ABSTRACT
Telamon sailed with the Argonauts and joined the Calydonian boar-hunt. He also aided Heracles in the sack of Troy, when the hero punished Laomedon for his dishonesty. Telamon was instrumental in breaching the city wall and entered the city first-a feat which Heracles would have bitterly resented, had not Telamon at once built an altar and declared that he was dedicating it to Heracles the Victor. For the part he had played in the victory, Heracles gave him Laomedon’s daughter Hesione as his slave. The hero also asked his father Zeus to send Telamon a brave son; in response to his prayer, an eagle appeared, providing a good omen. The child was called Aias after the eagle (aietos). When Heracles visited Salamis, he wrapped the boy in his Nemean lionskin, thus rendering him invulnerable. Hesione also bore Telamon a son, Teucer, who accompanied Aias to the Trojan War. Telamon may have given Heracles further support by joining him in his war against the Amazons. His death was variously described, for the people of Elis claimed to have killed him when he was helping Heracles to fight them, whereas the usual tradition is that he died in Salamis much later on, after banishing Teucer for failing to save Aias from death at Troy.
