How the Greeks Settled Cyprus After the Trojan War

Ancient ruins astatine Salamis, Cyprus. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY 3.0, Gerhard Haubold

There are galore legends astir the Greeks founding settlements acold and wide connected their mode backmost from Troy aft the autumn of the city. According to 1 of these legends, a radical of Greeks led by Teucer settled connected Cyprus aft the Trojan War. What bash we cognize astir this tradition, and however good does it necktie successful with archaeological evidence?

Teucer and his Greek troops

Teucer, the person of the Greek colony connected Cyprus aft the Trojan War, was a prince of the land of Salamis successful Greece and lad of King Telamon.

In the Iliad, Teucer fought alongside Ajax the Great, his half-brother. Interestingly, Teucer was really related done his parent to the royal household of Troy, the precise radical helium was warring against successful the Trojan War.

He was a large warrior, peculiarly skilled arsenic an archer. Homer mentions galore Trojans killed by Teucer during the war.

How Teucer led the Greeks to Cyprus aft the Trojan War

According to legends, owed to a quality implicit who would get Achilles’ armor, Ajax killed himself retired of shame oregon perchance grief. Teucer, his half-brother, did not bring his assemblage backmost to their location of Salamis. For this reason, Teucer’s father, Telamon, banished him from their kingdom.

Thus, Teucer had to hunt elsewhere for a caller home. He yet joined forces with Belus, the king of Tyre. This second king sought to conquer Cyprus, and Teucer helped him bash so.

King Belus allowed Teucer to recovered a metropolis connected Cyprus. The metropolis that Teucer supposedly founded was Salamis, named aft Teucer’s archetypal location of Salamis successful Greece.

Traces of this contented tin beryllium seen arsenic aboriginal arsenic the 4th period BC. It appears that Lycophron, a Greek writer from that century, wrote astir however Teucer joined the girl of King Cinyras of Cyprus. Pausanias, the geographer and historiographer of the 2nd period AD, besides wrote astir this tradition.

Understanding this contented done archaeology

What does archaeology uncover astir Cyprus and a imaginable colony by Greeks aft the Trojan War? Interestingly, the archaeological grounds is precise wide astir erstwhile the earliest colony astatine Salamis emerged. This was successful the eleventh period BC.

How good does this necktie successful with the fable of Salamis’ founding by Teucer? Logically, this should beryllium viewed successful airy of the day of the Trojan War. The accepted day is anyplace betwixt c. 1250 BC to c. 1184 BC. With archaeology placing the instauration of Salamis successful the eleventh period BC, it appears to person been a period oregon much excessively late.

Of course, galore scholars question the accepted day for the Trojan War, arguing that it yet comes from ancient estimates utilizing exaggerated procreation lengths. Ctesias, for example, utilized an mean procreation magnitude of 45 years, astir doubly arsenic agelong arsenic was really the case.

Therefore, we cannot spot excessively overmuch value connected the accepted day of the Trojan War erstwhile examining this fable astir the Greeks settling connected Cyprus.

A aboriginal foundation

Interestingly, determination is crushed to reason that the founding of Salamis remembered by the Greeks successful aboriginal centuries whitethorn not person been the 1 that occurred successful the eleventh period BC. Salamis fundamentally disappeared from the archaeological grounds aft that period and did not look again until, apparently, adjacent the extremity of the eighth period BC.

It is precise improbable that the instauration of this small, short-lived municipality became portion of Greek contented successful relation with Teucer. It seems much apt that the fable of the Greeks settling connected Cyprus pursuing the Trojan War nether Teucer finds its root successful the re-foundation of Salamis centuries later.

After nary notation of it for astatine slightest 2 centuries during the Dark Ages, Salamis appears again successful the archaeological grounds with a ample quantity of Greek worldly culture. Various royal tombs person been recovered which archaeologists person dated to the extremity of the eighth period BC. In 1 of these tombs, assorted Greek Geometric Era bowls and dishes were found.

These tombs are besides associated with Phoenician furniture, which is highly important successful presumption of the contented that Teucer settled Cyprus successful the work of King Belus. He was the king of Tyre, a Phoenician city-state.

Historically, we cognize that the Tyrians engaged successful subject campaigns against Cyprus astatine this time. The grounds from Salamis reveals their beingness astatine this metropolis specifically. The value of this, on with the abrupt emergence of Greek pottery and royal tombs, is immense.

Thus, archaeological grounds powerfully suggests that the contented of the Greeks settling Cyprus—allegedly conscionable aft the Trojan War—in relation with the Tyrians is astatine slightest loosely based connected the genuine past of the island.