Editing Teucer (section)

==Myths==
During the Trojan War, Teucer was mainly a great [[Archery|archer]], who loosed his shafts from behind the giant shield of his half-brother Ajax the Great. When [[Hector]] was driving the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]] back toward their ships, Teucer gave the [[Argives]] some success by killing many of the charging Trojans, including Hector's charioteer, Archeptolemus son of [[Iphitos]]. However, every time he shot an arrow at Hector, [[Apollo]], the protector of the Trojans, would foil the shot.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 8. 265 ff., 12.329 ff., 364 ff., 15. 442 ff. & 478 ff.</ref> At one point in his rage at Teucer's success, Hector picked up a huge rock and flung it at him. The rock injured Teucer, so that he retired from the fighting for a time.<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 8.320–330</ref> He took up a spear to fight in the war after his bow was broken by Zeus.<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 15.460–480</ref> He once again challenged Hector, and narrowly avoided the path of Hector's flying javelin in the ensuing battle. He was also one of the [[Danaans]] to enter the [[Trojan Horse]]. In total, Teucer slew thirty Trojans during the war;<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 114</ref> of those Homer mentions [[Aretaon]], [[Orsilochus]], [[Ormenus]], [[Ophelestes]], [[Daetor]], [[Chromius]], [[Lycophontes (mythology)|Lycophontes]], [[Amopaon]], [[Melanippus]], [[Prothoon (mythology)|Prothoon]] and [[Periphetes]],<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 6.30, 8.274 ff. & 14.515</ref> as well as the aforementioned Archeptolemus. He also wounded [[Glaucus (soldier)|Glaucus]], son of [[Hippolochus (mythology)|Hippolochus]].<ref>''Il.'' 12. 387</ref>

After Ajax's suicide, Teucer guarded the body to make sure it was buried, insulting [[Menelaus]] and [[Agamemnon]] when they tried to stop the burial. Finally, [[Odysseus]] persuaded Agamemnon to let the burial happen.<ref>[[Ajax (Sophocles)]]</ref> Because of his half-brother's suicide, Teucer stood trial before his father, where he was found guilty of negligence for not bringing his dead half-brother's body or his arms back with him. He was disowned by his father, was not allowed back on Salamis Island, and set out to find a new home. His departing words were introduced in the seventh ode of the first book of the Roman poet [[Horace|Horace's]] ''Odes'', in which he exhorts his companions "''nil desperandum''", "do not despair", and announces "''cras ingens iterabimus aequor''", "tomorrow we shall set out upon the vast ocean".<ref>[[Horace]], ''[[Odes (Horace)|Odes]]'' 1.7.21 ff.</ref> This speech has been given a wider applicability in relation to the theme of voyages of discovery, also found in the ''[[Ulysses (poem)|Ulysses]]'' of [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Tennyson]].

Teucer eventually joined King [[Belus (Tyre)|Belus]] of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] in his campaign against Cyprus, and when the island was seized, Belus handed it over to him in reward for his assistance. Teucer founded the city of [[Salamis, Cyprus|Salamis]] on Cyprus, which he named after his home state.<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]] on [[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' 1.619–621</ref> He further married Eune, daughter of [[Cinyras]], king of Cyprus, and had by her a daughter Asteria.<ref>[[Tzetzes]] on [[Lycophron]], 450; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 1.3.2</ref> [[Anaxarete]] of Cyprus was called "a proud princess in the line of Teucer's descendants".<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 14. p. 583, translated by David Raeburn</ref>

The name Teucer is believed to be related to the name of the West Hittite God Tarku (East Hittite Teshub)—the [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] Storm God—a role which explains his relationship to Belus, who is associated with the Carthaginian god [[Baal Hammon]].<ref>[[Farnell]] "Greece and Babylon:  A Comparative History of Greek, Anatolian and Mesopotamian Religion."</ref>

Local legends of the city of [[Pontevedra]] ([[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]) relate the foundation of this city to Teucer (''Teucro''), although this seems to be based more on the suspicions that Greek traders might have reached that area in ancient times,<ref>[http://193.147.33.52/amergin/index.php?page=ireland-in-galicia ''Ireland in Galicia''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529140802/http://193.147.33.52/amergin/index.php?page=ireland-in-galicia |date=2011-05-29 }}, by the [http://193.147.33.52/amergin/index.php?page=what-is-amergin Amergin University Institute of Research in Irish Studies] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901200411/http://193.147.33.52/amergin/index.php?page=what-is-amergin |date=2011-09-01 }}, [[University of A Coruña]]. Access date 01-10-2010</ref> hence introducing a number of Greek stories. The city is sometimes poetically called "The City of Teucer" and its inhabitants ''teucrinos''. A number of sporting clubs in the municipality use names related to Teucer. Some versions of the legend say that Teucer reached Galicia by following a sea nymph or mermaid called Leucoina, while others point to her as the cause of his death, when the hero drowned trying to reach her.