Nevermind about Aias, that was just free association. Beside his small stature, I was thinking about other non-typical heroic attributes, like him wearing a linothorax instead of the conventional armor of a spear-warrior. As for the negative image, I had the recollection that in the Iliad he is portrayed as being foul-mouthed at other occasions as well (and not just when his mouth is full of horses**t), but maybe I don’t remember correctly.