The Two Homers of Tragedy: Sophocles' Ajax between the Iliad and the Odyssey

Abstract: This article reinterprets a famous Homeric allusion in tragedy, the family scene in the Ajax , by placing it within a larger framework of allusions to the Iliad and the Odyssey throughout the play. While previous scholarship has focused on the relationship between the Ajax and the Iliad , the Odyssey also provides an essential model. In alluding to these two different epic presentations of Ajax, Sophocles presents his own version of the character as he changes from the cooperative warrior of the Iliad to the silent enemy of the Odyssey . The duality of the Homeric tradition shapes its reception in this deeply Homeric play.