The Exile of Teucer
After returning from Troy without his brother Ajax, Teucer is rejected by his father Telamon and forced to seek a new homeland.
The Story
Teucer survived the Trojan War.
His half-brother Ajax did not.
Ajax had killed himself after losing the contest for Achilles' armour.
When Teucer eventually returned toward Salamis, the consequences of his brother's death followed him home.
His father Telamon blamed him.
In surviving traditions, Telamon condemned Teucer because he had failed to protect Ajax or had returned without avenging or recovering him adequately.
Teucer was driven into exile.
Euripides presents him as a wanderer expelled from his native Salamis.
Later traditions describe Teucer travelling to Cyprus.
There he founded another city called Salamis, preserving the name of the island home he had lost.
The story gives Teucer a fate shared by many Greek survivors of Troy.
Victory did not guarantee a peaceful homecoming.
The war disrupted families on the Greek side as well as the Trojan one, and some heroes returned only to discover that their old lives were no longer available to them.
Key Figures
Why It Matters
Teucer's exile extends the story of Ajax beyond his death and contributes to the wider theme of troubled Greek homecomings after Troy.
Traditions & Variations
Ancient authors differ over the precise charge made by Telamon and the stages of Teucer's later travels, though his exile and association with a new Salamis on Cyprus became established traditions.