Which Greek hero went mad and committed suicide after losing Achilles’ armor? Ajax the Great did. After Achilles died, the Greeks awarded his famous armor to Odysseus rather than Ajax, who believed his strength and battlefield record made him the rightful recipient.
Consumed by humiliation and rage, Ajax planned to kill the Greek commanders responsible for the decision. In Sophocles’ tragedy Ajax, the goddess Athena drives him into madness or clouds his judgment. He attacks livestock instead, imagining that the animals are his human enemies. When the delusion passes, Ajax understands what he has done and feels dishonored beyond recovery.
He then commits suicide by falling on his sword, traditionally said to have been a gift from Hector. Homer’s Odyssey is more restrained about the details, but it connects Ajax’s death with the dispute over Achilles’ armor. This is Ajax the Great, not Ajax the Lesser, another Greek warrior in the Trojan tradition.