Word Order Choice in The Ajax by Sophocles

The Ajax is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles in 442-441 B.C. (actual date is unknown) and

several translations have been created to keep this play alive and accessible. Translations, depending on

their author, use certain grammatical structures in the area of word order to convey meaning in

different ways. In the translation of this tragedy by Peter Meineck and Paul Woodruff, there are

frequent uses of extraposition as well as passive voice in order for this tragedy to be meaningful and

relevant.

Extraposition is one of the word order constructions that can be seen in this translation of The

Ajax. The example being analyzed comes from a line given by Ajaxs wife, Tecmessa, in lines 410-11:

It is intolerable to hear such a good man speak like this;

He would never have said such things before.
(Sophocles, 410-411)

The extraposed clause from this excerpt can be seen in the first line of the dialogue. An extraposed

clause is constructed by having it in the subject position of the clause, followed by a verb, controlling

word, and a complement clause. Extraposed clauses start with the pronoun it and this pronoun is

specifically referred to as a dummy pronoun because its role is merely that of a placeholder rather

than carrying referential meaning. Although the word it is placed in the subject position, the logical

subject of the clause is the complement clause to hear such a good man speak like this. The

assumption that the complement clause is the logical subject can be seen by moving the complement

clause to the subject position of the sentence and in place of the dummy pronoun. After moving these

constituents around, the sentence would read, To hear such a good man speak like this is intolerable.

The ability to replace the dummy pronoun with the complement clause is one indicator that the

complement clause is the logical subject. Another way we can indicate that the complement clause is

the logical subject is due to the controlling word. The controlling word is typically an adjective that is the
subject predicative of the clause, meaning that the copular verb connects the controlling word to the

subject in order to modify it. In this example, the controlling word based on syntactic placement is the

word intolerable. Because it is known that it is simply taking the place of the complement clause,

the conclusion is that the adjective intolerable is describing the complement clause. Despite the

complement clause following the controlling word, because of the dummy pronoun we know that what

is intolerable is not it, but rather to hear such a good man speak like this. There are typically four

discourse functions of using an extraposed word order and in this example we know that it is due to the

end-weight principle. This principle that states in English heavier elements tend to be put at the end of

the sentence in order to keep the subject short.. This holds true to this example because the

complement clause holds far more information as the subject as opposed to having the dummy pronoun

be placed in the subject position. In this specific context, the complement clause is more information

heavy because it gives insight to how Tecmessa views her husband, Ajax. It is hard for her to see him in

the cynical state he is in when she thinks so highly of him; despite her status as a prize from war for Ajax,

she truly cares about him in a way where seeing him in trials is hard on her. Therefore, the complement

clause gives the reader a more specific idea to how she feels about the situation.

Another word order construction commonly found in this translation of The Ajax is passive voice

constructions. In this translation, both long passive and short passive constructions can be found. An

example of a long passive voice construction can be found in lines 1300-4 in a speech given by Teaucer,

the brother of Ajax:

I am the son of Telamon, and my mother was his prize

For his bravery in the field. She was a royal, the daughter
Of King Laemedon, and this choicest flower was given
To my father by none other than Heracles himself!
(Sophocles, 1300-1304)
The final two lines from this excerpt contain the example of the long passive in the clause, this choicest

flower was given to my father by none other than Heracles himself. The long passive differs from the

short passive in that it has the presence of the agent, which is soon to be discussed. In the construction

of the long passive, it starts with the subject that is also the logical direct object of the sentence. The

subject/logical direct object is then followed by a BE auxiliary verb and a main verb containing and ed

participle. In the case of the long passive, it is then followed by the word by and the logical subject or

agent at the end of the sentence. This specific example contains a ditransitive verb, so the indirect

object in also included in this construction. The subject but logical direct object we see in this

construction would be this choicest flower, while the direct object but logical subject would be

Heracles. This can be determined by reconstructing the clause into the active voice. To make the

passive voice into the active, we move the constituents of the subject and the direct object into their

logical positions. By reconstructing the clause, it would read, None other than Heracles himself gave

this choicest flower to my father. Putting the clause into the active voice we see how Heracles is

logically the subject of the clause while this choicest flower is the direct object. The phrase to my

Father is the indirect object in this sentence and does not play a particularly huge role because it

remains the indirect object in both constructions and, therefore, does not need to be moved around.

The discourse behind the use of the passive in this example is to place the initial emphasis on the direct

object. In this scene, Teaucer is trying to justify his birthright sons of Atreus. The sons of Atreus claim

him to be a bastard and the son of a disgusting slave, so in Teaucers argument to justify himself, he

emphasizes the role and the beauty of the his mother by making her the subject and putting Heracles as

the direct object of the clause.

The short passive voice works the same way in regard to structure as the long passive. The main

difference of these two being the lack of the agent or logical subject in the clause. An example of this

can be found in line 463 in one of the last monologues Ajax gives in the play:
 Should I go home? Abandon these moorings?
Sail the Aegean and desert the sons of Atreus?
Then how could I face my father, Telamon?
He was crowned with the greatest glory;
I will return from Troy having earned nothing.
(Sophocles, 460-464)

The short passive voice is seen in the second-to-last line in this excerpt. It can be determined that this is

a short passive construction due to the fact that there is an auxiliary BE verb followed by a verb with the

ed participle (in this example crowned) but unlike the long passive, there is no by phrase followed

by a direct object/ logical subject. The constituents of the clause moved into the active voice, there

would be a needed pronoun to take the place of the missing agent in the sentence. For this example, the

newly created active voice would read, Someone crowned him with the greatest glory. This moves the

subject pronoun he to its logical place as the direct object, therefore following the verb. The phrase

with the greatest glory is the one constituent that does not move in the clause because it is a

prepositional phrase that is adverbial and modifies the whole clause. Because we are able to put a

pronoun in the place of the lacking agent, we can assume that the clause is in the passive voice. This

short passive example like the previous long passive example is used for the sake of emphasis on the

topic. In his distress, Ajax reflects on his father who is a king. Saying that his father was crowned with

the greatest glory puts the emphasis on his father who would otherwise be the direct object of the

clause. The short passive is also used due to the fact that there is not any specific group or person who

crowned him- it is a more general statement rather than a specific instance.

Through The Ajax, word order constructions are seen to not only have syntactic roles in

sentences but also semantic roles. Extraposition allows for long clauses that are subjects to be put at the

end of the sentence for the purpose of keeping heavier elements at the end of the sentence. It also

allows the logical subject to have more depth and meaning within it as we saw with the line given by
Tecmessa. The passive voice is used often in The Ajax in order to emphasize topics and themes that

would otherwise be in the direct object position of the clause and therefore viewed as less important.

The importance of word order is not only one of the grammatical makeup of sentences and clauses, but

add meaning and style to the stories that they are helping to tell.