Χορός
ὦ κλεινὰ Σαλαμίς , σὺ μέν που
ναίεις ἁλίπλακτος , εὐδαίμων ,
πᾶσιν περίφαντος ἀεί :
ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὁ τλάμων παλαιὸς ἀφ᾽ οὗ χρόνος
Ἰδαῖα μίμνων λειμώνι᾽ ἔπαυλα μηνῶν
ἀνήριθμος αἰὲν εὐνῶμαι
χρόνῳ τρυχόμενος ,
κακὰν ἐλπίδ᾽ ἔχων
ἔτι μέ ποτ᾽ ἀνύσειν
τὸν ἀπότροπον ἀΐδηλον Ἅιδαν .
καί μοι δυσθεράπευτος Αἴας
ξύνεστιν ἔφεδρος , ὤμοι μοι ,
θείᾳ μανίᾳ ξύναυλος :
ὃν ἐξεπέμψω πρὶν δή ποτε θουρίῳ
κρατοῦντ᾽ ἐν Ἄρει : νῦν δ᾽ αὖ φρενὸς οἰοβώτας
φίλοις μέγα πένθος ηὕρηται .
τὰ πρὶν δ᾽ ἔργα χεροῖν
μεγίστας ἀρετᾶς
ἄφιλα παρ᾽ ἀφίλοις
ἔπεσ᾽ ἔπεσε μελέοις Ἀτρείδαις .

Chorus
Oh famous Salamis , you always dwell sea-beaten , blessed , well-seen by all . I lay kenneled suffering for a long time remaining in Trojan meadows for countless months , wasting away with time , holding a wicked expectation until the time when I will finish my journey to backwards , unseen Hades . And difficult to cure Ajax is lying by near to me -oh me ! - he dwelling with divine madness . He whom powerful you sent out truly once before into furious Ares . But now , again feeding alone in his mind he has been discovered a great pain to his friends . And the deeds of greatness and excellence by his two hands fell down friendless fell down by the unfriendly , miserable Atreidae .

Chorus
Oh renowned Salamis , you live on sea-beaten , blessed and always a beacon to humans . But I long suffering away from you for ages remain on the Trojan plain for countless unending months and lay kenneled , wasting away with time . I hold a wretched expectation until the moment when I will finish my trudging journey to evil , invisible Hades . And now incurable Ajax is with me as an ally in a fight , but oh , he dwells in divine madness . Truly once before you sent that powerful one to furious Ares , but now he foraging alone in his mind has been found a great sorrow to his dear ones . The deeds of greatness and excellence made before by his two hands fell into the dust friendless , fell before the unfriendly , miserable Atreidae .

Χορός

ἦ που παλαιᾷ μὲν σύντροφος ἁμέρᾳ ,
λευκῷ δὲ γήρᾳ μάτηρ νιν ὅταν νοσοῦντα
φρενομόρως ἀκούσῃ ,
αἴλινον αἴλινον
οὐδ᾽ οἰκτρᾶς γόον ὄρνιθος ἀηδοῦς
ἥσει δύσμορος , ἀλλ᾽ ὀξυτόνους μὲν ᾠδὰς
θρηνήσει , χερόπλακτοι δ᾽
ἐν στέρνοισι πεσοῦνται
δοῦποι καὶ πολιᾶς ἄμυγμα χαίτας .

κρείσσων παρ᾽ Ἅιδᾳ κεύθων ὁ νοσῶν μάταν ,
ὃς ἐκ πατρῴας ἥκων γενεᾶς ἄριστος
πολυπόνων Ἀχαιῶν ,
οὐκέτι συντρόφοις
ὀργαῖς ἔμπεδος , ἀλλ᾽ ἐκτὸς ὁμιλεῖ .
ὦ τλᾶμον πάτερ , οἵαν σε μένει πυθέσθαι
παιδὸς δύσφορον ἄταν ,
ἃν οὔπω τις ἔθρεψεν
αἰὼν Αἰακιδᾶν ἄτερθε τοῦδε .

Chorus

Truly , his mother raised together with an ancient day and white with age whenever she hears he is suffering so as to destroy his mind , she ill-fated will let flow a cry of anguish , a cry of anguish not of the pitiable , weeping nightingale , but she will wail the sharp cry of the dirge and the dead thump in the beaten breast and the loose , torn gray hair will fall .

The one ailing in vain is better hidden in Hades who is from the best paternal stock of the much-laboring Achaeans . He is no longer fettered with natural impulses , but consorts outside . Oh patient father , you await to learn such a grievous fate of your son , a fate which not yet any age of the descendents of Aeacus raised except for this one .

The moment when his mother now white with age nurtured with an ancient day hears he is ailing in his destroyed mind , she , ill-fated , will let flow a cry of anguish , not the cry of anguish of the pitiable , weeping nightingale , but she will shout the sharp cries of the funeral dirge . The empty thump of her beaten breast and her gray hair torn loose will fall .

Surely , the one ailing in vain madness is better covered in Hades even he who is from the best patrilineal line of the much-enduring Achaeans . He is no longer constrained by the natural workings of the mind , but wanders outside the boundaries . Oh suffering father , you will soon learn the grievous fate awaits your son . The time of the children of Aeacus has yet to nourish this sort of fate except for Ajax .

Τεῦκρος

ὦ τῶν ἁπάντων δὴ θεαμάτων ἐμοὶ
ἄλγιστον ὧν προσεῖδον ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐγώ ,
ὁδός θ᾽ ὁδῶν πασῶν ἀνιάσασα δὴ
μάλιστα τοὐμὸν σπλάγχνον , ἣν δὴ νῦν ἔβην .
ὦ φίλτατ᾽ Αἴας , τὸν σὸν ὡς ἐπῃσθόμην
μόρον διώκων κἀξιχνοσκοπούμενος .
ὀξεῖα γάρ σου βάξις ὡς θεοῦ τινος
διῆλθ᾽ Ἀχαιοὺς πάντας ὡς οἴχει θανών .
ἁγὼ κλύων δύστηνος ἐκποδὼν μὲν ὢν
ὑπεστέναζον , νῦν δ᾽ ὁρῶν ἀπόλλυμαι .
οἴμοι .
ἴθ᾽ , ἐκκάλυψον , ὡς ἴδω τὸ πᾶν κακόν .
ὦ δυσθέατον ὄμμα καὶ τόλμης πικρᾶς ,
ὅσας ἀνίας μοι κατασπείρας φθίνεις .
ποῖ γὰρ μολεῖν μοι δυνατόν , εἰς ποίους βροτούς ,
τοῖς σοῖς ἀρήξαντ᾽ ἐν πόνοισι μηδαμοῦ ;
ἦ πού με Τελαμών , σὸς πατὴρ ἐμός θ᾽ ἅμα ,
δέξαιτ᾽ ἂν εὐπρόσωπος ἵλεώς τ᾽ ἴσως
χωροῦντ᾽ ἄνευ σοῦ . πῶς γὰρ οὔχ ; ὅτῳ πάρα
μηδ᾽ εὐτυχοῦντι μηδὲν ἥδιον γελᾶν .
οὗτος τί κρύψει ; ποῖον οὐχ ἐρεῖ κακὸν
τὸν ἐκ δορὸς γεγῶτα πολεμίου νόθον ,
τὸν δειλίᾳ προδόντα καὶ κακανδρίᾳ
σέ , φίλτατ᾽ Αἴας , ἢ δόλοισιν , ὡς τὰ σὰ
κράτη θανόντος καὶ δόμους νέμοιμι σούς .
τοιαῦτ᾽ ἀνὴρ δύσοργος , ἐν γήρᾳ βαρύς ,
ἐρεῖ , πρὸς οὐδὲν εἰς ἔριν θυμούμενος .
τέλος δ᾽ ἀπωστὸς γῆς ἀπορριφθήσομαι ,
δοῦλος λόγοισιν ἀντ᾽ ἐλευθέρου φανείς .
τοιαῦτα μὲν κατ᾽ οἶκον : ἐν Τροίᾳ δέ μοι
πολλοὶ μὲν ἐχθροί , παῦρα δ᾽ ὠφελήσιμα .
καὶ ταῦτα πάντα σοῦ θανόντος ηὑρόμην .
οἴμοι , τί δράσω ; πῶς σ᾽ ἀποσπάσω πικροῦ :
τοῦδ᾽ αἰόλου κνώδοντος , ὦ τάλας , ὑφ᾽ οὗ
φονέως ἄρ᾽ ἐξέπνευσας ; εἶδες ὡς χρόνῳ
ἔμελλέ σ᾽ Ἕκτωρ καὶ θανὼν ἀποφθίσειν ;
σκέψασθε , πρὸς θεῶν , τὴν τύχην δυοῖν βροτοῖν .
Ἕκτωρ μέν , ᾧ δὴ τοῦδ᾽ ἐδωρήθη πάρα ,
ζωστῆρι πρισθεὶς ἱππικῶν ἐξ ἀντύγων
ἐκνάπτετ᾽ αἰέν , ἔστ᾽ ἀπέψυξεν βίον :
οὗτος δ᾽ ἐκείνου τήνδε δωρεὰν ἔχων
πρὸς τοῦδ᾽ ὄλωλε θανασίμῳ πεσήματι .
ἆρ᾽ οὐκ Ἐρινὺς τοῦτ᾽ ἐχάλκευσεν ξίφος
κἀκεῖνον Ἅιδης , δημιουργὸς ἄγριος ;
ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν καὶ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ πάντ᾽ ἀεὶ
φάσκοιμ᾽ ἂν ἀνθρώποισι μηχανᾶν θεούς :
ὅτῳ δὲ μὴ τάδ᾽ ἐστὶν ἐν γνώμῃ φίλα ,
κεῖνός τ᾽ ἐκεῖνα στεργέτω κἀγὼ τάδε .

Χορός

μὴ τεῖνε μακράν , ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως κρύψεις τάφῳ
φράζου τὸν ἄνδρα χὤ τι μυθήσει τάχα .
βλέπω γὰρ ἐχθρὸν φῶτα , καὶ τάχ᾽ ἂν κακοῖς
γελῶν ἃ δὴ κακοῦργος ἐξίκοιτ᾽ ἀνήρ .

Teucer
Oh truly , I see the most painful thing to me of all spectacles , and this is truly the most sorrowful road of all roads with respect to my heart , which I made now , as , oh beloved Ajax , while pursuing and tracking I learned your fate . For a sharp rumor about you as if from some god spread throughout the Achaeans how you dying are ruined . Hearing this from far away wretched I certainly was moaning low , and now seeing I am utterly destroyed . Oh god ! Go , uncover him , so I might see the entire evil . Oh body of bitter daring difficult to see , you having sowed such great grief for me are wasted away . For where am I able to go , to what kind of mortals , when I aided your work in no way ? For doubtless Telemon , your father and mine at the same time , might accept me returning without you with glad countenance kindly and fairly . How not ? To whom being accustomed to smile not more pleasantly not even being fortunate . What will this one hide ? Will he not say some sort of bad thing to me , the bastard begotten from the spear of war , the betrayer by cowardice and unmanliness , you , beloved Ajax , or by treachery , or that I wished to control your power and your house after your death . Such things a man quick to anger , violent in old age , will say , rushing into strife on account of nothing . I thrust out will be forced out of the end of our land , I having seemed a slave by words instead of a free man . These are the affairs according to the house , but in Troy there are many enemies to me , and few useful ones , and I gained all these from your death . Oh god , what will I do ? How will I drag you away from the sharp edge of this gleaming sword , oh wretched one , because of which a murderer it seems you breathed your last ? Do you see in time Hector even dead was about to kill you ? Behold , on account of the gods , the fortune to the two mortals . Hector having been bound from the chariot rails by the warrior’s belt which had been gifted to him was tortured always until he breathed out life . And this one having the gift of that man perished onto this by a fatal fall . Did the Furies forge this sword , and that one Hades , the fierce skilled craftsman ? I truly would say that the gods always contrive these things and also all things for mortals . But , to the one in knowing these things are not good , let that one delight in those things and I in these .

Chorus
Do not stretch longer , but think how you will bury that man in funeral rites , and quickly what you will say . For I see a hated man , and he might come laughing at the bad things , just like a hurtful man .

Teucer
Oh , I looked upon the most painful of all sights to my eyes , and truly the road which I just now trod while tracking and pursuing you was the most sorrowful of journeys for my heart as I discovered your fate . As if from some god a bitter prophecy about you sped through all the Achaeans that you dead were undone . Hearing this from far away certainly I moaned in grief then , and now having seen I am destroyed . Oh , god . Come , uncover the body so that I might see the bare wickedness . Oh body full of cruel daring impossible to look upon , what great distress you sowed with your death . Where can I go now ? To what people when I aided you in your labors in no way ? Telamon , your father and even mine , might kindly and fairly accept me with glad countenance even as I arrive without you . Why not ? As laughter is as accustomed to him no more pleasantly even when he is fortunate . What would he hide ? Will he not say something terrible , " the bastard begotten from the spear of war " or " the betrayer by cowardice and impotence " or " by trickery after your death beloved Ajax , that I wished to manage your power and your house . " The short tempered man , violent in his old age , will say such things being provoked into strife even on account of nothing . I will be cast out as an exile from our home appearing as a slave by his account instead of as freedman . Such is the state of affairs at home . And in Troy I have many enemies and few allies . All these things I gained from your death . Oh god , what will I do ? How will I lift your body , oh wretched one , from the sharp edge of this gleaming sword , the very murderer which caused you to breathe your last ? Can you see how Hector ( even though he is dead now ) was destined to kill you in time ? Behold the fortune of these two mortals given by the gods . First , Hector bound from the chariot rails by the very warrior’s belt which was gifted to him was carded along the ground continuously , until he breathed out his life . And Ajax having the battle-gift from Hector used this to destroy himself with his fatal fall . Did the Furies not forge this sword ? And Hades that cruelly skilled craftsman ? I say that the gods contrived these and all things for mortals . For the one who does not hold this as good in mind , let that one delight in his own things , and I in mine .

Chorus
Do not delay longer , but decide how you will bury this man with proper rights , decide quickly what you will say . For I see a hateful man who is likely coming laughing at our bad fate just like a malicious man would .

ὦ δέσποτ᾽ Αἴας , τῆς ἀναγκαίας τύχης
οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν μεῖζον ἀνθρώποις κακόν .
ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐλευθέρου μὲν ἐξέφυν πατρός ,
εἴπερ τινὸς σθένοντος ἐν πλούτῳ Φρυγῶν :
νῦν δ᾽ εἰμὶ δούλη : θεοῖς γὰρ ὧδ᾽ ἔδοξέ που
490καὶ σῇ μάλιστα χειρί . τοιγαροῦν , ἐπεὶ
τὸ σὸν λέχος ξυνῆλθον , εὖ φρονῶ τὰ σά ,
καί σ᾽ ἀντιάζω πρός τ᾽ ἐφεστίου Διὸς
εὐνῆς τε τῆς σῆς , ᾗ συνηλλάχθης ἐμοί ,
μή μ᾽ ἀξιώσῃς βάξιν ἀλγεινὴν λαβεῖν
τῶν σῶν ὑπ᾽ ἐχθρῶν , χειρίαν ἐφείς τινι .

Ajax , my lord , the fortune that humans are compelled to endure is their gravest evil . I was the daughter of a free-born father mighty in wealth , if any Phrygian was . Now I am a slave , for somehow the gods so ordained , and even more so did your strong hand . Therefore , since I have come into your bed , I wish you well , and I do beg you , by the Zeus of our hearth , by your marriage-bed in which you coupled with me , do not condemn me to the cruel talk of your enemies , do not leave me to the hand of a stranger !

Lord Ajax , there is no greater evil for mortals than the fate imposed by compulsion . I am the offspring of a free father , mighty and wealthy , if any of the Phrygians was . But now I am a slave . For such , I suppose was the decision of the gods , and certainly of your hand . Therefore , since I came to your bed , I have been well disposed to you and I supplicate you by Zeus of the hearth and by your bed in which you entered into partnership with me , do no think it right that I should suffer painful words from your enemies , abandoning me to one of them as his subject .