| Popis: |
In an agony of humiliation and despair after he finds that his mad revolt against the Greek leaders has failed, Ajax concludes that the noble man must live with honour or must perform kalōs tethnēkenai. This Greek phrase is mostly translated as ‘to die nobly (or honourably)’, but the original is composed of two ambiguous words: kalōs may mean both well (i.e. admirably) and rightly (i.e. without problems), while tethnēkenai may mean both to die and to be dead. Accordingly, kalōs tethnēkenai may imply not merely ‘to die nobly’ but also ‘to be dead without dishonour’. There can be no doubt that his suicide reflects his intrepidity before death and his lofty sense of honour so that, at least to some extent, we might call his death honourable. Yet his death would involve both the exposure of his family to the humiliation to come and the abuse that would be heaped upon his corpse, which would never make any noble or admirable death. The fear of dishonour disappears only when Odysseus brings Agamemnon round to allowing his burial, and kalōs tethnēkenai is then accomplished, if at all, by divesting his death of the issues and difficulties of honour. It was not without reason that Sophokles gave Ajax those ambiguous words to speak of his noble duty. |
