Ajax

We do not know when the Ajax was produced, but it is mentioned by Aristotle in his Rhetoric (2, 23 = 1399b 28) and so must have been performed before the composition of that work. We have some evidence for when Theodectes was producing tragedies. If line 45 of the inscription (IG II² 2325 I) is restored to read Theodectas, then it would suggest that the tragic poet Theodectes won in the Dionysia seven times, and for the first time soon after 372 BC. But we also know that he was still active in 352 BC, when, according to Aulus Gellius, he wrote the Mausolus at the dedication of the Mausoleum. This is also mentioned in the entry in the Suda. The date range for performance offered here is based on these considerations. The performance venue is based on the assumption that his plays were first produced in Athens. No fragments from the play remain but the action of the play is mentioned briefly in Aristotle's Rhetoric (2, 23 = 1399b 28).