SOPHOCLES’ AIAX: HYBRIS, FOOLISHNESS AND GOOD SENSE. A COMPARISON WITH ANTIGONE

Disobedience to civic authority, shift of perspective within friendship —that is, who was or should be friend is then regarded as enemy—, and burial issue make the tragedy Aiax an appropriate candidate for a comparison with Antigone . Indeed, a comparison between the two tragedies has been already proposed, and parallels have been usually established between Antigone and Aiax, on the one hand; Creon and the Atridae, on the other. Along the lines of a previous study of mine on Sophocles’ Antigone , the present paper aims at comparing Aiax and Antigone with reference to a specific theme and terminology, i.e. those pertaining foolishness and wisdom. Antigone and Aiax are usually associated with each other in their foolish rebellion to those who are in authority (respectively Creon and the Atridae). As argued in the previous paper, while, however, that of Antigone is foolishness only in all appearance, the foolishness of Aiax is a real, factual one bordering on hybris, which makes him a counterpart of Creon rather than of Antigone. On the other hand, the Atridae differ from Creon —rather than being his counterpart— in that they avoid acting foolishly, and falling for a mistake of judgment, i.e. for a lack of good sense, while dealing with the burial issue. Indeed, the Atridae avoid Creon’s hybris by finally respecting the «unshakable and unwritten laws of Zeus» which makes them, in some way, a counterpart of Antigone. A closer lexical analysis of the occurrences of words pertaining foolishness and wisdom —such as ἄνοια, ἄφρων/ ἀφροσύνη - σωφροσύνη, φρονeῖν - μὴ φρονeῖν, μωρία, ἀβουλία, δυσβουλία etc.— has led to these results.

Disobedience to civic authority, shift of perspective within friendship -that is, who was or should be friend is then regarded as enemy-, and burial issue make the tragedy Aiax an appropriate candidate for a comparison with Antigone.Indeed, a comparison between the two tragedies has been already proposed, and parallels have been usually established between Antigone and Aiax, on the one hand; Creon and the Atridae, on the other.Along the lines of a previous study of mine on Sophocles' Antigone, the present paper aims at comparing Aiax and Antigone with reference to a specific theme and terminology, i.e. those pertaining foolishness and wisdom.Antigone and Aiax are usually associated with each other in their foolish rebellion to those who are in authority (respectively Creon and the Atridae).As argued in the previous paper, while, however, that of Antigone is foolishness only in all appearance, the foolishness of Aiax is a real, factual one bordering on hybris, which makes him a counterpart of Creon rather than of Antigone.On the other hand, the Atri dae differ from Creon -rather than being his counterpart-in that they avoid acting foolishly, and falling for a mistake of judgment, i.e. for a lack of good sense, while dealing with the burial issue.Indeed, the Atridae avoid Creon's hybris by finally respecting the «unshakable and unwritten laws of Zeus» which makes them, in some way, a counterpart of Antigone.A closer lexical analysis of the occurrences of words pertaining

i. introdUction
In a previous paper on Sophocles' Antigone 1 , I discussed the presence of a dichotomous motif underlying the entire tragedy, namely that concerning the dialectic between wisdom/good sense and foolishness.Through a lexical analysis I pointed out the occurences of a specific terminology throughout the tragedy, such a terminology that connotes the two main characters, Antigone and Creon, as being, the first, «apparently foolish» -despite the general impression that the occurrence of terms of foolishness related to Antigone provokes-, and, the second, «really foolish» -despite the acknowledgment that is often reserved for his wisdom and good sense-.While Antigone's foolishness consists of her disobedience to a man-made law and to civic authority, that of Creon consists of obstinacy in believing in his own thoughts, and thus in refusing to listen to those who are able to provide him with appropriate advice, such an obstinacy that borders on an act of hybris by violating the gods' law in name of his own persuasion to be always right 2 .As a matter of fact, eventually Creon must yield and recognize his own foolishness, when he admits that the best way to end one's own life is by «preserving the established laws» (S., Ant. 1113(S., Ant. -1114)).These «established laws» are the same as the ones Antigone claimed in defense of her action (S.,(902)(903)(904)(905)(906)(907)(908)(909)(910)(911)(912)(913)(921)(922)(923)(924)(925)(926)(927)(928).Her obstinate disobedience, i.e. the essence of her lack of good sense, cannot thus be regarded as real foolishness since it is a «reverent/holy» obstinacy in obedience to the gods.As argued in my previous paper, the difference between Antigone's foolishness -which is only apparent-and Creon's foolishness -mistaken as good sense-is significantly expressed through different terms denoting foolishness per se, terms which appear to be almost exclusive either of Antigone or of Creon.While ἀφροσύνη, ἄνοια are typical and almost exclusive of Antigone, μὴ φρονεῖν, μωρία, ἀβουλία -δυσβουλία are typical and almost exclusive of Creon3 .When it happens that terms typical of Creon' foolishness (e.g.μωρία, δυσβουλία) refer to Antigone, too, they reflect the view that others have of the heroine, which -in the end-is proved to be a mistaken view.
The motif of disobedience to the civic authority together with both the switching from friend to enemy status -i.e., who was or should be friend is then regarded as enemy-and the burial issue, makes Aiax an appropriate candidate for a comparison with Antigone.A comparison exactly between these two tragedies has been already proposed 4 , and parallels have been usually established between Antigone and Aiax, on the one hand, and Creon and the Atridae, on the other: «it is Antigone who finds herself compared to Ajax, while Creon finds his counterpart in the Atridae» 5 .The present study aims at comparing Aiax and Antigone specifically with reference to the theme and terminology of foolishness and wisdom at which I have hinted above.By applying a lexical analysis I shall argue that the occurrences, in Aiax, of terms that turned out to exclusively refer to Creon's foolishness in Antigone, indeed prove that: a) the foolishness by which Aiax is affected resembles that of Creon 6 rather than that of Antigone, as it is usually discussed; b) what the Atridae -especially Agamemnon-eventually tend to do, while dealing with the burial of Aiax, is exactly to avoid acting foolishly, and thus falling for a mistake of judgment, i.e. for a lack of good sense as, on the contrary, Creon did while dealing with the burial of Polyneices 7 .In this light a parallel can finally be established between the «lessons» implied in both tragedies, that is -to paraphrase Sophocles-«bodies grown too great and stupid (ἀνόνητα) fall through grievious afflictions at the hands of the gods, whenever a man is born with a human nature, but does not think in accordance to his human φρονή» (S., Aiax 758-761)8 .This is exactly what happened both to Aiax and to Creon.
ii. aiax's FooLishnEss: LExicaL and concEptUaL comparison with antigonE and crEon The essence of Aiax' foolishness, i.e. his lack of good sense/wisdom, is well described by the hero himself in his last speech (Ai.646-692), when he realizes that one must yield to, obey and respect the gods and those who are in authority, in his case, .To behave in this way means 'to be minded-sensible/to have good sense' (σωφρονεῖν: Ai. 677), which Aiax has proved not to be or to have, and learns it only after the deeds of his foolishness.

Ἄνουϛ and Ἄφρων
According to the words of the hero in the lines mentioned above, the refusal to bend to the rulers' demand of acquiescence and obedience only partially connotes Aiax's foolishness.This refusal is namely that lack of good sense which is commonly ascribed to Antigone, who -as it is known-refused to obey Creon, the ruler.
In Antigone, from a lexical point of view this kind of foolishness is described through two categories of words: ἄνουϛ/ἄνοια, ἄφρων/ἀφροσύνη 9 .Antigone is, indeed, said ἄνουϛ (Ant.66-68, 99) or ἄφρων (Ant.383).But, Antigone's disobedience is a holy one (Ant.74), justifiable in the name of her respect of the gods («It was not Zeus who made this proclamation...» Ant.450).Only those who really lack good sense can mistake it as foolishness.Therefore -as previously argued-she is ἄνουϛ and ἄφρων in the others' eyes, that is, only in all appearance.As a matter of fact, significantly both kinds of terms (ἄνουϛ, ἄφρων) are truly addressed to those who are really foolish in that they do not care about gods' rules.With reference to ἄνουϛ and, more generally, to the νοῦϛ-words in Antigone, though the occurrences are quite exclusive of Antigone herself by still reflecting only the others' viewpoint on her deeds, there is a significant single case that can be by irony referred to Creon's real and specific ἄνοια.In Ant.281 Creon calls ἄνουϛ the chorus who has just attempted to explain the burial of Polynices as a sort of miracle performed by the gods.The excessive reaction of Creon speaks in favor of his blind exclusion of the gods in all matters, which by irony makes him the real ἄνουϛ.So ἄνουϛ is Aiax.
In Sophocles' Aiax, both categories of words (ἄνουϛ/ἄνοια, ἄφρων/ ἀφροσύνη) are used to describe the foolish behavior of Aiax, namely a foolishness which consists of both not listening to those who give good advice (Ai.763), and being too much confident in one's own thought (Ai.766-770) rather than realizing how much better is to respect and yield to the gods (Ai.666-667).As a matter of fact, the foolishness of Aiax consists first of all, and foremost, of an act of irreverence and hybris toward the gods, as it is well proved by Athena's speech at the beginning of the tragedy (Ai.127-133) 10 .And obstinacy to listen to those who are able to give good advice, and to yield and respect gods' laws is exactly that affecting Creon and determining his foolishness.As Aiax dares neglect his father's advice and the gods' respect when he refuses Athena's help in his ἄνοια -ἀφροσύνη (Ai.762-777), so does Creon when he confirms his intention to kill Antigone and refuses to listen to Haimon, no matter also what Zeus of blood-kinship would think: «Let her keep invoking the Zeus of blood-kinship» (Ant.658-659), which is to say «let's not care of Zeus' laws»11 .
In Aiax this kind of foolishness, which borders on hybris, is also described by φρήν-words (μὴ κατ ̓ ἄνθρωπον φρονεῖν Ai. 761, 777), i.e., by the same category of words that, in Antigone, connote Creon's lack of good sense bor-

Μωρία
As to the μωρία-words in Antigone, I showed how, despite one reference to Antigone, they are peculiar of Creon and of his specific and real foolishness, which mostly consists of negligence of gods' laws 14 .In Aiax, except for one case, the word occurs to describe a similar kind of foolishness which may belong not only to Aiax, but also to those people who show no respect for gods' laws, or for the interpreters of gods' will.In either way, the lack of good sense results in an act of hybris.Μωρία is used by Aiax himself when, by realizing what he has done, he considers himself as one devoted to the pursuit of foolishness (Ai.406-407): his μωρία is closely linked to his hybris toward Athena (Ai.401-403).Moreover, the skeptical words by which the chorus replies to the messenger's announcement of Calchas' prophecy are said to be full of μωρία (Ai.743-745): not to believe to what a seer suggests on the basis of his divine knowledge is a form of hybris in that it means not to care, in a way, of gods' minds.And this is the same form of hybris that the μῶροϛ Creon performs when he denies any credibility to Teiresias' interpretation of the omen and to his advice (Ant.998-1045).
More importantly, in Aiax the word occurs twice with reference to what in Antigone is the explicit mark of Creon's hybris, and thus of his foolishness, i.e. the denying of the burial, despite the gods' laws.
Let us analyze these two occurrences: 12 As to Aiax's ἀφροσύνη, see A. Rademaker, Sophrosyne and the Rhetoric of Self-restraint.Polysemy & persuasive use of an ancient Greek value term, Leiden-Boston, 2005, pp.125-133, who defines it in terms of both insubordination to those in power, and «arrogance on account of his martial prowess» (p.133).Rademaker mostly bases her analysis on the occurrences of σωφροσύνη-words, neglecting the usage of the other φρήν-words which are under discussion here and in the previous paper on Antigone.As to other occurrences of φρήν-words, which are not mentioned above, they usually describe the status of mental sanity first lost and then re-gained by Aiax (see, e.g., S., Ai. 46,83,182,306,344,355), or more generally the mental sanity commonly possessed by men (Ai.272).A more specific connotation characterizes the occurrences regarding Agamemnon and Teucer, as I shall discuss above.
Ai. 115015 : through a sort of riddle, Teucer calls Menelaus μῶροϛ for his intention to persecute the dead, i.e., to refuse Aiax an appropriate burial and thus to dishonor the gods and their laws (Ai. 1129(Ai. -1131)).This is exactly the same as Creon's μωρία; Ai. 1375: the chorus defines μῶροϛ the one who is not able to realize the wisdom/good sense of Odysseus, who has just persuaded Agamemnon about the right necessity to give Aiax a burial for the sake of gods' laws (Ai.1343-1344).Again, Creon has proved to be such a μῶροϛ when refusing the wise advice of both Haemon and Teiresias16 .

Μανία
As to the μανία-words, except for one case17 , all occurrences are related to Aiax (Ai. 59,81,216,611,726) 18 .It might not be surprising that these are the more common terms by which everybody refers to Aiax's foolishness, due to its meaning of madness sent/provoked by a god (Ai.59, 611).And, as implied by both the messenger (Ai.776-777), and Athena (Ai.59-67, 118-133), Aiax's hybris toward the goddess has provoked his madness.Like in Antigone, μανία mostly represents the status into which a man falls because of his lack of good sense.With regard to this status of μανία, not only does the resemblance between Aiax and Creon depend on the occurrence of the same vocabulary, but it is also confirmed by Creon's eventual admission of the gods' intervention in driving him to a foolish downfall (Ant.1271-1275) 19 .

First Possible Conclusions
In light of the analysis above proposed, Aiax' foolishness fully resembles that of Creon.As a matter of fact, despite the disobedience issue, which would make him comparable with Antigone, Aiax's foolishness does not include that ascribed to Antigone, as it seems at first glance.This conclusion is based not simply on the fact that Antigone's foolishness is a false one, as argued above, but it is also due to the fact that Aiax's obedience to those in authority is a questionable matter, as shown by Teucer.More than once Atreus' sons evoke Aiax' disrespect of the demand of obedience to the rulers as reason for their denying the burial (Ai.1066-1076, 1231-1234), the same reason that Creon evokes to justify his punishment of Antigone (Ant. 449,(473)(474)(475)(476)(477)(478)(479)(480)(481)(482)(483)(484)(485)(486)(487)(488)(489).But, as Teucer observes, Aiax was not subject to Menelaus' rule (Ai., 1098-1108); he went to fight in Troy as ally, worthy of being considered at the same level as Menelaus himself.More importantly, he went to Troy because of an oath that bound him (Ai.1113-1114), as well as any suitors of Helen 20 .We may thus conclude that as the disobedience of Antigone cannot be regarded as a real act of foolishness, so too that of Aiax: the first is done in obedience of gods' superior laws; the second seems not even to be a form of disobedience.Therefore, Aiax's lack of good sense seems to exclusively resemble that of Creon.With regard to this, it might be worth noting how, in her last speech, Tecmessa points out the meaning of Aiax's death: θεοῖϛ τέθνηκεν οὗτοϛ, οὐ κείνοισιν [Atreus' sons and Odysseus]... (Ai.970); that is to say Aiax's death eventually satisfies the gods since in this way he pays for his foolishness, which seems not to have anything to do with acts of disobedience to the rulers.
thE good sEnsE oF agamEmnon If Aiax's foolishness, consisting ultimately of arrogant irreverence towards gods, might be regarded as a paradigm of what Creon's real τὸ μὴ φρονεῖν in Antigone ends up to be, Menelaus' and, far more, Agamemnon's way of handling the issue of Aiax's burial contributes to further define 20 See Hes., Fr. 196-204; Apollod.3.131; Hyg., Fab.81 Menelaus is the first who shows up to forbid Aiax's burial (Ai.1047-1048): he has the power to deliver such a prohibition because of the authority he has as ruler of the army (Ai.1050).He states that he has the right to decide such a thing since Aiax, brought as φίλοϛ ('friend': 1053), has been found as more than an enemy (Ai.1054).Enemy and traitors do not deserve an appropriate burial22 .Friend-enemy motif namely in relation with the burial issue clearly reminds us of Antigone's plot23 .Moreover, the reference of Menelaus to the city's laws that are able to guarantee safety and good order -and this is the duty of a ruler (Ai.1073-1076)-shows some similarities with the ruling philosophy of Creon, i.e., the speech that he delivers for two specific purposes: first, to justify his decree against the burial of Polynices, who, like Aiax, has been found enemy ; second, to justify his irrevocable intention to punish Antigone (Ant.639-678) 24 .
Teucer, like Antigone, defends the right of the dead, and precisely of a relative/friend dead, by evoking «the gods' laws» (Ai.1129-1131), for which Menelaus seems not to care to such a point that, like Creon by Antigone (Ant.469-470), so is he called μῶροϛ (Ai.1150), too.Menelaus' μωρία is also explicitly pointed out by the chorus when, though granting him the ability to lay down wise judgments, it suggests him not to commit hybris against the dead, thus -one can add-against the related gods' laws (Ai.1091-1092).The wise judgments that the chorus ascribes to Menelaus concern the ruling philosophy he has just illustrated.It is a partial acknowledgment of the ruler's wisdom which in Antigone, too, the chorus grants to Creon (Ant.683) 25 .Moreover, as Antigone is foolish and characterized by τὸ μέγα φρονεῖν in Creon's eyes, so is Teucer in Menelaus' eyes (Ai. 1120(Ai. , 1142)).As that of Antigone, so that of Teucer is a holy pride in obedience of gods' laws.Therefore it is not a real form of insolence toward those who are in authority since -as Teucer more explicitly declares-ξὺν τῷ δικαίῳ γὰρ μέγ ̓ ἔξεστιν φρονεῖν (Ai.1125).
The motif of justice in terms of respect for gods characterizes Haemon's arguments, too, in his struggle with his father (Ant. 727,743).Like Antigone, Haemon, too, accuses, in a way, Creon of dishonoring the gods (Ant.745, 749); like Antigone, Haemon, too, is foolish and is marked by τὸ μέγα φρονεῖν in Creon's eyes.Teucer thus shares all of these characteristics in his confrontation with Menelaus, as well as Menelaus potentially shares Creon's traits.
The confrontation between Agamemnon and Teucer with the essential intervention by Odysseus accomplishes what remains unsolved in the confrontation with Menealus, in terms of making a definite decision with regard to the burial, and of serving as moral paradigm.Agamemnon, too, looks at Teucer as an insolent man who dares utter strong words against the rulers, by thus showing a lack of good sense and of self-restraint (Ai. 1226(Ai. -1228;;1251-1259).In Agamemnon's speech to Teucer, the occurrence of terms having φρήν, νοῦϛ, σωφροσύνη resembles the ones we found apt to indicate the foolishness in terms of disobedience to those who are in authority, both in Antigone and in Aiax.With regard to Teucer, it is possible to talk of a false, apparent foolishness, too, since Teucer is not arbitrarily disobeying, or arbi-trarily acting as insolent with Agamemnon.He is so in Agamemnon's eyes, but his pride is a just one (Ai.1125), since he is defending superior laws.
The focus, as a matter of fact, quickly and significantly shifts to an indirect definition of what τὸ φρονεῖν, and thus σωφρονεῖν and τὸν νοῦν ἔχειν, really mean in spite of the personal, human thoughts of a ruler, and in favor of «the gods' laws».When Odysseus intervenes, Agamemnon proves to possess the ability to εὖ φρονεῖν by agreeing to listen to a person who is able to give good advice.«I should be foolish (εἴην οὐκ ἂν εὖ φρονῶν) not to let you... », replies Agamemnon to Odysseus' request to speak (Ai.1330).More significantly, Agamemnon demonstrates good sense by accepting the advice to bury Aiax in obedience to the gods' laws, although this means to dismiss his own laws: to dishonor a dead is to destroy the laws of gods (Ai. 1342(Ai. -1344)).This is Odysseus' warning, similar to those given, directly or allusively, by Antigone, Haemon and Teiresias to Creon.Though it is hard, Agamemnon eventually decides to honor his friend, Odysseus, who gives the good advice (Aiax 1351)26 , which consists of making him avoid disrespect towards gods by allowing Aiax's burial in honor and obedience of οἱ θεῶν νόμοι (Ai.1343).This is to be «just» and «wise» (Ai.1363, 1374).Agamemnon thus avoids yielding to the foolishness which characterizes Creon: he does listen to good advice, he does yield to the gods, no matter how he hates Aiax -as well as This is, in the end, the lesson that the tragic story of Aiax must give, such a lesson which is illustrated throughout the play not simply by the fate of Aiax but also by the behavior of Agamemnon, a character who has a little space and yet plays an important role.This feature and the lexical and thematic similarities, that, as we saw, Aiax and Antigone present, allows us to look at these two specific tragedies as «supporting» each other's ultimate meaning.
Let us further examine the results of the analysis we have carried on, in order to draw a conclusion.
As in the second part of Antigone little space is reserved for the heroine, and her deeds and disappearance are almost completely forgotten, to a point that some scholars think of Creon as being the real main character27 , so seems it to happen to Aiax' deeds in the second part of the homonymous play.And, while in the second part of Antigone the focus is on the foolish obstinacy of Creon, the ruler, to rely on his laws and thoughts without caring for the gods' mind in relation with the burial issue, in the second part of Aiax the focus is on potentially the same kind of foolishness of Menelaus, and, more importantly, on the wise flexibility that eventually Agamemnon, the ruler, shows by acting as the one who really has τὸ φρονεῖν since he respects the gods' laws with reference to the same issue.
In light of the final lines in Antigone (1347-1352) 28 , which contain a lesson comparable to the one implied by Athena's words in Aiax (127-133), it is also worth re-considering the following specifics: (a) both Aiax and Agamemnon -as they are qualified and presented by Sophocles in Aiax-contribute to define Creon's foolishness in terms of hybris toward the gods, namely Aiax by analogy because of his pride and confidence in his own power and thought; Agamemnon by contrast for his eventual flexibility and lack of obstinacy; (b) both tragedies are characterized by the foolishness-wisdom motif with reference to the burial issue, which is developed -to a different degree-in terms of contrast between those who seem to be foolish, but they are revealed to be so only in the other's eyes (Antigone, Haemon, Teucer)29 , and those who seem to be wise, but they are eventually revealed to be foolish (Creon, partly Menelaus, and whoever does not recognize the wisdom of Odysseus' good advice); (c) both tragedies hint, to a different degree and with different outcome, at the fact that it is good and wise to learn from the others, to listen to those who εὖ λέγουσιν30 , i.e., to yield when necessary rather than persist in one's own mistakes because of pride.
. AIAX: HYBRIS, FOOLISHNESS AND GOOD SENSE.A ...what τὸ φρονεῖν means and how a man can come into possession of it, which is exactly what in Antigone Creon fails.As discussed in my previous work and implied in the above discussion 21 , obstinacy in terms of lack of flexibility can be regarded as a specific trait of Creon's foolishness, such a trait that is evident in his refusing to listen to those who are able to εὖ λέγειν and to give εὐβουλία, due to the bold confidence in his own δόξα.And it is this obstinacy and lack of flexibility that ultimately provokes Creon's downfall.He has the chance to see where the real foolishness lies, and thus the chance to respect gods' laws, but he insists on μὴ κατ ̓ ἄνθρωπον φρονεῖν, by ironically accusing the real wise, i.e., Antigone and Haemon, of a similar kind of foolish pride.In Aiax, Creon's foolishness in terms of disrespect towards gods' laws is potentially embodied by Menelaus and Agamemnon as well, and it is successfully counteracted by Teucer and Odysseus, who might be regarded respectively as the equivalent to Antigone and Haemon-Teiresias. SOPHOCLES' Creon hated Polynices-.Where Antigone, Haemon and Teiresias fail, Teucer and Odysseus succeed; and where Creon fails, Agamemnon succeeds.