Editing Ajax the Lesser (section)

{{short description|Ancient Greek mythological hero}}
{{for|the Marvel Comics character Ajax the Lesser|List of Eternals}}
[[File:Ajax the Lesser, Son of Oileus, by Francesco Sabatelli 1829.png|thumb|Ajax the Lesser by Francesco Sabatelli, 1829]]
[[File:Pompeii - Casa del Menandro - Menelaos.jpg|thumb|Scene from the Trojan War: [[Cassandra]] clings to the [[Palladium (classical antiquity)|Palladium]], the wooden cult image of Athene, while Ajax the Lesser is about to drag her away in front of her father [[Priam]] (standing on the left). Fresco from the atrium of the Casa del Menandro (I 10, 4) in Pompeii.]]
[[File:Aiace-paint.jpg|thumb|''Ajax'', 1820 painting by [[Henri Serrur]]]]

'''Ajax''' ({{langx|grc|Αἴας}} ''Aias'' "of the earth"<ref>{{Cite book|last=[[Robert Graves|Graves, Robert]]|title=The Greek Myths – The Complete and Definitive Edition|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|year=2017|isbn=978-0241983386|pages=Index s.v., standardly derived from Greek αΐαζω, lament. Ajax, Great}}</ref>) was a [[Greek mythology|Greek mythological]] [[Greek hero cult|hero]], son of [[Oileus]], the king of [[Locris]].  He was called the "Ajax the Less", the "lesser" or "Locrian" Ajax,<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D2%3Acard%3D511 2.527]</ref> to distinguish him from [[Ajax the Great]], son of [[Telamon]]. He was the leader of the [[Locrians|Locrian]] contingent during the [[Trojan War]]. He is a significant figure in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' and is also mentioned in the ''[[Odyssey]]'',<ref name="DGRBM">{{Citation  | last = Schmitz  | first = Leonhard  | contribution = Ajax (2)  | editor-last = Smith  | editor-first = William  | title = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]  | volume = 1  | pages = 87–88  | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]]  | place = Boston  | year = 1867  | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0096.html  | access-date = 2008-06-09  | archive-date = 2013-10-20  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131020220720/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0096.html  | url-status = dead  }}</ref> in [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'' and in [[Euripides]]' ''[[The Trojan Women]]''. In [[Etruscan mythology|Etruscan legend]], he was known as ''Aivas Vilates''.