and the whole Greek army. Tecmessa is the first one to discover Ajax’s body. Teucer then arrives and orders that Ajax’s son be brought to him so that he will be safe from foes. Menelaus appears and orders the body not to be moved. The last part of the play is taken up with an angry dispute regarding what to do with Ajax’s body. The two kings, Agamemnon and Menelaus, want to leave the body unburied for scavengers to ravage, while Teucer wants to bury it. Odysseus arrives and persuades Agamemnon and Menelaus to allow Ajax a proper funeral. Odysseus points out that even one's enemies deserve respect in death. The play ends with Teucer making arrangements for the burial. Ajax or Aias The original title of the play in the ancient Greek is . Ajax is the romanized version, and Aias is the English transliteration from the original Greek. Proper nouns in Ancient Greek have conventionally been romanized before entering the English language, but it has been common for translations since the end of the 20th century to use direct English transliterations of the original Greek. The text of the play suggests the original pronunciation of Ajax's name in lines 430–432, Ajax (or Aias), the protagonist, states that it has an onomatopoeic resemblance to a wailing cry of lament: "aiai!" Translators have treated this passage in different ways: Aiai! My name is a lament! Who would have thought it would fit so well with my misfortunes! Now truly I can cry out – aiai! – two and three times in my agony. Aiee, Ajax! My name says what I feel; who'd have believed that pain and I'd be one; Aiee, Ajax! I say it twice, and then again, aiee, for what is happening. Critical reception and analysis Ajax, as he appears in this play, in the Iliad, and other myths, is a heroic figure, a "rugged giant", with strength, courage and the ability to think quickly well beyond the normal standards of mankind. He was considered a legendary character to the people of ancient Athens. Numerous Homeric myths describe him coming to the rescue of his fellow man in dire moments. Hugh Lloyd-Jones points out that many authorities consider Ajax an early play, but he suggests that if the text excludes material that he has bracketed, then it would seem to be a "mature masterpiece, probably not much earlier