Sophie Marianne Bocksberger - Telamonian Ajax: The Myth in Archaic and Classical Greece

The debts I owe for the making of this book are far too numerous to be comprehensively listed here. I hope that everyone who has contributed to it already knows how grateful I am for their help and support. I decided instead to use this space to trace back the path that led to the achievement of this book in order to explain how my work on Ajax came to life, and what influenced my thoughts most deeply.

The seeds that sprouted and grew to become this monograph on Telamonian Ajax were planted a long time ago. They started with the long walks I took with my father as a child, walks that I would not tolerate without complaint unless entertained by his fascinating stories about historical figures or events. My fatherhimself a teacher of ancient Greekgave me a taste for genealogies, history, and mythology, made me attentive to questions of causation, interpretation, and language, and most importantly sparked my interest for research by describing his innovative ideas and teaching me to question consensus.

When I studied at the University of Lausanne, I had the chance to follow the lectures and seminars of Claude Sandoz (historical linguistics), and Franois Zufferey (Gallo-Roman philology). I will be forever grateful to both professors for teaching me to think about language and ideas both synchronically and diachronically, and to keep both perspectives present in my mind at the same time. Moreover, the rigour they displayed in their own research, and the most interesting results they achieved through it, made a deep impression on me. They set me a benchmark to which I have aspired ever since.

At the occasion of a seminar on the Iliad led by David Bouvier, I noticed a passage in the poem that intrigued me because I was reading Sophocles Ajax and pondering about Ajaxs reason for refusing Athenas help. In Book , Diomedes severely criticizes Hector for his reliance on the support of gods and even questions his worth as a warrior, although Diomedes himself has just been helped by Athena in an extraordinary manner. She not only healed Diomedes deadly wounds, fought Aphrodite alongside him, but also drew away from his eyes the cloud () that prevents the eyes of mortals from perceiving the gods. I thought I was onto something: the myth of Ajax was somehow concerned with the question of merit. Since certain passages in the Iliad suggested that the assistance of gods on the battlefield could call into question heroic valour, Ajaxs rejection of Athenas help in Sophocles Ajax had perhaps much earlier roots. This seemed to be an entirely novel idea which could shed new light on Telamonian Ajax, and so I decided to pursue doctoral studies in order to explore the issue.

Thanks to the generosity of the Fondation Sophie Afenduli, I spent a semester at UCL, London where I was taught by Fiona Macintosh. I was then awarded a one-year research fellowship to study at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. There, I met a welcoming community of incredibly dedicated scholars whose work and passion I found immensely stimulating. I had also the opportunity to present some of my work at Glenn Mosts research seminar, and received invaluable feedback which helped me trim and shape further the branches of my doctoral project.

Thanks to the generous support of the Berrow Fondation, the Swiss National Fund, and the Fondation Thodore Lagonico, I was able to pursue my doctoral studies at Lincoln College, Oxford, a most intellectually invigorating place whose hospitable and nurturing climate enabled my ideas to grow and flourish. I benefited from the advice of Bruno Currie, Christopher Pelling, Simon Hornblower, and Gregory Hutchinson at various stages of examination. I am most grateful to Adrian Kelly and Eric Csapo, my examiners, for reading and engaging with my thesis so thoroughly. Their intelligence, erudition, and enthusiasm turned my viva into one of the most thrilling discussion I have ever had. I had the immense privilege to be supervised by Felix Budelmann whose guidance and expertise have been invaluable. I am very thankful for his support, his extreme generosity with his time, and for the detailed criticisms and suggestions he gave me throughout the writing of my doctorate. I have learnt a great deal from him, and hope that I have succeeded in emulating his outstanding intellectual clarity and his rigour.

After receiving my doctorate in 2016, I have worked at Somerville, Brasenose, and Worcester College where I have been blessed with the best colleagues I could ever have dreamt of. Scott Scullion advised me throughout the process of turning my doctorate into this monograph. His input has been invaluable, and his encouragements crucial. In 2018, the Swiss National Fund allowed me to stay at Centre for Classical and Near Eastern Studies of Australia at the University of Sydney, while since 2019 the Humboldt Fellowship and Susanne Gdde have enabled me to join the Institut fr Religionswissenschaft at the Freie Universitt in Berlin. In both places, I have met a most welcoming and dynamic community of scholars. I would like to thank everyone for their support, interest in my research, stimulating discussions, and kindness.