History
According to myths and legends Salamis is named after the Nymph Salamina the daughter of the Corinthian river Asopou and Koulouri from the ancient cape (Kolouris Akra) where the ancient city was built in 4thcentury. According to myth , Poseidon fell in love with Salamina and she gave birth to Cychreus the first king of Salamis who was half man half fish.
The next king of Salamis was Telamon who married the daughter of Cychreus, Glauce. After her death he married Erivia or Periboea and the legendary AIAS (AJAX) was born, who was the leader of the Salaminian and Megarian army at the Trojan war.
Ajax (Aias) had a half-brother from Hesione whose name was Teucros, they both took part in the great Trojan war having 18 ships under their command.
After the Trojan war and the suicide of Ajax (Aias), Teucros along with the son of Ajax (Aias), Eurysaces, returned to Salamis and faced the anger of Telamon, because Teucros did not revenge the death of his brother, Ajax (Aias).
Teucros abandoned the island and went to Cyprus were he established a new city, naming it after his birth place, Salamis.
Salamis Island was inhabited from the Neolithic centuries, as the archeological findings reveal on the southern part of the coast of the island. Because of it’s geographical location it was the reason of many disputes from the larger cities that wanted to control the island.
The greatest event of Salamis history is the great battle of Salamis, which changed the course of history at that time, where the Greeks defeated the Persians and ended the quest of the Asian barbarians to conquer Greece and Europe.
On Salamis island at the time of the great battle of Salamis the three greatest play writers of all centuries met. Aeschylus, who took part in the Great Battle of Salamis and afterwards wrote it’s history, Sophocles, a teenager at the time, took part in the victory celebrations and last but not least comes the most tragic of the three Euripides, Who was born on Salamis on the day of the Great Historic Event.