Between One and Many, Present and Future, Pity and Fear: Retracing Sophocles's Ajax Within Seneca's Troades

This paper argues that in the Troades, Seneca engages with Sophocles's Ajax on two levels. First, the third act recapitulates the Ajax structurally, blending its prologue (the blatant deception of an enemy, Andromache, and Ajax, respectively) with its finale (centering on a discussion over either granting burial or denying it). Secondly, Seneca refers to Sophocles's play in order to deepen the metatheatrical dimension of the Troades. Ulysses not only contributes to the play's complex investigation of various audience responses, but also borrows from his Sophoclean counterpart a theatrical self-consciousness to reflect on the several emotions a character feels on stage.