Achilles’s armor is considered as one of the best and the most powerful, that is why it is not a surprise that Ajax and Odysseus wanted to have it after Achilles’s death. However, to make sure that the Achilles’s armor is given to the most deserving of them, Ajax and Odysseus were offered to prepare speeches to convince the meeting that particularly he deserves attention and should be give Achilles’s armor.
Therefore, each of the parties presented many arguments. Ajax and Odysseus presented their personal consideration about why Achilles’s armor should belong to one of them.
Ajax has provided many arguments, however these three are considered as the most powerful and convincing. First, Ajax pointed that he saved the Greek ships from Hector’s torches and he was the one who threw a boulder at Hector. Second, Ajax saved Odysseus in battle and he considered it as the stress on Odysseus’s helplessness. Finally, Ajax’s shield is full of holes which were made during the previous battling, that is why he needs a new shield, while Odysseus’s one is new.
Odysseus’s arguments were much stronger that is why the Achilles’s armor was given to him. Thus, Odysseus claimed that it was he who brought Achilles out of hiding on Scyros to join the Greeks. That is why this action may be considered as his indirect slew of Hector. Next.
Odysseus killed Dolon the Trojan spy and got many wounds in the fight that tells about his bravery while Ajax was never wounded. Finally, Ajax does not deserve to have the Achilles’s armor as he was about to leave Troy and Odysseus did all possible to convince Agamemnon not to stop fighting and to return Ajax at the field of battle, otherwise, he could leave and never return.
Odysseus’s speech is believed to be more compelling as having presented just several arguments in this paper, his speech was full of objective and argumentative reasons based on the Odysseus’s achievements during the war, while Odysseus’s arguments mostly looked like the desire of a child to convince others to give him the armor just because he is good and long.
It was inadmissible to point at the family relationships with Achilles as the reason to give the armor to him. Moreover, all Odysseus’s reasons are based on the battle destinations, the intentions to help and his participation in the events which impacted the war outcomes.
Reading the debate speeches of each men, it is possible to create an opinion about each of them. The speech of Odysseus characterizes him as a powerful man, a wise leader and a person who got used to prove in action that he deserves respect. Listening to all his arguments, it is possible to notice that he fairly accesses his place in the fight. He does not exaggerate his achievements and offers only the facts which are useful in considering the case.
Ajax’s speech is absolutely different as being a person who had done absolutely nothing, he tries to exaggerate his achievements by means of the achievements of others. Having nothing to present about the war achievements, Ajax begins to point at the features which have nothing is common with the subject (like the family relationships with Achilles and the absence of the new shield). It characterizes Ajax as a weak, powerless and ambitionless person without any principles and objective and fair thinking.