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    Aias: A New Translation
    Aias: A New Translation
    Aias: A New Translation
    Ebook135 pages1 hour

    Aias: A New Translation

    By Sophocles

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    About this ebook

    AIAS, translated by award-winning poet James Scully, is one of Sophocles's seven surviving works, and one of the most celebrated plays of ancient Athens.

    Still powerful and remarkably timely thousands of years after its creation, Aias is the moving story of a soldier returning home victorious from the Trojan War, only to discover he has lost his life’s purpose. This is Sophocles, vibrant and alive, for a new generation.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 7, 2012
    ISBN9780062132154
    Aias: A New Translation
    Author

    Sophocles

    Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than or contemporary with those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides.

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    Reviews for Aias

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    • 2/5
      Another Greek play about the Trojan War, this time from the point of view of Aias, a hero who has a dispute with Odysseus over the armor of Agamemnon. Like most Greek drama, this play raises questions of life, death, and fate. It is not as compelling as some of the other plays in the Trojan War group of works, but it is difficult to tell if that is the play or the translation, which modernized the language somewhat. It did have the benefit of being one with which I was much less familiar, so it was at least new territory for me. Overall, a mixed experience.
    • 4/5
      This is a straightforward and vigorous modern translation of Sophocles' great play. Daly's translation never gets bogged down with archaisms or a false sense of formality. Truthfully, anything that brings this play to a wider audience is to be commended. The book lacks scene divisions and notes, so it may not be appropriate for classroom use. It's a welcome addition to the library of translations of Sophocles' plays.
    • 4/5
      I can appreciate this modern translation of Sophocles' Ajax for what it is: simple, elegant, direct and easily read.Could it be improved? Perhaps. Would it be better with notes on translation, and additional background information? Absolutely.
    • 3/5
      I found that this text would work excellently for high school or undergraduates. It provides a reasonable modern translation that presents the text in a slightly new way that I think may be more accessible to the younger set, or simply those who have not yet been exposed to the works of Sophocles. I can certainly appreciate that undertaking. It's no Norton Critical Edition, but that shouldn't deter an interested reader from checking out the book. The story of Ajax is fascinating and often overlooked in mainstream circles--most high schools read about Oedipus, not Ajax. Daly's done a good job here for what I would call a specific audience.
    • 4/5
      All in all a decent translation. The text is clear, the print is large (perfect for reading aloud), and the price is reasonable. That being said, the lack of notes is a serious detriment. Considering that this play was written over 2000 years ago, a few notes on conventions of Greek drama, as well as perhaps some basics of Greek mythology would have been appreciated. Worth getting if you already know a fair amount on the subject, or if you're reading purely for pleasure. I wouldn't suggest this book in an academic setting, even an intro class.
    • 4/5
      Dennis Daly's new translation of Sophocles' Ajax is quite serviceable and readable. The large dark print lends itself to dramatic readings. This edition, however, would have benefited from more extensive notes on the text. A twenty-first century reader needs information about the conventions of classical Greek theater, Homer's Ajax, and patronymics, to name a few of the unfamiliar elements that need notation. Such background information is missing from Daly's publication. Also the lines are not numbered so it is difficult to refer to passages in the play. There is a short biographical sketch of the translator, but nowhere does it refer to his knowing Greek. Those interested might want to check out a very good translation of Ajax by Herbert Golder and Richard Pevear published in 1999. At 100 pages it contains much supplemental material. The style of dialog is more elevated, almost Shakespearean. Daly's dialog, on the other hand, is clear and spare. The play itself is rather shocking. We see a mad raging Ajax on stage who has just tortured and slaughtered some animals, thinking they were his own commanders, and his subsequent suicide. Daly's forward links the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder we see today to Ajax's tragedy. It allows us to appreciate the play in a new context, and to see PTSD as having roots so deep in the past.
    • 4/5
      Fifth-century B.C. Greek dramatist Sophocles wrote this short play based on a tale from Homer. The warrier Ajax was a champion of the Greeks during the Trojan War. But the Greeks were divided among themselves by many rivalries and resentments. Ajax, slayer of the Trojan champion Hector, came to hate the Greek kings Agamemnon and Menelaus because he thought they had cheated him. One night, in a blind rage, he set out to kill them and their retainers. But the goddess Athena tricked Ajax so that in the dark, he really killed the cattle and sheep used to feed the Greek army along with the herdsmen. After daybreak, Ajax's rage subsided, and he slowly came to realize what he had done. Consumed with shame and humiliation, despite the pleading of his wife, Ajax killed himself. An argument ensued about whether or not he should be buried with military honors as the hero who killed Hector in single combat, or spurned as a traitor to the Greek cause.Ajax's fit of madness is treated by the translator in his introduction as a case of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. And indeed, the Pentagon has recently sponsored readings of this play. The translation is vigerous and quite readable, but, so far as I could tell, not a paraphrase or re-telling. A most interesing read!
    • 4/5
      This book is actually a relatively short play. While Daly has left very little poetry in his translation, this quick read will help the modern reader understand the action and be better prepared to read a more poetic translation.
    • 5/5
      I do not know enough Greek to evaluate the scholarly quality of the translation, but the English diction is excellent --just what many translators say they aim for but do not achieve -- neither artifically old-fashioned nor jarringly colloquial. The story is powerful --the suicide of Ajax after he has tried to attack the Greek leaders who denied him the armor of Achilles, and was stricken by madness by Athena and slaughtered sheep and cattle instead of men. As the foreword says, the scenes before Ajax's death are very like relationships with modern people troubled by suicide --with Ajax's wife and friends seeking him and fearing for the worst. After his body is discovered, there is a conflict with Menelaus and Agamemnon over whether Ajax should receive honorable burial, similar to the debate in Antigone, but this time mediated by Odysseus.
    • 4/5
      I hadn't read a translation of Ajax before,and I don't read ancient Greek, so I can't comment on the accuracy of Daly's translation; but I am familiar with both the Iliad and the Odyssey, so I knew the story which forms the basis for Sophocles' play. However, there are points which seem a bit obscure, where footnotes or end notes could have helped. The language on the whole is relentlessly modern, which I suppose was the intention; but then we get passages such as "...devise a wicked doom for those wretches who sneer at our fallen lord." Line breaks often seem arbitrary and sometimes confusing; this wouldn't matter in performance, but in a printed text this is unhelpful, to say the least, making the reading mind pause where it shouldn't and obscuring the sense. An example:"Paths of churningSeas, beach caves, and salt-pastures, Too long have you held meTo this land of Troy; I'll not be keptLiving any longer. TheRiver Scamander, whosechill waters have cooled the hotBlood of the Argives, shallNever see this man again."Reading this sort of thing is like repeatedly tripping on an uneven sidewalk; both as a poet and a reader, I disapprove.I also have a feeling the book would have been more enjoyable in a better layout; it all seems to be set in at least 14 point type, with little or no gutter allowance and obtrusively large page numbers at the bottom. It might also benefit from better spacing between lines. Again, this layout might make sense in a play script, but as poetry to be read for pleasure, it's a strain.All in all, a valiant and commendable effort, but I'm not impressed.
    • 3/5
      Dennis Daly has done a more than admirable job bringing alive a play that I have always found tedious. At first I was somewhat put off by the very plain -almost boring phrasing of much of the text but then I realized that was appropriate and indeed just what this play calls for. The story is ancient and new at the same time of course and his rendering of Ajax and Athena and Agamemnon up against the endlessly virtuous Odysseus has more than a few howlers in it and Daly's prosaic everydayness hits just the right chord for this reader. Well done -looking forward to more Sophocles translations from this man.
    • 3/5
      By and large, Daly's translation of Sophocles' original scans like dialogue, following natural if distinctly modern speech patterns. This is evident in some turns of phrase ("He'll call me ... bastard son of a captured slave .../ Betrayer. There'll be no end to it. Or worse / He'll accuse me of treachery ..."), or the stutter-stop, punctuated rhythm of casual conversation. For example, Daly has more than one character use fragments rather than full sentences. (At one point, Teucer stands over Ajax's corpse and spits: "Grim, ghastly form. Stubborn manhood. Your death has sown a bitter fruit which is mine to eat.") I suspect neither affectation was typical of Attic Greek either in everyday speech or in dramatic verse, but it successfully blends the elevated tone of the play with a modern colloquialism, and this appears to have been Daly's intent. The play's key concept for me is Ajax's berserker episode in which he massacres a herd of goats, sheep, and dogs in the warped belief they are fellow Greeks who betrayed him. The plot strongly suggest that Athena "clouded" Ajax's mind to deny him revenge, in effect "siding with his enemies", but there is enough commentary from the Chorus and others to make clear that Sophocles does not present that as the only view. Blurbs on the back cover substitute PTSD for Athena's interference in human events. I suspect there are other cultural references at play, obscure to me but quite evident to Sophocles' original audiences, beyond ideals of nobility and honour, and more socially grounded than the scapegoat of capricious Gods -- but, whether or not that is true, it speaks to the enduring relevance of Sophocles that his play supports such a rich diversity of interpretation.Daly's translation is quite brief, though there is no mention in his foreward or introduction it was abridged.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed Dennis Daly's modern translation of Sophocles' Ajax. The language is modern but yet still retains some of the old charm of the original and this is no easy task. Of course, next to Shakespeare, Sophocles is the greatest playwright in the history of the written word and this makes the story that much more rewarding to read.It has always amazed me how someone can put into words such passionate human feelings. Anyway, Mr. Daly has done a remarkable job in bringing Ajax to life for the contemporary reader and I look forward to more modern translations of his.
    • 4/5
      This is a modern translation of the work of everyone's favorite Greek tragedian, Sophocles, which may make him more appealing to new readers. Ajax suffers through the latter events of the Trojan War before falling on his sword. All things old are new again. Post-traumatic stress disorder is not a recent phenomenon, but in our ongoing warlike, modern age, students of the classics may find striking relevance to current events.
    • 3/5
      This is a modern poetic translation of Ajax, Sophocles' first known tragedy. My first introduction to this work was the prose translation translated by Sir Richard C. Jebb and edited by Moses Hadas. Except for some word stumbles, which I would change were I ever to read the piece aloud, I prefer Daly's version for getting the emotions and drama across. I prefer Jebb's version for depth, as it makes clear the reasons for some of the actions. The fact that some responses are culturally required is more clear in the Jebb version. The horror of the betrayal by the gods and the mania followed by recognition of what the madness has brought to himself and his people is more poignant in Daly's version.
    • 4/5
      This was a great play! You enter the internal landscape of Ajax, all that he is thinking, feeling, and concerning him. The plays is expertly written and there is much to admire within its poetic prose. You also see the undaunted harshness of Melanus and the feel the tragedy of Ajax as it pushes itself onto other characters. Overall, an impressive play!4 stars!
    • 3/5
      In reviewing a translation of a classic, one can broadly comment upon the quality of the translation, and the quality of the physical book. In this case, there is the additional necessity to respond to the translator's wish that his translation will help families and others with an interest, understand that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an inescapable part of coming home from war.In brief, the quality of the book as an object is perfectly acceptable: it's meant to be read and maybe acted, so we have a paperback with large type.As to the translation, as a comparator I took from the 1998 Penn Greek Drama Series, Frederic Raphael's and Kenneth McLeish's translation. This is fast company, with the former (among other things) an Oscar winning screenwriter, and the latter (particularly when Ted Hughes wasn't around) the best dramatic translator of his generation. Somewhat at random, I pulled the following comparison excerpt, from Ajax's wife Tecmessa's first speech:Raphael/McLeish:Friends, Lord Ajax’ friends,his crewmen,weep for him,your prince so far from home,weep for him.Ajax is down,our great one, our champion:his pride is smashed,his dazzle dimmed,his strength storm-tossed.Daly:Shipmates of Ajax, descendantsOf the soil-sprung Erechthid line,There is no joy for those who longFor the distant house of Telamon.Our grim and absolute leader,Ajax, is bewildered and storm-Tossed by frightening tides.On the translation comparison, we can see that Daly is going for longer line length and a considerably more complicated vocabulary; Raphael/McLeish are going for one and two syllable words, and very short line lengths. Their conception is the play as a chant; Daly is presenting a more literary version. We can also see that Daly's choices on where to break a line, while perhaps following the Greek, don't always make the most sense in English.Now moving to a considerably less random selection, from Ajax' death speech:Raphael and McLeish:Avenging Furies, help me,Grave Furies who bestride the world,forever virgin, who supervise all mortal pain,witness. The sons of Atreus have destroyed my lifeevil for evil, snatch them down to Hell,let them die as I do now. Come now!Be quick, be just, and glut yourselves on Greeks.Daly:Immortal maidens, dread furies who watch Forever the miseries of mankind, witnessMy death and know that the guilt of this deed Rests with the sons of Atreus. As I willDie wretchedly, self-slain, let them perishBy kindred hands. Go, catch them with your long strides,Revenge me on their host, hold back nothing.Again: one version short lines and short words; Daly version longer (and oddly broken) lines and a more dense vocabulary. Which you prefer, and for what purpose, is a matter of taste. Daly's version is certainly competent, and a worthwhile read. I would prefer to act the Raphael/McLeish version, as they sometimes hit heights that Daly misses, such as "glut yourselves on Greeks" vs "hold back nothing".So far, so good: we have a more than acceptable modern translation.Let's now turn to the PTSD issue, where I am afraid that I have a fundamental difference from Daly. His forward notes that the U.S. Department of Defense recently spent several million dollars on dramatic readings of Ajax. Daly closes this forward with the wish that his Ajax might help readers in a modern society better understand PTSD and its associated symptoms. Perhaps so, and impossible to argue with the aspiration, but what about the effect when returned soldiers read the play? The basic plot is that Ajax, a military hero, at the end of the war is swindled by a colleague, betrayed by his commanding officers, and befuddled by his god. As a result he engages in a killing spree (the play focuses on the livestock, but several men died too). When Ajax returns to his senses, his wife begs him not to do anything rash, and leave her a widow and his son an orphan. But no: Ajax falls on his sword, and the play finishes more or less positively with a posthumous reconciliation with the afore-mentioned colleague and commanders. Is this really the message we want to send to the many soldiers coming back from the war, who may already be entertaining suicidal thoughts? I claim no expertise in the psychology of this matter, but on its face a play in which the hero commits an "honourable" suicide would not seem a firm foundation for helping a PTSD-afflicted veteran. I hope that I am wrong on this matter, but fear that I am not.In summary, the book is an reasonable addition to the literature, but its professed special purpose as a PTSD assistance tool seems dubious.
    • 5/5
      On the 9th of March 2012 an American patrol was travelling through Afghanistan when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. Of the occupants two were severely injured (I believe they lost limbs). Two days later, on the 11th March 2012, one of the soldiers that had escaped injury took up an assault rifle, left the camp, and proceeded to slaughter 16 Afghani civilians from two villages. This event hit the media like a storm, and as of the writing of this commentary, the soldier is up on charges and has made the statement that he cannot remember anything of the incident itself. The question that you may be asking is, what has this got to do with a play written 2500 years ago? My answer is quite a lot actually. In fact this recent incident in Afghanistan is almost identical to the plot of the Ajax (with the exception that the soldier did not kill himself whereas Ajax did).When I first picked up this book last night I was thinking that I would just read this play, which I quite like, and comment on it like I have been doing with the other Greek plays that I have read recently. However, my mind had already been triggered by some books that I have ordered from the US that discuss mental illnesses, particularly PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that appeared in Ancient Greek literature. A friend of mine at work has read one of them and speaks very highly of the scholarship that is involved in it. Another book that I have picked up deals with PTSD as it appears in Heracles by Euripides. However, I have noticed that there seems to be a lack of literature relating to a similar condition arising in the Ajax.The story of Ajax is that Ajax is a commander in the Trojan War and after Paris killed Achilles, there was a competition over who would get armour - Odysseus won. However it turns out that Odysseus (surprise, surprise) cheated and that Ajax should have got the armour instead. Ajax then descends into a fit of madness and begins to slaughter the Greeks' cattle, believing them to be the Greeks themselves. Upon discovering the truth, he descends into depression and finishes off by killing himself. There is more to the play than that, particularly when Odysseus then steps up afterwards and defends Ajax's honour against Menelaus and Agamemnon.The events of the play show elements of psychosis and major depressive disorder leading to suicidal ideation (you can tell I work in personal injury). The depressive elements are very clear, particularly when it is Ajax's honour that has been destroyed. As the saying goes, it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a moment to destroy it. Ajax's fit of madness destroyed his reputation in minutes. However we note that with the exception of Odysseus, there is absolutely no sympathy for Ajax from any of the other commanders. As far as they are concerned he has betrayed them and his people. Ajax sees himself having no friends: the Trojans hate him and the Greeks hate him, and despite his mother and brother loving him, his guilt pervades him to the point that he has no choice but to fall onto his sword.Now, as I read through the English translation (with the Greek being on the opposite page) I noticed Ajax's illness being mentioned numerous times. I flicked my eyes over to the Greek, located the word, and indeed the word is Greek for illness. The play clearly demonstrates a recognition of mental illness being a legitimate sickness, and this was 2500 years before Freud. Further, as we look into other Greek literature, particularly Plato, we discover that there were systems in place that were designed to assist people suffering from mental illness: this being called the Therapy of the Soul. It appears that not only did the Greeks recognise mental illness, but also recognised the need and a system in an attempt to cure it. However, if we consider this play and Heracles we notice that the Greeks seemed to believe that the origin of mental illness was divine. This is not necessarily limited to the Greeks though since we see episodes of psychosis in the Bible and a recognition that demonic forces can be behind it. The main incident that I refer to is the story of Legion, where a man was banished to the wastelands because he was possessed by a legion of demons, and Jesus comes along, cures him, and casts the demons into a herd of pigs. In Greek tragedy, mental illness comes about from the gods fogging the mind of the victim. Athena fogs Ajax's mind in an attempt to prevent him from killing Odysseus, and Madness descends upon Herakles since he had completed his tasks, and the prohibition from harming him had been lifted.This is why I love to study the ancients. It is not because of my love of antiquity, but because it is clear that they were much more intelligent and switched on than we give them credit for. In Shakespeare's time, while there was a recognition of mental illness (King Lear suffers from a Major Depressive Disorder while Hamlet shows elements of psychosis, despite the fact that he is faking it). However, it is accepted and unchangeable. We see no attempt by Shakespeare to attempt to address it though there are elements looking at their underlying causes. However we cannot forget that, with the exception of King Lear, the other madnesses that come to mind (Titus Andronicus and Hamlet) the madness is faked.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my favourite of the Greek Tragedies. The Gods wipe out Hercules' family in the worst possible way for no justifiable reason. Hercules' father curses the hatefulness of the Gods, claiming he is better than them; Hercules on the other hand heroically accepts what is beyond his control and leaves town with his friend Theseus. This is an intense dramatization of the apparent randomness of the universe and the heroic struggle of humans to live within it. The English translation by Richard Pevear is brilliant.

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    Aias - Sophocles

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