Ajax, or Aias (Greek: Αἴᾱς), was a king of Salamis, and a legendary hero of ancient Greece. The Greek island of Salamis (Greek, Modern: Σαλάμινα Salamina, Ancient/Katharevousa: ) is the largest island in the Saronic Gulf, about 1 nautical mile (2 km) off-coast from Piraeus. ... Heroine, the feminine form of hero, should not be confused with heroin, the drug. ...

Ajax the Great

To distinguish him from Ajax, son of Oileus ("Ajax the Lesser"), he was called Ajax the Great or Telamonian Ajax . In Homer's Iliad he is described as of great stature and colossal frame, the tallest among all the Achaeans, second only to his cousin Achilles in strength and bravery, and the 'bulwark of the Achaeans'. He was trained by the centaur Chiron (who had also trained his father, Telamon, and Achilles' father Peleus), at the same time as Achilles was. Outshone only by his cousin, Ajax was the most valuable king in the battlefield, though not as smart as Nestor, Idomeneus, or, of course, Odysseus. He commanded his army wielding a great axe and a huge shield made of seven ox-hides with a layer of bronze. He was indeed a great asset to king Agamemnon's army. He is not wounded in any of the battles described in the Iliad, and he is the only principal character on either side who does not receive personal assistance from any of the gods who take part in the battles. As such, he embodies the virtues of hard work and perseverance. Ajax (Greek: Αἴας), a Greek hero, son of Oïleus the king of Locris, called the lesser or Locrian Ajax, to distinguish him from Ajax, son of Telamon. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For the fictional character in The Simpsons, see Homer Simpson. ... The Iliad (Ancient Greek: Ιλιάς, Iliás) tells part of the story of the siege of the city of Ilium, i. ... The wrath of Achilles, by Léon Benouville In Greek mythology, (transliterated to Akhilleus or Achilleus in Roman letters, Latinized from this ancient Greek to Achilles) was a hero of the Trojan War, the central character and greatest warrior of Homers Iliad. ... In Greek mythology, Chiron (hand) — sometimes spelled Cheiron or Kiron — was held as the superlative centaur over his brethren. ... In Greek mythology, Telamon, son of Aeacus, King of Aegina, and Endeis and brother of Peleus, accompanied Jason as one his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. ... In Greek mythology, Pēleús (Greek: Πηλεύς) was the son of Aeacus, King of Aegina. ... The word may have one of the following meanings. ... In Greek mythology, Idomeneus was a Cretan warrior, grandson of Minos. ... Odysseus and the Sirens. ... The so-called Mask of Agamemnon. Discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876 at Mycenae. ...

Trojan War

In the Iliad, Ajax is notable for his abundant strength and courage, seen particularly in two fights with Hector. In Book VII, Ajax is chosen by lot to meet Hector in a duel which lasts most of a whole day. Ajax at first gets the better of the encounter, wounding Hector with his spear and knocking him down with a large stone, but Hector fights on until the heralds, acting at the direction of Zeus, call a draw: the action ends without a winner and with the two combatants exchanging gifts. The Iliad (Ancient Greek: Ιλιάς, Iliás) tells part of the story of the siege of the city of Ilium, i. ... It has been suggested that Hektors death be merged into this article or section. ... Henry Edgar Paston-Bedingfeld, Her Majestys York Herald of Arms in Ordinary at the College of Arms. ... Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. ...

The second fight between Ajax and Hector occurs when the latter breaks into the Achaean camp, and fights with the Greeks among the ships. In Book XIV, Ajax throws a giant rock at Hector which almost kills him. In Book XV, Hector is restored to his strength by Apollo and returns to attack the ships. Ajax, wielding a spear as a weapon and leaping from ship to ship, holds off the Trojan armies virtually single-handedly. In Book XVI, Hector is able to disarm Ajax (although Ajax is not hurt) and Ajax is forced to retreat under heavy fire. Hector and the Trojans succeed in burning one Greek ship, the culmination of an assault that almost finishes the war. This article is about the ancient people of the Achaeans. ... Statue of Apollo at the British Museum. ... A citizen of the city of Troy (Ilium) as described by Homer. ...

All of the foregoing encounters happened when Achilles was not on the battlefield, because he was angry with Agamemnon. Ajax did manage to kill many of the other Trojan lords, including Phorkys. In Greek mythology, Phorcys, or Phorkys was a primevil sea god, son of Pontus and Gaia. ...

In Book IX, Agamemnon and the other Greek chiefs send Ajax, accompanied by Odysseus and Phoenix, to the tent of Achilles, in an attempt to reconcile with the great warrior and induce him to return to the fight. Although Ajax speaks earnestly and is well received, he does not succeed in convincing Achilles. The so-called Mask of Agamemnon. Discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876 at Mycenae. ... In the Greek epic Iliad, Phoenix is one of Achilles men, who along with Odysseus and Ajax the Great urges Achilles to re-enter battle, giving the most passionate speech of the three. ...

When Patroclus dies, the Trojans try to steal his body and feed him to the dogs, accusing him of being a liar. Ajax is the man who fights to protect the body, and take it back safely to the camp, back to Achilles, the best friend of Patroclus. Ajax, assisted by Menelaus, succeeds in fighting off the Trojans and taking the body back with his chariot; of course, the Trojans had already stolen the armor and left the body naked. Ajax's prayer to Zeus, to remove the fog which has descended on the battle - even if the Greeks are destined to lose - to allow them to die in the light of day, has become proverbial. A cup depicting Achilles bandaging Patroklos arm, by Sosias. ... This article is about Menelaus the king of Sparta. ...

Like most of the other Greek leaders, Ajax is alive and well as the Iliad comes to a close.

Later, when Achilles dies, killed by Paris (with help from Apollo), Ajax and Odysseus are the heroes that fight against the Trojans to get the body and bury it next to his dear friend, Patroclus. Ajax, with his great axe, manages to get the Trojans away, while Odysseus pulls the body towards his chariot, and rides away. After the burial, both claim the armor for themselves, as recognition for their efforts. But in the end, after some discussion, Odysseus is given the armor. Ajax is furious about it, and falls to the ground, exhausted. When he wakes up, he becomes mad and goes to a group of sheep, and slaughters them, imagining they are the Trojan leaders, as well as Odysseus and Agamemnon. When he comes to his senses, covered in blood, and realises what he did, he decides that he prefers to kill himself rather than to live in shame. He did it with the same sword Hector had given him when they exchanged presents. (Odyssey, XI. 541). From his blood sprang a red flower, as at the death of Hyacinthus, which bore on its leaves the initial letters of his name Ai, also expressive of lament (Pausanias I. 35.4). His ashes were deposited in a golden urn on the Rhoetean promontory at the entrance of the Hellespont. Judgement of Paris by Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: Οδύσσεια, Odússeia) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first of which is the Iliad. ... The Death of Hyacinthos by Jean Broc. ... Pausanias was Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... Hellespont (i. ...

The foregoing account of his death is from the Ajax of Sophocles; in Pindar's "Nemea", 7; and in Ovid, Metamorphoses, xiii. 1. Homer is somewhat vague about the precise manner of Ajax's death but does ascribe it to his loss in the dispute over Achilles's armour: when Odysseus visits Hades, he begs the soul of Ajax to speak to him, but Ajax, still resentful over the old quarrel, refuses and descends silently back into Erebus. A Roman bust. ... Pindar Pindar (or Pindarus / Pindaros) (522 BC – 443 BC), considered the greatest of the nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, was born at Cynoscephalae, a village in Thebes. ... Nemea is an ancient site near the head of the valley of the Nemea River in the Peloponnessus of Greece. ... Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidius Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC â€“ Tomis, now Constanta AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. ... Cover of George Sandyss 1632 edition of Characters in Metamorphoses The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world in terms of Greek and Roman mythology. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure vase made in the 4th century BC. Hades (From , HadÄ“s, or , HáidÄ“s, Greek for unseen) refers to both the ancient Greek abode of the dead and the god of that underworld. ... In Greek mythology, Erebus, or Érebos was a primordial god, the personification of darkness, offspring of Chaos alone. ...

Like Achilles, he is represented (although not by Homer) as living after his death in the island of Leuke at the mouth of the Danube (Pausanias iii. 19. 11). Ajax, who in the post-Homeric legend is described as the grandson of Aeacus and the great-grandson of Zeus, was the tutelary hero of the island of Salamis, where he had a temple and an image, and where a festival called Aianteia was celebrated in his honour (Pausanias i. 35). At this festival a couch was set up, on which the panoply of the hero was placed, a practice which recalls the Roman Lectisternium. The identification of Ajax with the family of Aeacus was chiefly a matter which concerned the Athenians, after Salamis had come into their possession, on which occasion Solon is said to have inserted a line in the Iliad (II. 557 or 558), for the purpose of supporting the Athenian claim to the island. Ajax then became an Attic hero; he was worshipped at Athens, where he had a statue in the market-place, and the tribe Aiantis was named after him. Map of Snake Island Snake Island (also known as Serpent Island; Ukrainian: ostriv Zmiyinyy, Romanian: Insula şerpilor) is an island in the Black Sea. ... The Danube bend at Visegrád is a popular destination of tourists The Danube (German: Donau, Slovak: Dunaj, Hungarian: Duna, Slovenian: Donava, Croatian: Dunav, Serbian: Дунав/Dunav, Bulgarian: Дунав (Dunav), Romanian: Dunăre, Ukrainian: , Latin: Danuvius, Turkish: Tuna) is Europes second-longest river (after the Volga). ... Pausanias was Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... In Greek mythology, Aeacus (Greek: Aiakos, bewailing or earth borne) was king in the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf. ... Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. ... A tutelary spirit is a god, usually a minor god, who serves as the guardian or watcher over a particular site, person, or nation. ... Salamis may refer to Salamis Island in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, near Athens, Greece, where the Battle of Salamis was fought in 480 B.C.. Salamis, Cyprus, an ancient city on the east coast of Cyprus. ... A panoply is a complete suit of armour. ... Lectisternium (from Lat. ... For other uses, see Athens (disambiguation). ... Solon Solon (Greek: Σόλων, ca. ... The Iliad (Ancient Greek: Ιλιάς, Iliás) tells part of the story of the siege of the city of Ilium, i. ... Attica (in Greek: Αττική, Attike; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα Athína IPA ) is the capital of Greece and one of the most famous cities in the world, named after goddess Athena. ...

Pausanias also relates that a gigantic skeleton, the kneecap alone was 5 inches in diameter appeared on the beach near Sigeum, on the Trojan coast; these bones were identified as those of Ajax, the great champion of the Greeks in the Iliad. Pausanias is the name of several ancient people: Pausanias was a Spartan general of the 5th century BC. Pausanias of Sparta was King of Sparta from 409 BC-395 BC. Pausanias was the servant/lover who assassinated Philip II of Macedon in 336 BC Pausanias, Greek traveller and geographer of...

Family

Ajax is the son of Telamon, who was the son of Aeacus and grandson of Zeus, and his first wife Periboea. He is the cousin of Achilles, the most remembered Greek warrior, and elder half-brother of Teucer. Many illustrious Athenians — including Cimon, Miltiades, Alcibiades and the historian Thucydides — traced their descent from Ajax. In Greek mythology, Telamon, son of Aeacus, King of Aegina, and Endeis and brother of Peleus, accompanied Jason as one his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. ... In Greek mythology, Aeacus (Greek: Aiakos, bewailing or earth borne) was king in the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf. ... Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. ... In Greek mythology, five people shared the name Periboea. ... Two figures in Greek mythology had the name Teucer: The son of Hesione and Telamon, Teucer fought with his half-brother, Ajax the Great, in the Trojan War and is the legendary founder of the city Salamis on Cyprus. ... This article or section should include material fromKimon Cimon (died 450 BC?) was a major figure of the 470s BC and 460s BC in Athens, and the son of Miltiades. ... Miltiades Miltiades (c. ... Alcibiades Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (also Alkibiades) (ancient Greek: Αλκιβιαδες Κλεινιου Σκαμβωνιδες)¹ (c. ... Bust of Thucydides Thucydides (between 460 and 455 BC–circa 400 BC, Greek Θουκυδίδης, Thoukudídês) was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. ...

Palace

In 2001, Yannos Lolos began excavating a Mycenaean palace on the island of Salamis that may have been Ajax's home. The ruins have been excavated at a site near the village of Kanakia of Salamis, a few miles off the coast of Athens. The multi-storey structure covers 750 m² (8,000 ft²) and had perhaps 30 rooms. It appears to have been abandoned at about the era of the Trojan War.[1]

References to Ajax

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Ajax the Great

• Homer. Iliad VII, 181-312; Homer. Odyssey XI, 543-67; Apollodorus. Epitome III, 11-V, 7; Ovid. Metamorphoses XII, 620-XIII, 398.
• The laundry detergent brand Ajax's slogan is "Stronger than dirt", presumably in the mythological reference.
• HMS Ajax (part of the UK Royal Navy) was named after him, but is no longer in use
• The USS Ajax was named for his valor
• Ajax is the name given to one of the most ferocious villians, known as a Titan, in Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's prequel book trilogy, Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, to Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi epic Dune.
• Ajax appears as one of the main characters in the computer game Age of Mythology
• In the 2004 film Troy, Ajax was played by wrestler Tyler Mane and in great contrast to the story, was killed in battle by Hector.
• Amsterdam's football (soccer) club, Ajax Amsterdam, is possibly named after Ajax
• Ajax is a character in the 1979 film The Warriors; played by James Remar, the character exhibits simliar traits to the mythological Ajax

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For the fictional character in The Simpsons, see Homer Simpson. ... The Iliad (Ancient Greek: Ιλιάς, Iliás) tells part of the story of the siege of the city of Ilium, i. ... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For the fictional character in The Simpsons, see Homer Simpson. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: Οδύσσεια, Odússeia) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first of which is the Iliad. ... Apollodorus was a popular name in the ancient world. ... Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidius Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC â€“ Tomis, now Constanta AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. ... Cover of George Sandyss 1632 edition of Characters in Metamorphoses The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world in terms of Greek and Roman mythology. ... A detergent is a compound, or a mixture of compounds, intended to assist cleaning. ... Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ajax after the Greek hero Ajax the Great: The first Ajax, launched in 1765, was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line broken up and sold in 1785. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Several ships of United States Navy were named USS Ajax: USS Ajax (1864) USS Ajax (1898) USS Ajax (1917) USS Ajax (AR-6) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Brian Herbert (born 1947) is an American author. ... For the actor known as Kevin Anderson, see Kevin Anderson (actor). ... This page is about the novel Dune: The Butlerian Jihad. ... Frank Herbert (1920 - 1986) Frank Patrick Herbert (October 8, 1920 – February 11, 1986) was a critically and commercially successful American science fiction author. ... Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Age of Mythology (sometimes abbreviated AoM) is a real-time strategy computer game by Ensemble Studios. ... Troy is a movie that was released on May 14, 2004 about the Trojan War, which is described in Homers Iliad and other Greek myths as having taken place in Anatolia (modern Turkey) around the 13th or 12th century BC. It stars, among others: Brad Pitt as Achilles, Eric... Professional wrestling show at the World Wrestling Entertainments Tribute to the Troops. Shown here is WWEs Chris Masters. ... Tyler Mane is an American actor and wrestler. ... Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (Euronext: AJAX) also referred to as Ajax Amsterdam, AFC Ajax, or simply Ajax (pronounced Ah-yahx), is a football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. ... The Warriors is also an informal English language title of the Korean film Musa The Warriors is a 1979 film directed by Walter Hill about a gang fighting their way back home after being framed for the assassination of a gang leader. ...

External link

• Paphitis, Nicholas, "Archaeologist links palace to legendary Ajax", MSNBC, 2006-03-30. URL accessed on 2006-03-31.

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