After the death of Achilles, his golden armor, forged by the god Hephaestus, remained. Thetis ordered that they be given to the one who distinguished himself the most in protecting the body of Achilles.
Therefore, either Ajax or Odysseus should have received them. A dispute over the armor broke out between them. But how was this dispute resolved? Both heroes were worthy of the award. Finally, they decided that the captured Trojans should be the judges in this dispute. And here Pallas Athena helped her favorite Odysseus. With its help, Agamemnon and Menelaus changed the lot of Ajax and also incorrectly counted the votes of the Trojans, and Odysseus received the armor. Mighty Ajax was saddened. He went to his tent, planning to take revenge on the sons of Atreus and Odysseus.
At night, when the entire camp of the Greeks was immersed in deep sleep, he came out of his tent with a sword in his hands, intending to kill Agamemnon and Menelaus. But the goddess Pallas Athena struck Ajax with madness. The goddess had long been angry with him for what he rejected, relying on his strength and the help of the gods. Mad Ajax rushed at the herd of bulls and began to kill them in the darkness, thinking that he was killing the Greeks. He drove the remaining bulls into his tent, imagining that he was driving captives. Ajax tortured the bulls horribly in his tent. He rejoiced at their torment and death. After all, for him in his madness these were not bulls, but the sons of Atreus. Finally, Ajax’s mind gradually began to clear up. Great was his horror when he saw that his entire tent was filled with dead animals. Horrified, Ajax asks him to explain to him what happened. When they told him everything, inexpressible grief took possession of the heart of the great hero. He decided with his death to atone for the shame that befell him. Having entrusted his son Eurysaces with the protection of his brother Teucer and the warriors who came with him from Salamis, he retired to the seashore, taking with him the sword that he had once received as a gift from Hector, saying that he was going to pray to the gods to have mercy on him, but he wanted to dedicate his sword to Hades and the goddess of the Night.
In the camp of the Greeks, rumors spread about what Ajax had done. They found the bulls and sheep he had killed and the corpses of shepherds. Odysseus found out from the bloody trail that Ajax did all this. Agamemnon and Menelaus were terribly angry and decided to take revenge on Ajax.
Meanwhile, a messenger arrived from Teucer. He told Ajax’s friends to protect the great hero, since he was threatened with death, but that death threatened him only on that day, and when the day passed safely, then nothing would threaten Ajax. Soon Teucer himself arrived in the camp. Having learned that his brother had gone to the seashore, he ran to look for him. He was afraid that something bad had happened to Ajax. And indeed, he did not find his brother alive. On the seashore, Teucer found only the corpse of Ajax: he threw himself on his sword. Thus died the most powerful hero of the Greeks after Achilles.
Menelaus and Agamemnon did not want to allow Teucer to bury his brother’s corpse. Open hostility could have arisen between Teucer and the sons of Atreus, and an internecine battle would have broken out in the Greek camp if Odysseus had not intervened. He persuaded Agamemnon to allow Teucer to bury the great Ajax, who had rendered so many great services to the Greeks. A new burial mound rose next to the mound of Achilles: under this mound rested the ashes of Telamon's mighty son, Ajax.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru