All That You’ve Seen Here Is God: New Versions of Four Greek Tragedies Sophocles’ Ajax, Philoctetes, Women of Trachis; Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound

CHARACTERS(in order of appearance)Odysseus: the director of Greek intelligenceAjax: a formidable warriorAthena: the goddess of warChorus: the sailors and soldiers of AjaxTecmessa: the battle-won wife of AjaxEurysaces: their three-year-old sonMessenger: a soldier of the Greek armyTeucer: the half brother of AjaxMenelaus: the deputy commander of the Greek armyAgamemnon: the commander of the Greek army Odysseus appears at dawn—low to the ground—darting in and out of shadows. He is searching for a safe place to wait for Ajax.Athena startles him, a voice at the borders of darkness.Athena   Why am   I never   surprised,   son of Laertes,   to catch you   stalking   an enemy   at daybreak,   like a blood-   hound after   some scent,   tracking foot-   prints behind   the tents   where Ajax   and his men   hold down   the battle line?      You wish   to know if   he’s inside,    soaked    in sweat    from the    slaughter?    Then tell me    what you’ve    come to do,    and you may    learn from one    who knows. Odysseus    Dearest Athena,    guardian goddess,    though your shape    evades my eyes,    I hear you clearly    in my mind, like    the tune of a song    to which I somehow    know the words.    I’m circling    in on an enemy,    just as you’ve guessed,    close on his heels.    I have come    for Ajax,    the one    we called    the "shield."    It is he alone whom I now hunt.    Last night,    he did some-   thing vile,    some vile    thing, some-   thing un-   imaginable,    if he is the one,    we cannot be sure,    still shaken by    the sight of it,    and so they    sent me here to    confirm what    he has done.    All of our cattle    are dead, and    the men who    tended them,    hacked to pieces,    butchered by    a hand—his,    we think—for    one of our men    swears to have    seen him sprinting    across the field    with a wet sword.    As soon as I heard,    I was on the case,    following the tracks,    which led me here,    but I’ve been thrown    by strange markings    in the mud and cannot    find him anywhere.    You have    arrived,    as always,    at the right    moment    to guide    me with    your hand.             Athena steps out of the shadows. Athena    Obviously, Odysseus, I came to help with the hunt. Odysseus    Then I am on the right track? Athena    He is the one you describe: the killer of cows. Odysseus    A reckless gesture, but why did he do it? Athena    Black bile—blinding rage—over the arms of Achilles. Odysseus    But what drove him to attack the animals? Athena    In his mind, their blood was yours. 　Odysseus    He wished to kill the Greeks? Athena    Affirmative.    He would have completed his mission    had I not been paying attention. Odysseus       Where did he find the courage to do it? Athena    He stalked you quietly in the night. Odysseus    How close did he come to his target? Athena       Close enough to strike the generals. Odysseus       And what contained his bloodlust? Athena    I did.       I robbed him    of the pleasure    of cutting you    to pieces,    raining on    his death    parade,    distracting    him with    visions of    bovine foes    grazing in    the fields    under    the watchful    eyes of simple    herdsmen.    He descended    upon them    with full fury,    ripping out horns    with his hands,    slitting throats    and snapping    spines, at one    point squeezing    the life from    a general, then    taking the lives    of other officers,    or so he thought,    trembling from    contamination.    I stoked his rage,    driving him deeper    into the snare.    Finally tired from    all the killing,    he bound and    gagged his sad    prisoners, those    pitiful few cows    and sheep some-   how still standing,    and rounded them    up for the death    march back to his    camp, convinced    they were men.    He tortures them inside the tent.    And now I will    expose you    to his illness,    so you may see    it with your    own eyes.    Stand there,    like a man.    He won’t    hurt you,    as long as    I am here.    Don’t worry.    I will hide you    in his blind spot;    he won’t see you    in the shadows.             Athena turns and shouts toward the tent.    You, there,    in the tent,    stretching    prisoners    on the rack,    put down    your ropes;    report to me    immediately! Odysseus       What are you doing? Lower your voice. Athena    Watch what you say. Someone might call you a coward. Odysseus    Please, Athena, by the gods, let him stay inside the tent. Athena       He’s only a man, not to be feared, the same as before. Odysseus       He was and is my enemy. Athena    Well isn’t it satisfying to laugh at an enemy? Odysseus       It would please me more if he stayed within. Athena    Are you afraid to gaze upon a maniac? Odysseus       When he was sane, I would have met his stare. 　Athena       He won’t see you standing before him. Odysseus       Isn’t he looking through the same eyes? Athena       I’ll shade his eyes and darken his vision. Odysseus    Whatever the goddess wants, she takes. Athena    Stand there silently. Do not move! Odysseus    I must remain, against my wishes.