Metamorphoses: Book 13: The Judgement of Arms Summary & Analysis

The Greek chiefs take their seats and a crowd gathers to listen to Ajax and Ulysses defend their cases. Ajax gives his speech, angrily explaining that Ulysses retreated when Hector attacked but that he stood his ground. Ulysses’s strength is in speaking, but Ajax’s is in battle. Ajax is descended from Jupiter through Telamon, who once captured Troy, and Aeacus, a judge in Hades. He is also Achilles’s cousin. Ajax accuses Ulysses of entering the war late and feigning madness to try and get out of fighting at all.

Ajax continues, blaming Ulysses for marooning Philoctetes—a former Greek soldier—on an island to live in madness and starvation. Ulysses also framed another Greek soldier for treason, and abandoned Nestor when Nestor called to him for help. Later, when Ulysses needed help, Ajax saved his life. After Ajax saved him, Ulysses ran in fright from Hector while Ajax dueled with Hector and wasn’t defeated.

Ajax asks where Ulysses was when the Trojans attacked the Greeks’ ships when Ajax protected them with his manly strength. Ajax lists the few heroic deeds that Ulysses did, but says that they were all done under cover of night; Ulysses only accomplishes feats through ruses and tricks. Therefore, Achilles’s golden helmet will hinder Ulysses by shining in the dark. Ajax says that Ulysses is a coward and isn’t strong enough to carry the shield. Finally, Ajax’s armor is damaged, so he deserves a replacement.

Ajax ends his speech, and Ulysses rises to give his. Making eye contact with the chiefs, Ulysses conveys his wish that Achilles were still alive to bear his own arms. Ulysses says that he is more intelligent than Ajax. Like Ajax, Ulysses is descended from Jupiter, but ancestry does not make him deserves Achilles’s arms; also, the fact that Ajax is Achilles’s cousin means nothing: if the arms are to be given to the next of kin, they should be given to Achilles’s father. Ulysses says that the contest for arms depends on actions.

Ulysses relays his actions in the Trojan War: when Achilles’s mother Thetis disguised her son as a girl to keep him from the fighting, Ulysses tempted him with manly weapons and persuaded him to join the fight. For this reason, Ulysses is responsible for providing the hero who killed Hector. When the Greeks were delayed at Aulis, Ulysses persuaded Agamemnon to sacrifice their daughter to appease Diana and calm the storm. Ulysses was then sent to Troy to negotiate for Helen’s return; he would have succeeded if it weren’t for Paris’s obstinance and greed.

Ulysses asks where Ajax was before open war began; Ulysses was busy laying traps and raising the soldiers’ morale, but Ajax ignorantly thinks only fighting is important. Then, when King Agamemnon wanted to surrender, Ajax cowardly supported his decision. On the other hand, Ulysses inspired the troops to keep fighting after holding out for ten years.

Ulysses points out that no one trusts Ajax, whereas many heroes trust Ulysses. Ulysses once risked his life sneaking out at night, forcing an enemy to reveal the Trojans’ plans, then ambushing a king’s encampment and killing his entire army. Ulysses lists the Trojans he has killed and displays his wounds to prove his valor. On the other hand, Ajax spilled no blood for Greece. Ajax forgets that many others dared to duel with Hector, and that when Ajax dueled with Hector, he didn’t even wound him.

Ulysses is devastated when he thinks of Achilles’s death. When Achilles died, Ulysses carried his body and his armor home. The beautiful shield that depicts the whole world shouldn’t be worn by a stupid person. As Ajax said, Ulysses joined the war late, but it was because he was with his devoted wife, just as Achilles joined late because he was with his devoted mother.

Ulysses says that if Ajax blames him for marooning Philoctetes, he blames the Greek government. Ulysses suggested that Philoctetes withdraw to ease the pain of his wound, and Philoctetes had agreed; the removal saved Philoctetes’s life. Ulysses swears his eternal devotion to Greece, offering to go and retrieve Philoctetes’s arrows if that’s what the Greeks want. Ulysses reminds the judges that he kidnapped the oracle and stole the statue of Pallas Athena, both of which helped the Greeks finally beat the Trojans.

Ulysses says that Ajax belongs to the category of manly warriors, but that he knows nothing of war tactics. Ajax’s strength is mindless, whereas Ulysses is intelligent and strategic. Ulysses asserts that intelligence counts for more than strength and asks to be rewarded for his thoughtful devotion to Greece. He deserves the armor for his intelligent actions that led to the Greeks’ victory. Finally, Ulysses points to the statue of Pallas and says that she’s the only one who deserves the armor more than him.