"whole tumulus was a funerary monument for Hephaestion, built between 325–300 BC. Hephaestion Hephaestion ( ""Hephaistíon""; c. 356 BC – 324 BC), son of Amyntor, was an ancient Macedonian nobleman and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. He was ""by far the dearest of all the king's friends; he had been brought up with Alexander and shared all his secrets."" This relationship lasted throughout their lives, and was compared, by others as well as themselves, to that of Achilles and Patroclus. His military career was distinguished. A member of Alexander the Great's personal bodyguard, he went on"
"room for other affections. Hephaestion was the best friend of Alexander, his king and his commanding officer, so it is not surprising that we only hear of several other close friendships or attachments in his life. There is no evidence, however, that he was anything but popular and well liked among the group of Alexander's close friends and Companions who had grown up together, and worked well together for so many years. It is possible that he was closest to Perdiccas, because it was with Perdiccas that he went on the mission to take Peuceolatis and bridge the Indus. By"
"Thus Alexander honoured Hephaestion both as the closest of his friends and the most distinguished of his Field Marshals."" It has been suggested by some modern scholars that as well as being close friends Alexander and Hephaestion were also lovers despite the fact that hardly any of Alexander's extant ancient Greek or Roman biographers ever refers to Hephaestion as anything but Alexander's friend, consistent with Hephaestion's epithet """"Philalexandros"""" which was given to him by Alexander himself. The ancient sources generally name Hephaestion only as a good and loyal friend of Alexander's. However, Arrian describes the occasion when Alexander and Hephaestion"
"to whom Alexander would also talk in private, sharing his thoughts, hopes and plans. Curtius states that Hephaestion was the sharer of all his secrets; and Plutarch describes an occasion when Alexander had a controversial change to impose and implies that Hephaestion was the one with whom Alexander discussed it and who arranged for the change to be implemented. According to the painting done by Aetion of Alexander's first wedding, Hephaestion was his torch bearer (best man), showing by this not only his friendship, but also his support for Alexander's policies as Alexander's choice of an Asian bride had not"
"been a popular one. By the time they returned to Persia Hephaestion was officially, by title, Alexander's second-in-command, as he had long been in practice, and also his brother-in-law. Hammond sums up their public relationship well: ""It is not surprising that Alexander was as closely attached to Hephaestion as Achilles was to Patroclus"", and ""At the time of his death Hephaestion held the highest single command, that of the Companion Cavalry; and had been repeatedly second in command to Alexander in the hierarchy of the Asian court, holding the title of Chiliarch, which had been held by Nabarzanes under Darius."
"was also his second in the political sphere. Alexander had made that official by naming him Chiliarch. Photius mentions Perdiccas being appointed ""to command the chiliarchy which Hephaestion had originally held"". Little is known of Hephaestion's personal relationships beyond his close friendship with Alexander. Alexander was an outgoing, charismatic man who had many friends but his dearest and closest friend and confidant was Hephaestion. Theirs was a friendship which had been forged in boyhood. It endured through adolescence, through Alexander's becoming king, and through the hardships of campaigning and the flatteries of court life and their marriages. Apart from Diogenes"
"the exiled men were older friends of Alexander, Erigyius himself roughly 24 years older than the prince. Hephaestion was a contemporary of Alexander and it is likely that his influence might have been seen as less of a threat than these more mature companions. Whatever Hephaestion's opinion had been on the whole affair, like many of Alexander's other childhood companions he was not exiled in its aftermath. While it is true that very little detail of Hephaestion's childhood and education can be found, that which remains gives credence to what is known about his later life. His friendship with Alexander"
"some significance. It implies that Hephaestion received a good education and shows that Aristotle was impressed enough by his pupil to send letters throughout Alexander's expanding empire to converse with him. A few years after the lectures at Mieza, Hephaestion's presence was notably absent when several of Alexander's close friends were exiled as a result of the Pixodarus affair. Among those exiled by Philip II after Alexander's failed attempt to offer himself as groom to the Carian princess were Ptolemy, Nearchus, Harpalus, Erigyius and Laomedon. The reason for Hephaestion's absence from this list could be the fact that all of"
"Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator. During his visit to Pasargadae Alexander ordered his architect Aristobulus to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of Cyrus' tomb. Afterwards, Alexander travelled to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure. There, his closest friend and possible lover, Hephaestion, died of illness or poisoning. Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander, and he ordered the preparation of an expensive funeral pyre in Babylon, as well as a decree for public mourning. Back in Babylon, Alexander planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia, but he"
"said ""you know that Alexander means more to us than anything"". Arrian says that Alexander, after Hephaestion's death, described him as ""the friend I valued as my own life"". Paul Cartledge describes their closeness when he says: ""Alexander seems actually to have referred to Hephaestion as his alter ego."" Their friendship was also a working partnership; in all that Alexander undertook, Hephaestion was at his side. They worked well together; it is possible to discern a pattern, when studying Hephaestion's career, of Alexander's constant trust in, and increasing reliance on, Hephaestion. By the time of the advance into India, after"
"that time, as Alexander's effective second-in-command, he could doubtless have chosen any officer he cared to name. They accomplished everything they set out to do with great success, which indicates that the two of them worked well together, and that Hephaestion found the irrepressible Perdiccas a congenial companion. It is notable that their two cavalry regiments in particular were selected by Alexander for the dangerous crossing of the river Hydaspes before the battle with the Indian king, Porus. On that occasion superb teamwork would have been of paramount importance. It would be wrong to imply that Hephaestion was universally liked"
"Peithagoras Peithagoras () was a Macedonian seer and general from Amphipolis, brother of Apollodorus. According to Aristobulus of Cassandreia, Apollodorus, having joined Alexander the Great on his return from his Indian expedition and accompanied him to Ecbatana, imagined that he had grounds for dreading his displeasure, and wrote therefore to Peithagoras at Babylon, to inquire whether any danger threatened him from Alexander or Hephaestion. The answer was that he had nothing to fear from Hephaestion, who (so the victims portended) would soon be removed out of his way. The next day Hephaestion's death took place (324 BC) and not long"
"or admired however. Outside the close-knit coterie of the Macedonian high command he had his enemies. This is clear from Arrian's comment about Alexander's grief: ""All writers have agreed that it was great, but personal prejudice, for or against both Hephaestion and Alexander himself, has coloured the accounts of how he expressed it."" Yet given the factions and jealousies that arise in any court and that Hephaestion was supremely close to the greatest monarch the western world had yet seen, it is remarkable how little enmity he inspired. Arrian mentions a quarrel with Alexander's secretary Eumenes but, because of a"
"relationships with his childhood friend Hephaistion, Bagoas, and later his wife Roxana. Hephaistion compares Alexander to Achilles, to which Alexander replies that Hephaistion must be his Patroclus (Achilles' best friend and lover). When Hephaistion mentions that Patroclus died first, Alexander pledges that, if Hephaistion should die first, he will follow him into the afterlife. Hephaistion shows extensive jealousy when he sees Alexander with Roxana and deep sadness when he marries her, going so far as to attempt to keep her away from him after Alexander murders Cleitus the Black in India. After initial objection from his soldiers, Alexander convinces them"
"Polymestor In Greek mythology, Polymestor or Polymnestor () was a King of Thrace. His wife was Ilione, the eldest daughter of King Priam. Polymestor appears in Euripides' play ""Hecuba"" and in the Ovidian myth ""Hecuba, Polyxena and Polydorus"". Polymestor was also a Greek king of Arcadia. During the Trojan War, King Priam was frightened for his youngest son Polydorus's safety since Polydorus could not fight for himself. Priam sent the child, along with gifts of jewelry and gold, to the court of King Polymestor to keep him away from the fighting. After Troy fell, Polymestor betrayed Priam and threw Polydorus"
"the shrines of the two heroes Achilles and Patroclus; Alexander honoring Achilles, and Hephaestion honoring Patroclus. Alexander and Hephaestion were possible lovers,and their tutor,Aristotle, described their relationship as ""one soul abiding two bodies,"" After Hephaestion's death, Alexander mourned him greatly and did not eat for days. Alexander held an elaborate funeral for Hephaestion at Babylon, and sent a note to the shrine of Ammon, which had previously acknowledged Alexander as a god, asking them to grant Hephaestion divine honours. The priests declined, but did offer him the status of divine hero. Alexander died soon after receiving this letter; Mary Renault"
"fathered another child, (Heracles), of a woman said to be his concubine Barsine (the daughter of satrap Artabazus of Phrygia) in 327 BC. Mary Renault's rebuttal of this theory is worth quoting: He mentored Alexander from a young age, and taught him various moral and ethical lessons. Alexander had a close emotional attachment to his companion, cavalry commander (""hipparchus"") and childhood friend, Hephaestion. He studied with Alexander, as did a handful of other children of Macedonian aristocracy, under the tutelage of Aristotle. Hephaestion makes his appearance in history at the point when Alexander reaches Troy. There they made sacrifices at"
"that he had been in Alexander's tent all night, and Plutarch describes the intimacy between them when he tells how Hephaestion was in the habit of reading Alexander's letters with him, and of a time when he showed that the contents of a letter were to be kept secret by touching his ring to Hephaestion's lips. Diogenes of Sinope, in a letter written to Alexander when he was a grown man, accuses Alexander of being ""ruled by Hephaestion's thighs"". No other circumstance shows better the nature and length of their relationship than Alexander's overwhelming grief at Hephaestion's death. As Andrew"
"was long-lasting, as was his tenure in the court at Pella; he even shared the same education as the future Great King of Greece and Asia. With such a promising start, age and experience would have helped mould Hephaestion Amyntoros into the man who would one day be the second most powerful man in Alexander's empire, second only to the king himself. Sharing Alexander's upbringing, Hephaestion would have learned to fight and to ride well from an early age. His first taste of military action was probably the campaign against the Thracians while Alexander was regent, followed by Philip II's"
"around age thirty-two, Alexander was overwhelmed with grief. He petitioned the oracle at Siwa to grant Hephaestion divine status and thus Hephaestion was honoured as a ""Divine Hero"". Hephaestion was cremated and his ashes taken to Babylon. At the time of his own death a mere eight months later, Alexander was still planning lasting monuments to Hephaestion's memory. Hephaestion's exact age is not known. No concise biography has ever been written about him, likely stemming from the fact that he died before Alexander and none of those among Alexander's companions who survived him would have had a need to promote"
"Danube campaign (342 BC) and the battle of Chaeronea (338 BC) while he was still in his teens. His name is not mentioned in lists of high-ranking officers during the early battles of Alexander's Danube campaign (335 BC) or the invasion of Persia. Nor are the names of Alexander's other close friends and contemporaries listed, suggesting that their promotions, when they achieved them, were earned by merit. Hephaestion's career was never solely a military one. Right from the start he was also engaged in special missions, sometimes diplomatic, sometimes technical. The first mention of his career in the sources is"
"even greater closeness. In only one instance is Hephaestion known to have quarrelled with a fellow officer and that was with Craterus. In this instance it is easier to see that resentment might have been felt on both sides, for Craterus was one of those officers who vehemently disliked Alexander's policy of integrating Greek and Persian, whereas Hephaestion was very much in favour. Plutarch tells the story: ""For this reason a feeling of hostility grew and festered between the two and they often came into open conflict. Once on the expedition to India they actually drew their swords and came"
"is helpful to modern scholars since we have no other record of many of the authorities that he quotes. Hephaestion's intention appears to have been to reconcile the authoritative Ptolemaic tradition with the earlier practices represented by Dorotheus of Sidon. He wrote at a time and in a place (likely Alexandria) when astrological ideas were being summarized and consolidated, after the removal of the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople. His contemporaries included Paulus Alexandrinus (378 AD) and the anonymous author of the well-known ""Treatise on Fixed Stars"" (379 AD). Although influential on later Byzantine astrologers, his work"
"quarters and there he verified the lineage of each of them."" Alexander had realized that people from noble families were being treated with little dignity and wanted to do something about it. That he chose Hephaestion to help him shows that he could rely on Hephaestion's tact and sympathy. Yet Alexander could also rely on Hephaestion for firmness and resolve. When his policies had led to a plot against his life, the possible involvement of a senior officer, Philotas, caused much concern. It was Hephaestion, along with Craterus and Coenus, who insisted on, and actually carried out, the customary torture."
"Chugg says, ""it is surely incredible that Alexander's reaction to Hephaestion's death could indicate anything other than the closest relationship imaginable"". The many and varied ways, both spontaneous and planned, by which Alexander poured out his grief are detailed below. In the context of the nature of their relationship however, one stands out as remarkable. Arrian says that Alexander ""flung himself on the body of his friend and lay there nearly all day long in tears, and refused to be parted from him until he was dragged away by force by his Companions"". Such an all-encompassing love often leaves little"
"Hetairideia, a festival pertaining to the sacred relationship which bound the king and his companions together was celebrated and even Euripides, the famed Athenian play writer, was honoured as an ""hetairos"" of the king Archelaus. The Royal friends (Philoi) or the king's Companions (basilikoi hetairoi) were named for life by the king among the Macedonian aristocracy. Companion cavalry would ride the best horses, and receive the best weaponry available. In Alexander's day, each carried a xyston, and wore a bronze muscle cuirass or linothorax, shoulder guards and Boeotian helmets, but bore no shield. A kopis (curved slashing sword) or xiphos"
"considered and even expected to be openly homosexual, especially among their ruling class, and the Macedonian kings had long insisted on their pure Dorian ancestry"". This was no fashionable affectation; this was something that belonged at the heart of what it was to be Dorian, and therefore Macedonian, and had more in common with the Theban Sacred Band than with Athens. In light of this, it is not surprising that there are many indications that their sexual relationship was indeed lifelong. Lucian, writing in his book ""On Slips of the Tongue"", describes an occasion when Hephaestion's conversation one morning implied"
"dedicated themselves and their arms to the dead man"". The army, too, remembered him; Alexander did not appoint anyone to take Hephaestion's place as commander of the Companion cavalry; he ""wished Hephaestion's name to be preserved always in connection with it, so Hephaestion's Regiment it continued to be called, and Hephaestion's image continued to be carried before it"". Alexander sent messengers to the oracle at Siwa to ask if Amon would permit Hephaestion to be worshipped as a god. When the reply came saying he might be worshipped not as a god, but as a divine hero, Alexander was pleased"
"and, possibly, Heracles of Macedon from his mistress Barsine. He lost another child when Roxana miscarried at Babylon. Alexander also had a close relationship with his friend, general, and bodyguard Hephaestion, the son of a Macedonian noble. Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander. This event may have contributed to Alexander's failing health and detached mental state during his final months. Alexander's sexuality has been the subject of speculation and controversy. No ancient sources stated that Alexander had homosexual relationships, or that Alexander's relationship with Hephaestion was sexual. Aelian, however, writes of Alexander's visit to Troy where ""Alexander garlanded the tomb of Achilles,"
"was Philip II (Tomb 2). Located near Tomb 1 are the above-ground ruins of a ""heroon"", a shrine for cult worship of the dead. In 2014, the ancient Macedonian Kasta Tomb, the largest ancient tomb found in Greece (as of 2017), was discovered outside of Amphipolis, a city that was incorporated into the Macedonian realm after its capture by Philip II in 357 BC. The identity of the tomb's occupant is unknown, but archaeologists have speculated that it may be Alexander's close friend Hephaestion. The deification of Macedonian monarchs perhaps began with the death of Philip II, yet it was"
"and he went off to stroll with Hephaestion."" That Alexander's exact age is given provides another clue to Hephaestion's upbringing because at fifteen Alexander and his companions were at Mieza studying under Aristotle. Hephaestion has never been named among those who attended the lectures at Mieza, but his close friendship with Alexander at that age suggests strongly that he was numbered among them. More telling is Hephaestion's name being found in a catalogue of Aristotle's correspondences. The letters themselves no longer exist, but for them to have found their way into an official catalogue, their content must have been of"
"and Hephaestion hoping that their respective offspring might unite their lines and that, ultimately, the crown of Macedon and Persia might be worn by one who was a descendant of them both. In spring 324 BC Hephaestion left Susa, where he had been married, and accompanied Alexander and the rest of the army as they travelled towards Ecbatana. They arrived in the autumn and it was there, during games and festivals, that Hephaestion fell ill with a fever. Arrian says that after the fever had run for seven days, Alexander had to be summoned from the games to Hephaestion, who"
"of Sinope's alleged letter quoted below, heavily hinting at Alexander's yielding to Hephaestion's thighs, ancient sources do not generally mention that Hephaestion and Alexander may have been lovers, as some modern scholars have theorized. Overall direct evidence is non-existent and, at least according to Thomas R. Martin, this was a practice which was uncommon by majority Greek standards of their time. Their tutor Aristotle described friendship as ""one soul abiding in two bodies"". That they themselves considered their friendship to be of such a kind is shown by the stories of the morning after the battle of Issus. Diodorus, Arrian"