In Greek mythology, Ajax (in ancient Greek Aias Oïlễos), son of Oïlée (king of Locride), is a hero of the Trojan War. He should not be confused with Ajax son of Telamon.
Ajax is counted among Helen's suitors before the Trojan War.
He is sometimes referred to as "Ajax the Little", due to his difference in size from the other Ajax. In Canto II of the Iliad, in the Catalog of Vessels, we read as follows (v. 527-530):
“The Locrians obey the son of Oileus, Ajax the quick. He is not as tall as the son of Telamon; he is smaller than him, much smaller even. But in spite of his small size and his linen cuirass, to throw the javelin, he has no rival among the Panhellenes or the Achaeans. »
During the sack of Troy, he rapes Cassandra, priestess of Athena who implored the protection of the goddess. According to legend, it is this act that explains the wrath that the goddess then bears to the Greeks when they return. Thus, on returning to Locride, Ajax is shipwrecked in a storm triggered by Athena. He manages to take refuge on a rock and curses the gods:the storm then engulfs him to punish him for this blasphemy. He is buried in Mycenae by Thetis.
Like Achilles, he is represented as alive after his death in the White Island, at the mouth of the Danube. He was the subject of heroic worship among the Locrians of Oponte (he appears on some of their coins), who always left a vacant place in his honor in the ranks of their army. Sophocles dedicated a tragedy to him, now lost.