# Endnotes explained — Ajax

> Chapter companion for Ajax by Sophocles.

## What happens

The endnotes provide scholarly annotations on the text, clarifying references to Odysseus's parentage, wordplay on Ajax's name, the meaning of Eurysaces, textual variants, Homeric divergences, the reproachful term 'archer,' and an allusion to the story of Cresphontes.

## Character check-ins

### Odysseus

Noted as reputed son of Sisyphus rather than Laertes.

### Ajax

His name Aias is the subject of wordplay, similar to Shakespeare's 'Gaunt'.

### Eurysaces

His name is explained as meaning 'broad shield'.

### Teucer

Referenced as the best bowman in the Achaean host, though 'archer' is a term of reproach.

### Hector

Mentioned in the context of Homer's account where he is dragged around the tomb of Patroclus, unlike the play's version involving the belt.

## Key lines

> Odysseus, reputed son of Sisyphus, not Laertes.

Odysseus is said to be the son of Sisyphus, not Laertes.

_Clarifies a variant tradition of Odysseus's parentage._

> Like Shakespeare’s “Gaunt” ( Richard II , II i ) he plays on his name Aias .

Similar to Shakespeare's wordplay on 'Gaunt', Ajax puns on his own name Aias.

_Explains the literary device of name-based wordplay._

> Eurysaces means “broad shield.”

The name Eurysaces translates to 'broad shield'.

_Provides the etymology of the character's name._

> Or, “No spot can tell me of his presence there.”

An alternative reading: 'No spot can tell me of his presence there.'

_Offers a textual variant for a line in the play._

> Homer knows nothing of the belt and it is the dead Hector who is dragged round the tomb of Patroclus.

In Homer's account, there is no belt, and it is Hector's body that is dragged around Patroclus's tomb.

_Highlights a divergence between Sophocles' play and Homer's Iliad._

> “Archer” like “ranker” by itself is a term of reproach.

The word 'archer' is used as a term of reproach, similar to 'ranker'.

_Explains the derogatory connotation of the term in the context._

> An allusion to the story of Cresphontes who after the Dorian Conquest agreed to cast lots for his share of the Peloponnese and in order to secure the last lot, which he coveted, put a lump of clay into the urn instead of a potsherd.

This refers to the story of Cresphontes, who used a clay lump to rig the lottery for a share of the Peloponnese after the Dorian Conquest.

_Identifies a mythological allusion in the text._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ajax_se/chapters/endnotes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ajax_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ajax_se/chapters