Aristotle made a work that is basically concerned with
poetry and its nature. According to his work, The Poetics, “Epic poetry,
tragedy, and also comedy, dithyrambic poetry, and most music of the flute and
the lyre all fall into the general class of imitation”. Yet, this imitation
differs in a certain aspect, “for they imitate in different materials, or imitate
different things, or do it in another way, not according to the same method”.
In Ajax,
a tragedy written by Sophocles, are some features that Aristotle showcases in
his Poetics. These features made the said tragedy as a whole. Back to the
evolution of the tragedy, Aristotle says that, “Sophocles increased the number
of actors to three and introduced the painting scenery.” Sophocles had put on
embellishment in tragedies to make a beauty out of it.
Tragedy,
as defined by Aristotle, is “an imitation of an action that is serious and
complete and has a sufficient size, in language that is made sweet, and with
each of the kinds of sweet language separately in the various parts of the
tragedy, presented by those who act and not by narrative, exciting pity and
fear, bringing about the catharsis of such emotions.”
Aristotle
also said in his Poetics that “for every tragedy there is a tying of the knot,
or complication, and an untying of it, or solution.” Prior to the beginning of
the play, there has been a struggle between Odysseus and Ajax over who should
receive the armour of the Greek warrior-hero Achilles after his death. The
invulnerable armour had been made for Achilles by the god Hephaestus, and the
recipient would thus receive recognition as the greatest after Achilles. The
armour was eventually awarded to Odysseus (although not without the help of his
protector, the goddess Athena). The enraged Ajax vowed to kill the Greek
leaders Menelaus and Agamemnon who had disgraced him in this way but, before he
can enact his revenge, the goddess Athena tricks him. At this moment the
exposition and rising action of the play has started as cited in from the words
of Athena,
Athena – (describing
Odysseus) …on his [Ajax’] trail and scanning his newly made footprints, to see
whether he is inside or not; moving like a Spartan hound with keen scent, you
travel quickly to your goal. (5-8)
Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, helps
Odysseus and thwarts the plan of revenge of Ajax by casting a spell,
Chorus – …a godsent
sickness must have come upon you; but may Zeus and Phoebus avert the evil
rumour of the Argives! But if the great kings and he of the worthless line of
Sisyphus are trumping up charges and spreading false stories, do not, do not,
my lord, remain thus in your huts by the sea and win an evil name! (185-191)
In a frenzy caused by the spell, Ajax
mistakes the sheep for his intended victims, slaughters them, and takes
captives he plan to torture. As he comes back to his senses, Ajax is shocked
and ashamed over his actions and pities himself over his disgrace.
Tecmessa – …at last
with difficulty [Ajax] came to his senses; and when he gazed at the room filled
with ruin he struck his head and uttered a loud cry, then fell among the fallen
corpses of the slaughtered sheep and sat there, grasping his hair and tearing
it with his nails…. And he at once lamented with dreadful cries, such as I had
never before heard from him. For he always used to teach that such weeping was
the mark of a cowardly and spiritless man;… (305-310 & 317-320)
Then, Ajax realizes all that had
happened, humiliated to death and plans to die.
Ajax – (of Odysseus)
…filthiest trickster of the army, how you must be laughing in your delight!
(381-2)
Ajax – …daughter of
Zeus, the mighty goddess, tortures me to death! Where can one escape to? Where
can I go and remain? If my great deeds perish, friends, near to these , and I
have devoted myself to the pursuit of foolishly chosen game, and the whole army
may with sword grasped in both hands strike me dead! (401-9)
Ajax – I feel pity at
leaving her a widow and my son an orphan near enemies. But I shall go to the
meadows by the shore where I can wash myself, so that I can clean off the dirt
upon me and escape the grievous anger of the goddess. I shall come to where I
can find untrodden ground and conceal this sword of mine, most hated of all
weapons, digging a hole in the ground where none can see it, but let the
darkness of Hades guard it down below. For since I received this gift from
Hector, the deadliest of my enemies, never have I had any good thing from the
Argives. No, the saying of mortals is true, that the gifts of enemies are no
gifts and bring no profit. (650-665)
And the
climax opens, as he dies through his own hands. It is a tragic incident. According
to Aristotle, a tragic incident is an action that is destructive or painful,
such as deaths on the stage, tortures, wounds and the like.
Ajax – The
sacrificial killer is in place, so it will now cut most effectively. If a man
had time, he might reflect on this. It is a gift from Hector, a warrior who was
a friend most hateful to me, the one I looked on as my greatest foe. Then this
sword is firmly set in Trojan soil, land of my enemy, freshly whetted on the
iron-eating sharpening stone. (810-819)
Ajax – And I have
fixed it in the ground with care, so it will kill me quickly and be kind.
(820-821)
Ajax – Just as they
see me killed by my own hand, so let them perish, killed by their own kindred,
the children they love most. (841-843)
Ajax – Farewell, you
have nurtured me – to you Ajax now speaks his final words. The rest I’ll say to
those below in Hades. (864-866)
Although
Agamemnon and Menelaus decree a humiliating post-mortem punishment for Ajax –
to leave him lie unburried as carrion for animals. This is the falling action
that leads to the conclusion when Odysseus persuades them to relent.
Odysseus – Listen,
then! I beg you not to venture to cast this man out ruthlessly, unburied.
Violence must not so prevail on you that you trample justice under foot! For me
too he was once my chief enemy in the army, ever since I became the owner of
the arms of Achilles; but though he was such in regard to me, I would not so
far fail to do him honour as to deny that he was the most valiant man among the
Argives, except Achilles. (1332-1340)
A plot consists two parts, the “tying” and
“untying”, as said earlier. The tying part is found on the exposition and
rising action while the untying is on the climax until the conclusion. The
problem was Ajax is to avenge on Menelaus and Odysseus and due to that he was
tricked by Athena with a spell. As a result, Ajax was humiliated to death. The
problem was resolved by him, Ajax, as he committed suicide and had a decent
burial.
The
beauty of the showpiece can be inferred on its form. The content of the play is
properly arranged and it has greatness that did not happened by chance.
According to Aristotle, “for beauty consists in magnitude and order.”
The
tragedy’s plot length is within the context of the later life of Ajax until his
suicidal. The clarity is evident that the story revolves on its protagonist in
which the tragedy was actually entitled. As said by Aristotle, “according to
its nature, the larger it is, within the limits of clarity, the better it is.”
In this case that the beauty and length
of the plot are in its clarity, hence, the unity of the plot is achieved. The
story is concerned with only one thing and it is how the tragedy of Ajax took
place. As a tragedy, being an imitation of an action, should be concerned with
one thing and that a whole, and that the parts of the action should be so put
together that if one part is shifted or taken away the whole is deranged and
disjoined, for what makes no perceptible difference by its presence or absence
is no part of the whole according to Aristotle. This means that every part of
the tragedy is important to the framework of the story.
Plots are either simple or involved. The
tragedy of Ajax’s plot is classified as an involved one for the protagonist
fortune was changed and is accompanied by recognition or peripety or both.
Recognition means a change from
ignorance to knowledge – resulting in love or hate – by those marked out for
good fortune or bad fortune. This is evident in the story when Ajax’s
humiliation has already been known to him. He was in spell that is why he did
not recognized what he was doing to the sheep and when he gained knowledge
about it, he committed suicide.
Peripety, on the other hand, is a change
to the opposite actions performed according to probability or necessity. This
is also apparent in the tragedy in the character of Odysseus. He was the one in
“conspiracy” with Athena in giving the spell to Ajax. In the end of the story
he turned out to be on the side of Ajax, he wanted Ajax to be buried rather
than to be carrion for animals.
Moreover,
the plot that is applied on this tragedy is the most effective plot. According
to Aristotle, “the plot must also be single rather than double, as some think
it should be, and the change it presents must not be good fortune from bad
fortune but the opposite one from good fortune to bad fortune, not because of
wickedness but because of some great error either of such a man as has been
indicated or of a better rather than worse man.” This notion is unmistakable in
the tragedy.
Ajax is a proper tragic hero. He is like
Oedipus, “who is not extraordinary in virtue and righteousness, and yet does
not fall into bad fortune because of evil and wickedness, but because of some
error of the kind found in men of high reputation and good fortune” according
to Aristotle. Ajax was a powerful warrior who fought in Trojan War as leader of
the Salamis forces. He has the reputation, the power and the wealth but he
assumed for the armor of the dead Achilles that was not given to him. He
enraged and set to avenge. His vengeance and anger was his tragic flaws.
According
to Aristotle, a catharsis is a purifying of emotions that is brought about in
the audience of a tragic drama through the evocation of intense fear and pity.
One may experience catharsis if he hears the story of Ajax. Like Oedipus, Ajax
also suffered due to his own tragic flaw. The experience he underwent is felt
by the audience. Moreover, it is also entertains them.
In
conclusion, the tragedy of Ajax’s whole framework justified the qualities of a
tragedy according to the standard of Aristotle.
Sources:
Aristotle. (334-330 BC). The
Poetics.
English
translation by R. C. Trevelyan (Internet Classics Archive):
Greek
version with word-by-word translation (Perseus Project):
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