σκηναῖς … ναυτικαῖς. Each chief has his quarters at the place on the shore of the bay where his own ships are drawn up. The plural here is probably poetical, denoting the tent of Ajax only, and not also those of his followers. We have the sing. of “σκηνή” at 218 and 796, the plur. at 754 and 985; and in 754 “ὑπὸ σκηναῖσι” is precisely equivalent to “σκηνῆς ὕπαυλον” in 796. So, too, the plur. of “κλισία” in 192, and the sing. in 1407. The Homeric “κλισία” was a wooden hut (Il. 24. 448 ff.). By “σκηνή”, an Athenian in the poet's day would usually understand a tent of skins, such as was commonly used by soldiers (Xen. An. 1. 5. 10).
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part VII: The Ajax. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1907.
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