Eurysaces (
Ancient Greek: Εὐρυσάκης) in
Greek mythology was the son of the
Ajax and the former-princess captive-slave girl
Tecmessa. He was venerated in
Athens. Eurysaces was named after his father's famous shield. In Sophocles' tragedy
''Ajax'', the protagonist hands the shield to his young son before committing suicide.
Eurysaces was then taken to Ajax's native land,
Salamis Island
Salamis ( ; el, Σαλαμίνα, Salamína; grc, label=Ancient and Katharevousa, Σαλαμίς, Salamís) is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about off-coast from Piraeus and about west of central Athens. The chief city, Sala ...
, and he soon became king there. When his older cousin
Timaeus son of
Patroclus
In Greek mythology, as recorded in Homer's ''Iliad'', Patroclus (pronunciation variable but generally ; grc, Πάτροκλος, Pátroklos, glory of the father) was a childhood friend, close wartime companion, and the presumed (by some later a ...
and
Alcippe became king of
Pthia the two formed an alliance and became close friends. Eurysaces's uncle
Teucer, founded the town of Salamis on
Cyprus, and later attempted to return to the island, but he was repelled by Eurysaces. Teucer later established
Galacia in Spain. Sophocles wrote a play titled ''Eurysaces'', but only one quotation from it survives.
[Thorburn, John E. ''The Facts on File Companion to Classical Drama''. Infobase Publishing, 2005. . Page 216]
See also
* The asteroid
8317 Eurysaces
Note
Characters in Greek mythology
{{Greek-myth-stub