Rhoeteum
A promontory on the Trojan shore where the tomb of Ajax was located and pilgrims came to honour the hero.
The Story of Rhoeteum
Cape Rhoeteum on the Trojan Hellespont was the site where Ajax son of Telamon was traditionally buried after his suicide. Ajax had gone mad when the arms of the dead Achilles were awarded to Odysseus rather than to him — he believed himself the better warrior. In his madness he slaughtered a flock of sheep, thinking them his enemies, and when he recovered his sanity he killed himself in shame. Alexander the Great, crossing to Asia in 334 BCE, stopped at Rhoeteum to garland Ajax's tomb and declared him fortunate to have had Homer to celebrate his fame — Alexander saw himself as a new Achilles.
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