Ajax son of Telamon
mythological figure · 3 works · 10 mentions · 37 anchored passages
Ajax · great Ajax · Aias · Ajax, son of Telamon · Great Ajax · huge Ajax · mighty Ajax · the great Ajax
spoken of as
1 expressionAias“Ajax, son of Telamon”1 mention
Isthmean (Greek)
Indeed, you know of the bloodstained might of Aias, which late at night he pierced by falling on his own sword, thus bringing blame on all the sons of the Greeks who went to Troy.
in the texts
Iliad
Great Achaean warrior from Salamis, ranked as the best fighter in the army while Achilles stays out of battle.
Ajax brought twelve ships from Salamis, and stationed them alongside those of the Athenians.
Of the men, Ajax, son of Telamon, was much the foremost so long as Achilles' anger lasted, for Achilles excelled him greatly and he had also better horses;
He was not so great, nor nearly so great, as Ajax the son of Telamon.
Rhetoric
Homeric hero cited as an example of avoiding contest with a superior opponent.
Similarly, if the inferior contends with the superior, especially among those engaged in the same pursuit,—whence the saying of the poet, He avoided battle with Ajax, son of Telamon, for Zeus was indignant with him, when he would fight with a better man;
Isthmean
Son of Telamon, Greek hero at Troy, whose suicide and subsequent vindication by Homer's poetry are recounted, along with the story of his prophesied birth and naming.
Indeed, you know of the bloodstained might of Aias, which late at night he pierced by falling on his own sword, thus bringing blame on all the sons of the Greeks who went to Troy.
There is no city so barbarous or so strange in its speech that it does not know the fame of the hero Peleus, the fortunate in-law of gods, or of Aias and his father Telamon.
But he is honored throughout the world by Homer, who set the record right concerning all his excellence and told it with the staff of his divine words, for posterity to play.