A'jax, son of Oïleus [O.i'.luce], generally called "the less." In conseqnence of his insolence to Cassan'dra, the prophetic daughter of Priam, his ship was driven on a rock, and he perished at sea.—Homer, Odyssey, iv. 507; Virgil, Æneid, i. 41.
A'jax Tel'amon. Sophoclês has a tragedy called Ajax, in which "the madman" scourges a ram he mistakes for Ulysses. His encounter with a flock of sheep, which he fancied in his madness to be the sons of Atreus, has been mentioned at greater or less length by several Greek and Roman poets. Don Quixote had a similar adventure. This Ajax is introduced by Shakespeare in his drama called Troilus and Cressida. (See ALIFANFARON).
The Tuscan poet [
Ariosto
] doth advance
The frantic paladin of France [
Orlando Furioso
];
And those more ancient [
Euripides