Ajax Telamonius, the Greater Ajax.
     Son of King Telamon of Salamis, Ajax (Greek, Aias) brought twelve ships to support the Greeks in the Trojan War. Disambiguate the Greater Ajax from the Lesser Ajax son of Oileus. A courageous warrior, called the “bulwark of the Achaeans,” Telamonian Ajax entered into single combat with the Trojan leader, Hector, but before either emerged victorious, the heralds of Zeus (Jupiter) stopped the fight and the rivals exchanged gifts on the battlefield. When the Greek ships were in imminent danger, Ajax defended them staunchly. He was one of the three emissaries sent to persuade Achilles to rejoin the battle. It was he who defended the corpse of Patroclus and later carried the body of the slain Achilles from the field.
    Ajax and Odysseus (Ulysses) were rivals off the batdefield, first in a wrestling match that ended in a draw, and later in a dispute over which of them should be given the armor of the dead Achilles. When the Greek leaders awarded the arms to Odysseus, Ajax was so humiliated that he fell into a madness and slaughtered a flock of sheep he took for the Greek leaders. Not even his loyal concubine, Tecmessa, could dispel his sense of shame over this act; after giving his shield to his son, Eurysaces, Ajax fell on the sword he had received as a gift from Hector. In the Odyssey, Odysseus encounters Ajax’s shade in Hades and attempts a reconciliation, but the hero will not speak to him.
    
    

See also Achilles; Odysseus, in Hades; Patroclus; Trojan War.