CHARACTERS
(in order of appearance)
Odysseus:
the director of Greek intelligence
Ajax:
a formidable warrior
Athena:
the goddess of war
Chorus:
the sailors and soldiers of Ajax
Tecmessa:
the battle-won wife of Ajax
Eurysaces:
their three-year-old son
Messenger:
a soldier of the Greek army
Teucer:
the half brother of Ajax
Menelaus:
the deputy commander of the Greek army
Agamemnon:
the commander of the Greek army
Odysseus
appears at dawn—low to the ground—darting in and out of shadows. He is searching for a safe place to wait for Ajax
.
Athena
startles him, a voice at the borders of darkness.
Athena
Why am
I never
surprised,
son of Laertes,
to catch you
stalking
an enemy
at daybreak,
like a blood-
hound after
some scent,
tracking foot-
prints behind
the tents
where Ajax
and his men
hold down
the battle line?
You wish
to know if
he’s inside,
soaked
in sweat
from the
slaughter?
Then tell me
what you’ve
come to do,
and you may
learn from one
who knows.
Odysseus
Dearest Athena,
guardian goddess,
though your shape
evades my eyes,
I hear you clearly
in my mind, like
the tune of a song
to which I somehow
know the words.
I’m circling
in on an enemy,
just as you’ve guessed,
close on his heels.
I have come
for Ajax,
the one
we called
the "shield."
It is he alone whom I now hunt.
Last night,
he did some-
thing vile,
some vile
thing, some-
thing un-
imaginable,
if he is the one,
we cannot be sure,
still shaken by
the sight of it,
and so they
sent me here to
confirm what
he has done.
All of our cattle
are dead, and
the men who
tended them,
hacked to pieces,
butchered by
a hand—his,
we think—for
one of our men
swears to have
seen him sprinting
across the field
with a wet sword.
As soon as I heard,
I was on the case,
following the tracks,
which led me here,
but I’ve been thrown
by strange markings
in the mud and cannot
find him anywhere.
You have
arrived,
as always,
at the right
moment
to guide
me with
your hand.
Athena
steps out of the shadows. Athena
Obviously, Odysseus, I came to help with the hunt.
Odysseus
Then I am on the right track?
Athena
He is the one you describe: the killer of cows.
Odysseus
A reckless gesture, but why did he do it?
Athena
Black bile—blinding rage—over the arms of Achilles.
Odysseus
But what drove him to attack the animals?
Athena
In his mind, their blood was yours.
Odysseus
He wished to kill the Greeks?
Athena
Affirmative.
He would have completed his mission
had I not been paying attention.
Odysseus
Where did he find the courage to do it?
Athena
He stalked you quietly in the night.
Odysseus
How close did he come to his target?
Athena
Close enough to strike the generals.
Odysseus
And what contained his bloodlust?
Athena
I did.
I robbed him
of the pleasure
of cutting you
to pieces,
raining on
his death
parade,
distracting
him with
visions of
bovine foes
grazing in
the fields
under
the watchful
eyes of simple
herdsmen.
He descended
upon them
with full fury,
ripping out horns
with his hands,
slitting throats
and snapping
spines, at one
point squeezing
the life from
a general, then
taking the lives
of other officers,
or so he thought,
trembling from
contamination.
I stoked his rage,
driving him deeper
into the snare.
Finally tired from
all the killing,
he bound and
gagged his sad
prisoners, those
pitiful few cows
and sheep some-
how still standing,
and rounded them
up for the death
march back to his
camp, convinced
they were men.
He tortures them inside the tent.
And now I will
expose you
to his illness,
so you may see
it with your
own eyes.
Stand there,
like a man.
He won’t
hurt you,
as long as
I am here.
Don’t worry.
I will hide you
in his blind spot;
he won’t see you
in the shadows.
Athena
turns and shouts toward the tent.
You, there,
in the tent,
stretching
prisoners
on the rack,
put down
your ropes;
report to me
immediately!
Odysseus
What are you doing? Lower your voice.
Athena
Watch what you say. Someone might call you a coward.
Odysseus
Please, Athena, by the gods, let him stay inside the tent.
Athena
He’s only a man, not to be feared, the same as before.
Odysseus
He was and is my enemy.
Athena
Well isn’t it satisfying to laugh at an enemy?
Odysseus
It would please me more if he stayed within.
Athena
Are you afraid to gaze upon a maniac?
Odysseus
When he was sane, I would have met his stare.
Athena
He won’t see you standing before him.
Odysseus
Isn’t he looking through the same eyes?
Athena
I’ll shade his eyes and darken his vision.
Odysseus
Whatever the goddess wants, she takes.
Athena
Stand there silently. Do not move!
Odysseus
I must remain, against my wishes.
Copyright © 2015 by Translated by Bryan Doerries. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
