Trying to write at the minute is like trying to find my way in a town I used to know well but now can't quite find my way around. I know the main routes I need to take, but progress is slowed everytime I start. I don't stride confidently on my way, but dither, wondering if I am even going in the right direction.
Ajax is the first play of Sophocles that I'm doing, and unlike Euripides, the instances of mortal-divine antagonism (misotheism? Ouphilotheism?) are brief, understated and not quite so strongly tied to the characters' downfall. Athena has a right to act like she does (she says) and its accompanied with standard comments on the duty of mortals to the gods. Except Odysseus points out that, even though Ajax has done some pretty messed up things, even he feels bad for the guy, and as far as I see it, Sophocles has made it so that we (and his original, 440 BCE audience) have to feel the same way. Ajax isn't introduced when he's all kill crazy but just as he's thought victory has been granted to him, and as such, he ironically thanks Athena for her help. So much of the play hinges on 1) Ajax's achievements and forthcomings, and 2) his soldiers' and Tecmessa's fears of what happens next when he dies. Ajax and Athena's relationship is tangential but fascinating, mainly cos they should have been two peas in a pod. But they weren't. I have plenty material to write about, but as I said before, I can't seem to find my way.
I need to focus on an essay plan. I've come up with a rudimentary one already, focusing on the dynamics of the relationship and the shifts in expectations that occur within the first scene. I don't know how well I can execute it though.
No comments:
Post a Comment