View source for King Teucer

{{for|Teucer, son of King Telamon of Salamis|Teucer}}{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Teucer
| abode = [[Crete]] or [[Attica]], later Teucria ([[Troad]])
| parents = [[Scamander]] and [[Idaea of Troad|Idaea]]
| siblings = [[Callirhoe (mythology)|Callirhoe]]
| children = [[Batea of Troad|Batea]] or [[Arisbe (mythology)|Arisbe]]
| mount = 
| deity_of = Eponymous king of Teucria
| member_of = 
| other_names = 
| consort = 
| image = 
| caption = 
| successor = [[Dardanus (son of Zeus)|Dardanus]]
}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''King Teucer''' (or '''Teukros''') ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|(|j|)|uː|s|ə|r}}; [[Ancient Greek]]: Τεῦκρος ''Teûkros'') was said to have been the son of the river-god [[Scamander]] and the nymph [[Idaea (mother of King Teucer)|Idaea]].

== Mythology ==
Before the arrival of [[Dardanus (son of Zeus)|Dardanus]], the land that would eventually be called [[Dardanus (city)|Dardania]] (and later still the [[Troad]]) was known as Teucria and the inhabitants as Teucrians, after Teucer.

According to [[Virgil]], Teucer was originally from [[Crete]] but left the island during a great famine with a third of its inhabitants.<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' 3.104. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985, 1983.</ref> They settled near the Scamander river, named after Teucer's father, not far from the Rhaetean promontory. However, [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] states that Teucer had come to the [[Troad]] from Attica where he was a chief of the Xypetȇ region.<ref>[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], ''Antiquitates Romanae'' 1.61</ref> In both cases he ended up in the region which would be known as the Troad.

His company was said to have been greatly annoyed by a vast number of mice during their first night in the region. Teucer had previously been directed by an oracle before leaving Crete to build a settlement in the place where he should be attacked in the night-time by an enemy sprung from the earth or "where the earth-born should attack them"; since mice had attacked them during the night he resolved to settle there.<ref>[[Strabo]], 13.1.48</ref> He probably founded the city of [[Hamaxitus]] and established it as his capital. Teucer is said to have had a felicitous reign as he was successful in all of his undertakings. He was said to have been the first to build a temple to [[Hamaxitus#Apollo Smintheus|Apollo Sminthius]] or Apollo the "destroyer of mice" since Apollo was said to have destroyed mice infesting that area during Teucer's reign.<ref>Hard, Robin. 1986. The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek mythology". London; New York: Routledge.</ref>

[[Batea (daughter of Teucer)|Batea]] (also known as Batia or [[Arisbe (mythology)|Arisba]]), King Teucer's daughter and only child, was given in marriage to Dardanus.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.12.1 3.12.1–3]</ref> In [[Lycophron#The Alexandra|Lycophron's Alexandra]], Dardanus was said to wed Arisba from "Crete's royal house".<ref>[[Lycophron]], 1308; [[Tzetzes]] on Lycophron, 1298</ref> Dardanus received land on [[Mount Ida (Turkey)|Mount Ida]] from his father-in-law when Teucer died since he did not have a biological son.<ref name=":0">[[Diodorus Siculus]], 4.75</ref> There Dardanus founded the city of Dardania. After Teucer's death, his kingdom was incorporated into that of Dardanus and the entire region came to be known as Dardania. Yet in later times, the people of [[Troy]] often referred to themselves as "Teucrians". For example, [[Aeneas]] is called the "great captain of the Teucrians".<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 6.743</ref> In most myths mentioning King Teucer, he is described as being a distant ancestor of the Trojans. [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]] states that Teucer was "the first to rule as king over the land of Troy" while in the Aeneid, [[Anchises]] recalls him being the Trojans' "first forefather".<ref>Diodorus Siculus, 4.75; Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 3.148</ref> This suggests that King Teucer was considered the first figure to bear the bloodline of the Trojans as his father Scamander did not have such acclamations.

Some academics suggest a connection between '''''Teucris''''' in old Greek texts and '''''[[Tjeker]]''''' in old Egyptian texts.<ref>The identification of Tjeker and Greek Teukroi, Latinized to ''Teucri'', was first made by Lauth in 1867, and was repeated by François Chabas in his ''Études sur l’Antiquité Historique d’après les sources égyptiennes et les monuments réputés préhistoriques'' of 1872, according to the Woudhuizen dissertation.</ref><ref>Sandars Page 170, "The Tjeker."</ref>

==Family tree==
{{Trojan race}}

==See also==

*[[Teucer]]
*[[Tjeker]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''The Library of History'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59&ndash;8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus|Dionysus of Halicarnassus]], ''Roman Antiquities.'' English translation by Earnest Cary in the Loeb Classical Library, 7 volumes. Harvard University Press, 1937-1950. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
* Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Antiquitatum Romanarum quae supersunt'', ''Vol I-IV''. . Karl Jacoby. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1885. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0572 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
* [[Lycophron]], ''The Alexandra''  translated by Alexander William Mair. Loeb Classical Library Volume 129. London: William Heinemann, 1921. [https://topostext.org/work/128 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* Lycophron, ''Alexandra'' translated by A.W. Mair. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1921. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0484 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[Virgil|Publius Vergilius Maro]], ''Aeneid.'' Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Vergilius Maro, ''Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics''. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0055 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* [[Strabo]], ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teucer}}
[[Category:Children of Greek river gods]]
[[Category:Mythological kings of Troy]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological Cretans]]
[[Category:Asia in Greek mythology]]