suspect has happened, and what does Athena reveal?
2. How has Athena intervened in Ajax’s actions?
What does her intervention reveal about the relationship between divine power and human judgment?
3. Why does Athena invite Odysseus to witness Ajax’s humiliation?
How does she expect him to respond?
4. Why does Odysseus pity Ajax rather than celebrate his disgrace?
What does his reaction suggest about his understanding of human fortune?
5. What does the opening scene lead the audience to expect from the rest of the tragedy?
Does it encourage condemnation of Ajax, sympathy for him, or both?
Part II. Ajax and the Meaning of Honor
6. Why is the award of Achilles’ armor so important to Ajax?
What does the decision represent beyond the loss of a valuable prize?
7. How does Ajax define his worth as a warrior?
To what extent does his identity depend upon the judgment of others?
8. Why does Ajax find his humiliation unbearable?
What alternatives might be available to him, and why does he reject them?
9. Is Ajax’s determination to preserve his honor admirable or destructive?
Can both interpretations be supported by the play?
10. How does Ajax’s concern about his father, Telamon, influence his thinking?
What does this reveal about family reputation and inherited expectations?
Part III. Tecmessa, Family, and Responsibility
11. What does Tecmessa ask Ajax to consider when she pleads with him?
How does her understanding of responsibility differ from his?
12. Why is Tecmessa especially vulnerable if Ajax dies?
How do her circumstances affect the force of her argument?
13. How does the presence of Eurysaces, Ajax’s son, complicate the conflict between honor and duty?
What obligations does Ajax have toward the next generation?
14. Does Ajax adequately consider the consequences of his choices for other people?
Which passages best support your interpretation?
15. How does the Chorus respond to Ajax’s disgrace?
What does the Chorus reveal about the effect of a leader’s actions upon the wider community?
Part IV. The Apparent Change of Mind
16. At one point, Ajax appears to reconsider his position. What does he say that suggests a change?
How do Tecmessa and the Chorus respond?
17. Is Ajax speaking sincerely, concealing his intentions, or expressing conflicting thoughts?
What evidence supports each interpretation?
18. What does the speech suggest about the difficulty of changing deeply held beliefs?
Does Ajax understand the need to yield without being able to act upon that understanding?
19. How does the audience’s interpretation of this speech affect its understanding of Ajax’s death?
Would the scene be more tragic if Ajax genuinely wished to change?
Part V. Death and the Structure of the Tragedy
20. Why does Sophocles allow the play to continue after Ajax’s death?
What new questions become central to the action?
21. How does the focus of the tragedy change between its first and second parts?
Consider the movement from Ajax’s personal crisis to the public dispute over his burial.
22. Does the second half of the play change how the audience judges Ajax?
Why might Sophocles want the audience to reconsider him after his death?
23. How does Ajax’s absence affect the arguments of the surviving characters?
What does it mean that others must now decide how he will be treated and remembered?
Part VI. Teucer, the Commanders, and Burial
24. Why does Teucer insist upon burying Ajax?
Which of his arguments depend upon family loyalty, and which appeal to broader obligations?
25. Why do Menelaus and Agamemnon oppose Ajax’s burial?
What concerns about military discipline and authority do they raise?
26. Are the commanders’ arguments entirely unreasonable?
What dangers might arise if soldiers could attack their commanders without consequences?
27. Does military authority extend to determining whether a dead warrior receives burial?
What limits, if any, should apply to such power?
28. Why does Odysseus intervene on Ajax’s behalf?
How does his reasoning differ from Teucer’s?
29. What does the burial dispute reveal about the difference between punishment and justice?
Can someone deserve condemnation for an action while still deserving humane treatment?
Part VII. Comparing Characters and Values
30. How do Ajax and Odysseus represent different understandings of heroism?
Which qualities does each man possess, and which does each lack?
31. Compare Tecmessa’s appeal to Ajax with Teucer’s defense of him.
How do their relationships with Ajax shape their arguments?
32. How do Athena and Odysseus respond differently to human weakness?
What might Sophocles be suggesting through this contrast?
33. Which character demonstrates the greatest ability to consider another person’s perspective?
Does that ability make the character more admirable?
34. Is loyalty always a virtue in the play?
Can loyalty to a person, family, or institution come into conflict with justice?
Part VIII. Larger Interpretive Questions
35. Is Ajax responsible for his downfall, or is he primarily a victim of forces beyond his control?
Consider the roles of his own decisions, the judgment over Achilles’ armor, and Athena’s intervention.
36. Does Sophocles criticize the heroic code itself, or only Ajax’s rigid interpretation of it?
What evidence supports your answer?
37. What does the play suggest about the relationship between public reputation and personal worth?
Can a person retain dignity after losing the respect of others?
38. Why is compassion especially meaningful when it is extended to an enemy?
How does Odysseus demonstrate this principle?
39. Does the conclusion resolve the play’s moral conflicts, or does it leave important questions unanswered?
What disagreements remain significant even after the burial dispute is settled?
40. What is the most important lesson of Ajax?
Choose one theme and explain how Sophocles develops it through at least two different characters or scenes.
Suggested Classroom Activities
Activity 1. A Debate About Burial
Divide the class into three groups representing Teucer, the Greek commanders, and Odysseus.
Each group should prepare an argument addressing whether Ajax should receive burial, using evidence from the play.
After hearing all three positions, students should discuss which argument is most persuasive and why.
Activity 2. Two Models of Heroism
Create a comparison chart for Ajax and Odysseus.
Consider courage, pride, adaptability, compassion, loyalty, and judgment.
Use the chart to answer: Does Sophocles offer Odysseus as an alternative model of heroism?
Activity 3. The Perspective of Tecmessa
Select a passage in which Tecmessa appeals to Ajax.
Identify her principal arguments and explain how they differ from Ajax’s concerns.
Discuss whether the audience is likely to understand her position differently from Ajax himself.
Activity 4. Opening and Closing Scenes
Compare Odysseus’s response to Ajax’s humiliation at the beginning with his defense of Ajax’s burial near the end.
What remains consistent in Odysseus’s conduct?
What does this structural connection suggest about the tragedy as a whole?
Guidelines for Strong Discussion Responses
A thoughtful response should do more than state an opinion.
Begin with a clear interpretation. Support it with a particular action, speech, or exchange from the play. Explain how that evidence supports your conclusion.
When possible, consider an alternative interpretation before deciding which is more persuasive.
Because translations differ, use the wording and line numbering of the edition assigned for your course.
Final Reflection
The most productive questions in Ajax often resist simple answers.
Ajax is both a remarkable warrior and a man whose decisions cause suffering. The Greek commanders have legitimate concerns about authority, yet their treatment of Ajax raises serious questions about justice.
Odysseus, once Ajax’s enemy, becomes the person who argues most effectively for his humane treatment.
By examining these competing perspectives, readers can explore how courage, loyalty, compassion, and fairness sometimes come into conflict—and what responsible judgment requires when they do.
Note to the Educator
Select questions appropriate to students’ familiarity with the play rather than attempting all forty in a single lesson. The burial debate and the comparison between Ajax and Odysseus work particularly well for small-group discussion. Approach questions concerning Ajax’s death with care, avoiding language that romanticizes suicide or presents it as a necessary response to humiliation.
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