I understand the seeming absurdity of the question. Throughout the Iliad, Homer constantly refers to Achilles as the superior warrior, but there is a place in Book 13 where It seems to me that he is saying Ajax is greater. In Book 13.320-325 of the Greek text and 13.375-379 of Fagle’s translation, Idomeneus states that Ajax would not yield to Achilles in a stand up fight albeit Achilles would beat him in downfield racing. What does these terms specify militarily, and why does Homer question Achilles’ greatness throught the mouth of Idomeneus?
Hi, there is an excellent and detailed essay on this point in the introduction to Stanford’s commentary on Sophocles’ Ajax.
I don’t have it here but the gist is, Ajax is the Greek’s great defence, standing like a wall when the Trojans push forward; Achilles is the great offence when the Trojans are fleeing, i.e. he is best in the ‘rout’ sprinting after people.
The essay also considers who is better, Ajax or Odysseus, and there’s some interesting stuff in there on the Greeks not wanting to offend Ajax’s pride.
Ajax is a nasty heavy word, is it latin? It’s Aias 
And more importantly, if one of them were to be given the epithet, “Big Bad”, which one would it be?
If you’re a sheep, Aias, hands down.
hi bert, in sophocles’ drama on this, aias tries to kill the greek leaders at night but athena guides his rage onto the stolen herds instead. it’s really disturbing the description of aias splitting the spines of these animals just before dawn.
Thanks for clearing that up for me, Chad.
I can imagine that it could be a disturbing description but if it was not for Athena’s intervention, this could have been downright gruesome.
So who do you believe would win in hand-to-hand combat?
hi, i don’t know if there’s a myth on that. otherwise who can tell… e.g. i’ve read in some places that paris killed achilles. but i understand that the 3rd c historian istros says that achilles and patroclus killed paris. so who would win in an achilles v paris fight? it depends which gods are watching i guess. achilles, having a mother who can go right to the knees of zeus, probably has an advantage here
but with the e(khbolos on the usual Trojan side, and A’s fragile heel, Paris would have to take the advantage.
sorry i know this thread was dead but i just remembered something which easily answers the original question, achilles v aias:
Iliad 2.768-769:
[size=150]ἀνδρῶν αὖ μέγ’ ἄριστος ἔην τελαμώνιος αἴας
ὄφρ’ )αχιλεὺς μήνιεν· ὃ γὰρ πολὺ φέρτατος ἦεν[/size],
and the following 2 lines suggest o(\ refers to achilles.
English:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134&layout=&loc=2.769
I remember that quotation from book II, but it does not address the comments of Idomeneus in book 13.320-325.
hi, as i said in my first post, aias is the greek’s best at standing his ground (i.e. better than achilles) while achilles is the greek’s best offence.
lines 13.320 to .325 don’t say that aias would beat achilles in a fight. they say that aias wouldn’t freak out and run away if achilles came at him. the 2 relevant verbs are [size=150]εἴκω[/size] and [size=150]χωρέω[/size], both of which mean here withdraw or give way rather than “lose”.
i.e. in gridiron aias is the best lineman and achilles the best running back… just because the lineman doesn’t give way to anyone doesn’t mean that the running back still won’t smash through him if he’s the better overall. (i don’t know if these nfl terms are still “current”, i haven’t watched it in a few years)