The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for the Armour of Achilles is a Caroline era stage play, an interlude written by James Shirley and first published in 1659. As its title indicates, the subject of the play is a staple of the classical literature; Shirley most likely drew upon Book 13 of the Metamorphoses of Ovid as his direct source, along with Thomas Heywood's play The Iron Age.The play was first printed in an octavo volume issued by the bookseller John Crooke, containing both The Contention and another play by Shirley, Honoria and Mammon. The title page states that The Contention was "nobly represented by young gentlemen of quality, at a private entertainment of some persons of honour." No specific data about the stage history of either piece has survived, however; both may have been works that Shirley prepared for performance by the schoolboys he taught after the theatres closed with the start of the English Civil War in 1642.
“Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.”
James Shirley The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses
sc. iii. Compare: "The sweet remembrance of the just Shall flourish when he sleeps in dust", Tate and Brady, Psalm cxxii.
The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses
“The honour is overpaid,
When he that did the act is commentator.”
James Shirley The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses
sc. i.
The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses
