How long does it take to read Ajax?
Ajax by Sophocles takes about 3 hours 24 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 3 hours 24 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1714. 185 pages, about 50,875 words.
7 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 5 hours 39 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 3 hours 24 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 2 hours 7 minutes |
The page count is the median across 51 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Brought boldly to life by Herbert Golder and Richard Pevear's translation and contextualized by Herbert Golder's eloquent introduction, this early Sophoclean tragedy tells the story of the Homeric hero better known as Ajax, who was second only to Achilles among the Greek warriors. In Greek tradition, Aias figures as the archaic warrior who dies in shame after his betrayal by the Greeks. Sophocles turns tradition inside out, portraying Aias' suicide not as a disgrace but as heroism. He endows Aias' suicide with a meaning radically different from previous versions of the Aias myth - Aias is not the hero whom time has passed by, but rather the man who steps beyond time. Most previous versions and interpretations have equivocated over Sophocles' bold vision. This edition of Aias translates precisely that transformation of the hero from the bygone figure to the man who transcends time.
Subjects: Drama, Ajax (Greek mythology), Heracles (Greek mythology), Criticism and interpretation, Greek drama (Tragedy), Electra (Greek mythology)
