6 pages in length. Motivation to accomplish a certain task is not always based within a foundation of benevolence or altruism but rather a self-serving need. This and this reason alone is why Odysseus feels compelled to argue for Ajax's burial, inasmuch as he quickly realizes he will be in the same situation at some point in his own life; whether or not he is given a burial will hinge upon how he is judged for support he gives to Ajax. If deemed unworthy of burial because he dismisses Ajax, his body will summarily be cast away to the hungry birds without the due respect of which he deems himself deserving. In this essay it will be argued that despite the indifference Odysseus harbors toward Ajax and his quest for burial, he nonetheless utilizes his powers of persuasion as a means by which to secure the burial while at the same time promote his contrived compassion toward someone about whom he could not care less so he, too, may be granted a burial when the time does come. No other sources cited.
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this reason alone is why Odysseus feels compelled to argue for Ajaxs burial, inasmuch as he quickly realizes he will be in the same situation at some point in his
own life; whether or not he is given a burial will hinge upon how he is judged for support he gives to Ajax. If deemed unworthy of burial because
he dismisses Ajax, his body will summarily be cast away to the hungry birds without the due respect of which he deems himself deserving. In this essay it will
be argued that despite the indifference Odysseus harbors toward Ajax and his quest for burial, he nonetheless utilizes his powers of persuasion as a means by which to secure the
burial while at the same time promote his contrived compassion toward someone about whom he could not care less so he, too, may be granted a burial when the time
does come. Sophocles duly illustrates how his characters have interchangeable "faces" whereby they display different facets of their core personalities based upon what
variables are present in a given situation. For many like Odysseus, the individual in private is quite different from he who presents himself to the public, a duality of
moral reasoning that influences his self-serving ways. Of the many reasons attributed to why characters present different versions of themselves depending upon the particular circumstances is the notion of
defense mechanisms: Painting a better public image of themselves than is actually true. Odysseus is bound to an inextricable component of self-preservation that encourages the display of different "selves"
in different situations in order to maintain control. This defense of his core being in the presence of others is based upon the understanding that portraying his true self
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