Ajax is another example one of Sophocles' seven tragedies that survived to this day. It was first performed around 442 B.C. In the play there were seven main characters and the chorus. The characters were Odysseus, Agamemnon, Ajax the Great, Menelaus, Teucer, Athena and The Messenger. The play is written around the main character Ajax who's pride takes over and gets the best of him. The play begins and it is revealed that Achilles was killed during battle. Ajax becomes extremely offended when he finds out Achilles' armor is awarded to Odysseus instead of him. Ajax was then seeking revenge on Odysseus and the contest judges (who awarded Odysseus) so he planned to kill them. But instead, he is tricked by the goddess Athena into killing and torturing cattle instead. When Ajax realizes what he had done he was very ashamed of himself. In the end of the play, he decides to kill himself by burying his sword into the ground blade up and throwing himself onto it. Ajax let his pride control his actions and that was his weakness in being a tragic hero.
Link where you can find a PDF of the play:
https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/10443/2%20-%20Seven%20Tragedies%20of%20Sophocles%20-%20Ajax.pdf;sequence=5
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