Ajax the Great is the son of Telamon, who was the son of Aeacus and grandson of Zeus, and his first wife Periboea. He is the cousin of Achilles, and is the elder half-brother of Teucer. His given name is derived from the root of "to lament", translating to "one who laments; mourner". Many illustrious Athenians, including Cimon, Miltiades, Alcibiades and the historian Thucydides, traced their descent from Ajax. On an Etruscan tomb dedicated to Racvi Satlnei in Bologna (5th century BC) there is an inscription that says, "aivastelmunsl" which means "[family] of Telamonian Ajax". In Homer's "Iliad" he is described as of
Telamon for Zeus' kidnapping Tros' son, Ganymede. Tros agreed; Heracles succeeded and Telamon married Hesione, Tros' daughter, by whom he sired Teucer. In the King Laomedon version, Laomedon planned on sacrificing his daughter Hesione to Poseidon in the hope of appeasing him. Heracles rescued her at the last minute and killed both the monster and Laomedon and Laomedon's sons, except for Ganymede, who was on Mount Olympus, and Podarces, who saved his own life by giving Heracles a golden veil Hesione had made. Telamon took Hesione as a war prize and married her, and she gave birth to Teucer by him.