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Delahoyde & Hughes
Orpheus
OVID
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Ajax vs. Ulysses:
1. Ulysses ran away when Hector was on a rampage to torch the Greek
ships.
Ajax proposes the arms be laid down and both men fight for them.
**********
Ulysses:
Thesis: "Troy was conquered because I made it possible."
1. Ulysses brought Achilles out of hiding on Scyros to join the Greek
force; therefore, Ulysses indirectly slew Hector.
Ulysses closes by saying that his role as guardian of this war should be
honored with Achilles' armor.
Ulysses counters Ajax's words by drawing connections between himself and
Achilles saying, "I brought him to you," and at one point Ulysses
mentions that Achilles tried to avoid fighting, thus justifying Ulysses'
nonviolent actions and again trying to draw a connection to Achilles.
Ulysses takes the stand that it is deeds, not heritage, that count. His
other obvious stand is that brains are more important that brawn with his
ship's captain and rower analogy. Then Ulysses reminds everyone that they
need him to convince Philoctetes to return with Hercacles' bow. It is
obvious that Ulysses is more fluent in the art of rhetoric than Ajax. But
what do you think Ovid is saying?
The armor goes to Ulysses, and Ajax goes bonkers and kills himself. [Once
Neoptolemus, Achilles' son, joined the war, Ulysses shared the armor with
him. Neoptolemus hid inside the Trojan Horse. He was responsible for
carrying out the sacrifice of Polyxena at Achilles' tomb.]
Hecuba's Revenge:
Memnon:
Aeneas and Anius:
Aeneas' voyage is summarized until mention of the nautical dangers of
Scylla and Charybdis bring about the next story.
Acis, Galatea, and Polyphemus:
Scylla and Glaucus:
Ovid's roundabout way of covering the salient points of the Trojan War is
to provide at length the debate between Ajax and Ulysses over rightful
inheritance of Achilles' armor. Traditionally reduced to a clash between
brain and brawn -- warrior vs. intellectual, or jock vs. scholar -- the
debate bears a closer look. Aided by recollections of Homer's
Iliad, evaluate the merits of the respective arguments.
The Fall of Troy:
Ajax:
Both Ajax and Ulysses are well spoken. Ajax focuses on his deeds and his
abilities as a warrior. In fact he even says at one point that not only
does he deserve the arms but the arms deserve a great warrior. The great
warrior is not Ulysses who Ajax calls a coward and brings up examples of
Ulysses trying to avoid war by pretending to be insane. Ajax verbally
attacks Ulysses, saying that he doesn't deserve the armor because he
doesn't know what to do with it. Ulysses relies on tricks. And besides,
Ajax is Jove's grandson.
2. Ajax saved the Greek ships from Hector's torches.
3. Ajax is Achilles' cousin and greatgrandson of Jove.
4. Telamon, Ajax's father, took the walls of Troy with Hercules;
therefore, Ajax's line was in on this war from the beginning.
5. Ulysses arrived on the scene of the war later than the other soldiers.
6. Ajax claims Ulysses deserted Philoctetes and Nestor.
7. Ajax saved Ulysses in battle.
8. Ajax threw the boulder at Hector.
9. Ajax acts alone, while Ulysses needs Diomedes as a sidekick.
10. Achilles' shield is too heavy for Ulysses to carry.
11. Ajax's shield is full of holes from all his battling, whereas
Ulysses' has no holes; therefore Ajax needs a shield.
2. Ulysses is also a greatgrandson of Jove; as a bonus, neither his
grandfather nor his father were banished or exiled, as Ajax's were.
Ulysses' maternal line is from Mercury. And if kinship should determine
the new owner of Achilles' armor, then one of his sons is next in line.
3. Blood claims are insignificant anyway: merit alone deserves reward.
4. Ulysses convinced Agamemnon to make the human sacrifice (Iphigenia) in
order to arrive safely in Troy.
5. Ulysses was the Ambassador to Troy. He persuaded Priam and Antenor to
return Helen, but Paris and his brothers opposed a peaceful settlement.
6. During the first nine years of the war, Ajax "did nothing," according
to Ulysses, while he set up ambuscades, constructed moats, encouraged the
allies, counseled patience, built morale, and secured food and arms.
7. Ulysses convinced Agamemnon not to give up the fight in the last year.
Ajax was ready to leave Troy. Since Ulysses forced Ajax back to the
fight, he deserves credit for Ajax's accomplishments in the final year of
the war.
8. Diomedes as Ulysses' sidekick simply means that of the thousands of
Greek warriors, Ulysses was his pick.
9. Ulysses killed Dolon the Trojan spy, then slew sleeping men in their
tents.
10. Ulysses has wounds; Ajax has none.
11. Ulysses carried Achilles from the field; obviously he is strong
enough to carry his armor.
12. Ajax is too stupid to appreciate Hephaestus' fine handwork in the
shield.
13. Arriving late to the Trojan war cannot disqualify him from receiving
the armor; Achilles himself arrived late and fought last.
14. Ulysses stole Athena's statue from the Trojan shrine.
15. Ulysses promises to bring Philoctetes back to the scene, to help set
the prophesied conditions for the fall of Troy.
16. Ajax is "strong and brainless," a "dolt"; wits are key to leadership.
Ovid quickly wraps up the fall of Troy. Astyanax is flung from the tower.
Hecuba grieves. Priam had sent one son, Polydorus, with treasure, to
Polymestor, in order to keep one son out of the war. When news of Troy's
fall spreads, Polymestor murders Polydorus and flings his corpse into the
sea.
Polyxena:
The ghost of Achilles demands that the Greeks sacrifice Polyxena to him.
She gives a noble speech, which brings her slayers to tears before they
butcher her. So after everyone thought that Achilles' vengeance had ended
with his death, even Achilles' ashes rage.
Hecuba discovers the corpse of her last son, Polydorus, and is silent.
She is granted an audience with Polymestor and promises treasure. Brought
before him, she "grabbed him, / Dug fingers into his lying eyes, dug out
/ The eyeballs from their sockets, and kept digging, / In manic fury,
with bloody fingers, scooping / The hollows where the eyes had been"
(324; cf. 312). When Thracians come to help Polymestor, she merely
barks at them.
Aurora's son Memnon had been slain by Achilles. She asked for him to be
granted some glory, even though she was a very minor god. Jove turned his
funeral pyre into a bird war. In any case, Aurora's tears are the dew
(313).
Despite the importance of Aeneas in classical mythology, Ovid uses
reference to him first merely to make a transition to Anius, priest of
Apollo, who tells Aeneas' father Anchises; of his own daughters, kidnapped
by Agamemnon and eventually turned into doves, the birds of Venus.
Galatea loves Acis, but the Cyclops, Polyphemus, loves Galatea: she has
"caught his eye." His gargantuan goofiness is recounted, including the
use of a rake for a comb. Polyphemus renders a lengthy love song. He
throws a mountain at Acis, which buries him (321). Acis turns into a
stream from the rocks.
Sea-god Glaucus falls for Scylla. He tells her he was changed into
a sea-god through the powers of magical grass. Scylla flees, and
the story is continued in the next book.
Ovid Index
Orpheus: Roman Mythology