 The club was founded in Amsterdam on 18 March 1900 by Floris Stempel, Carel Reeser and Han Dade, the second incarnation after a short-lived previous attempt—as Football Club Ajax—in 1894.The club was named after the mythological hero Ajax, a Greek who fought in the Trojan War against Troy.In "The Iliad", Ajax was said to be the greatest of all the Greeks next to his cousin Achilles, and even fought an inconclusive duel with Troy's champion, Hector.