And may they seize those wicked men with most wicked destruction, just as they see me ~~fall slain by my own hand, so slain by their own kin may they perish at the hand of their best-loved offspring~~. Come, you swift and punishing Erinyes, devour all the assembled army and spare nothing!And you, Helios, whose chariot-wheels climb the steep sky, when you see the land of my fathers, draw in your rein spread with gold and tell my disasters and my fate to my aged father and to the unhappy woman who nursed me.Poor mother! Indeed, I think, when she hears this news, she will sing a song of loud wailing throughout the entire city. But it is not for me to weep in vain like this. No, the deed must quickly have its beginning. O Death, Death, come now and lay your eyes on me!And yet I will meet you also in that other world and there address you. But you, beam of the present bright day, I salute you and the Sun in his chariot for the last time and never again. O light! O sacred soilof my own Salamis, firm seat of my father’s hearth! O famous Athens, and your race kindred to mine! And you, springs and rivers of this land—and you plains of Troy I salute you also—farewell, you who have nurtured me! This is the last word that Ajax speaks to you.The rest he will tell to the shades in Hades.Ajax falls upon his sword.

The Chorus reenters in two bands.First SemichorusToil follows toil yielding toil! Where, where have I not trudged? And still no place can say that I have shared its secret.Listen! A sudden thud!