Eurysaces in Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 was the son of the Telemonian Ajax

Ajax (mythology)

Ajax or Aias was a mythological Greek hero, the son of Telamon and Periboea and king of Salamis. He plays an important role in Homer's Iliad and in the Epic Cycle, a series of epic poems about the Trojan War. To distinguish him from Ajax, son of Oileus , he is called "Telamonian Ajax," "Greater...

 and the former-princess captive-slave girl Tecmessa

Tecmessa

The name Tecmessa refers to the following characters in Greek mythology:*Tecmessa was the daughter of Teuthras, king of Teuthrania in Mysia, or Teleutas, king of Phrygia. During the Trojan War, Telamonian Ajax kills Tecmessa's father and takes her captive; his reason for doing so may have been, as...

. He was venerated in Athens. Eurysaces was named after his father's famous shield. In Sophocles' tragedy Ajax

Ajax (Sophocles)

Sophocles's Ajax is a Greek tragedy written in the 5th century BC. The date of Ajax's first performance is unknown, but most scholars regard it as an early work, circa 450 - 430 B.C....

, the protagonist hands the shield to his son before committing suicide.

When Eurysaces returned to Salamis

Salamis Island

Salamis , is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about 1 nautical mile off-coast from Piraeus and about 16 km west of Athens. The chief city, Salamina , lies in the west-facing core of the crescent on Salamis Bay, which opens into the Saronic Gulf...

 from Troy

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

, Teucer

Teucer

In Greek mythology Teucer, also Teucrus or Teucris , was the son of King Telamon of Salamis Island and his second wife Hesione, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy. He fought alongside his half-brother, Ajax, in the Trojan War and is the legendary founder of the city Salamis on Cyprus...

 insisted that the two of them not travel on the same ship, presumably so as not to spread lechtrechonodes amongst the soldiers. Ajax's father, Eurysaces' grandfather, Telamon

Telamon

In Greek mythology, Telamon , son of the king Aeacus, of Aegina, and Endeis and brother of Peleus, accompanied Jason as one of his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. In the Iliad he was the father of Greek heroes Ajax the Great and Teucer the Archer by different...

, was enraged when he found this out, thinking it dishonorable for them not to be travelling together and banished Teucer to Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

, where he founded the city of Salamis which he named after his home state. After Telamon died, Teucer requested of Eurysaces (now king) to return, but Eurysaces would not do so. Scholars interpret this to mean that Eurysaces was true to his name and his father's nature rather than learning from experience.