SOURCE: Whitman, Cedric H. “The Matrix of Heroism: Ajax.” In Sophocles: A Study of Heroic Humanism, pp. 59-80. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1951.
In the following excerpt, Whitman explores Ajax's motivation as a hero, commenting on whether what he displays is actually hybris, and on what ideas Sophocles expresses concerning the individual and society.