Ajax the Lesser in Greek works of art, such as the chest of Cypselus described by Pausanias and in extant works. Ajax the Lesser Ajax ( "Aias") was a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris. He was called the "lesser" or "Locrian" Ajax, to distinguish him from Ajax the Great, son of Telamon. He was the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War. He is a significant figure in Homer's "Iliad" and is also mentioned in the "Odyssey", in Virgil's "Aeneid" and in Euripides' "The Trojan Women". In Etruscan legend, he was known as "Aivas Vilates". Ajax's
Greek tragedy the deep problems of current Athenian society. In such plays, "the poet alludes directly to fifth-century events or developments, but moves them back into the mythological past. In this category [can be placed] Aeschylus’ Persians and Oresteia." In the case of Aeschylus' tragedy "The Persians", it was performed in 472 BC in Athens, eight years after the battle of Salamis, when the war with Persia was still in progress. It tells the story of the Persian fleet's defeat at Salamis and how the ghost of former Persian King Darius accuses his son Xerxes of "hubris" against the Greeks for waging