Teucer
Teucer was the half-brother of Ajax the Great and the finest archer among the Greeks — he shot from behind Ajax's great shield, the most effective partnership at Troy.
The Legend of Teucer
Illegitimate son of Telamon and the Trojan princess Hesione, Teucer was the finest archer at Troy after Philoctetes. He fought by crouching behind Ajax's massive tower shield, loosing arrows, then ducking back. When Hector nearly killed him, Apollo deflected the shot that would have ended the Trojan champion. After Ajax's suicide — driven mad when Odysseus won Achilles' armour — Teucer was blamed by Telamon for not preventing his brother's death and exiled from Salamis. He sailed west and founded a new Salamis on Cyprus. Athena watched over him as she had Ajax.
Parents
Telamon and Hesione
Symbols
Fun Fact
Teucer founded Salamis in Cyprus — naming his new city after the island he could never return to. A persistent theme in Greek colonisation.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Archeptolemus
🗡 heroChariot warfare, service
Trojan charioteer of Hector who was killed by an arrow from Teucer during the battle at the Greek ships
Iphitus
🗡 heroNone recorded
Son of Eurytus who gave Odysseus the great bow and was later murdered by Heracles
Pandarus
🗡 heroArchery, treachery
Trojan archer from Lycia who broke the truce between Greeks and Trojans by wounding Menelaus
Phocus of Aegina
🗡 heroAthletic Rivalry, Fratricide, Eponymous Hero
Son of Aeacus killed by his half-brothers Peleus and Telamon, giving his name to the region of Phocis.
Helenus
🗡 heroProphecy, archery
Trojan prince and seer who possessed the gift of prophecy and later aided the Greeks
Amphinomus
🗡 heroNone recorded
The most decent of Penelope's suitors, killed despite Odysseus' veiled warning to flee
Patroclus
🗡 heroAchilles' beloved companion
Patroclus was Achilles' closest companion whose death in borrowed armour at Hector's hands was the turning point of the Iliad.
Democoon
🗡 heroCombat, illegitimacy
Illegitimate son of King Priam who came from Abydos to fight at Troy
Sarpedon
🗡 heroNone recorded
Lycian prince and ally of Troy in the Trojan War, son of Zeus
Antilochus
🗡 heroThe young warrior who died saving Nestor
The son of Nestor who died at Troy protecting his elderly father from Memnon — a sacrifice that moved Achilles to avenge him.
Antilochus
🗡 herowar
Son of Nestor, youngest Greek commander at Troy, beloved companion of Achilles who died protecting his father.
Ajax the Great
🗡 heroMightiest Greek warrior after Achilles
Ajax son of Telamon was the tallest and strongest of the Greek warriors at Troy, a tower of a man who fought with a massive shield and never received divine aid.