Athena Without Ajax Analysis

Through this speech, Tecmessa attempts to persuade Ajax against his plan of suicide. Although she places herself in a state of pity, attempting to convince Ajax to live in order to protect her, through her pathos and the strong words of her speech she exhibits the inner strength she has harbored throughout the hardships of her life. As we learn more of her history and subsequent situation as Ajax’s wife, she inadvertently draws parallels between her and her husband, revealing that they are more similar than previously seemed. Both are objects of fate, lacking control over the adversities in their lives. Just as Ajax, controlled by Athena, had no control over his fall to shame, so was Tecmessa an object of fate, with no regulation of her current
Through this she expresses her value of family as a cohesive unit. Just like Penelope in the Odyssey she views people as a physical manifestation of home. For Penelope Ithaca without Odysseus was not home, while for Tecmessa without Ajax she will be both physically and emotionally homeless. She claims that although she has suffered terrible things, she has always supported Ajax selflessly. Therefore, she believes that one should always remember the kindness laid on them. For Ajax, to act nobly would be him remembering her kindness and acting in her best interest because she has always acted in
While Tecmessa views nobility as a way of kindness and reciprocity, Ajax believes that nobility is revealing one’s true nature, confronting the truth instead of making excuses. To him, staying to care for Tecmessa is merely a way to halt the eventual passage of time and only holds him back from his eventual fate of death. Because of this view, he disregards her speech and carries on with his suicide, wanting to die on his own terms, an individual not connected to anyone else in contrast to Tecmessa’s