Ajax

Sophocles

Sophocles the plays and fragments, Part 7: The Ajax. Jebb, Richard Claverhouse, Sir, translator. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1891.

  1. You, Odysseus—do you champion him against me in this battle?
Odysseus
  1. I do, though I did hate him, when it was honorable for me to hate.
Agamemnon
  1. But should you not also trample him now that he is dead?
Odysseus
  1. Do not take delight, son of Atreus, in that superiority which brings no honor.
Agamemnon
  1. Reverence, I tell you, is not easily practiced by the autocrat.
Odysseus
  1. But it is easy to grant dispensations to friends when they advise well.
Agamemnon
  1. A good man should listen to those in charge.
Odysseus
  1. Stop! Your power is victorious when you surrender to your friends.