ALEXANDER THE GREAT’S SEXUALITY
Alexander the Great is perhaps the most noted man in all of history. His empire is known not by its proper name of Ancient Macedonia, but by his name. Alexander was so great, it is said that Caesar himself wept at the foot of a statue of Alexander, for Caesar has done nothing compared to him.
Alexander did a lot, we all learn that much in class. But he would have been nothing without a boy named Hephaestion. Hephaestion was Alexander’s best friend. He was the one Alexander turned to for everything. He was more than just a friend. He was Alexander’s second in command, most trusted general, bodyguard, alter ego and some even say lover. This man was so important to Alexander, there is a story about the time they met the Queen of Persia. The Queen went to kneel at Alexander’s feet to beg for her life, and knelt in front of the taller, more beautiful of the two men in front of her. She mistook Hephaestion for Alexander. Upon being told that she was kneeling before Hephaestion, she tried to apologize but Alexander smiled and told her not to worry, for he too is Alexander. Aristotle, the boys’ teacher, described such a friendship as “… one soul abiding in two bodies” and so it was.
Calling Hephaestion a lover of Alexander’s is not 100% correct, to the best of our knowledge. Alexander the Great’s sexuality is highly debated. Whether or not he slept with Hephaestion is not concrete. It’s important to note that the only surviving biographies about Alexander were written 300 years after his death, in a time where homosexuality was not as well liked. Alexander had two wives, (one he loved, the other was for power) and had a few children, none that survived past the age of 13. There also are some records that show that he may have had a mistress or two. Alexander is noted for saying “Sex and sleep alone make me aware that I am mortal”. He didn’t like being aware that he was mortal. All his life was spent making sure he would be a god in the afterlife, and Egypt hailed him as a god even before death. Thus he didn’t sleep with people often. There is a story about his parents buying him the most expensive prostitute in the land, and even then he refused sex. His father also had a large impact on Alexander’s sexuality. King Phillip slept with a ton of women and a number of men. This turned out to be a negative influence, and Alexander ended up not wanting to be like that at all. King Phillip and Alexander never really got along well, they were both too powerful, and there was just a struggle. Thus Alexander became really close to his mother. Some even say he had an Oedipus complex although most disagree. In regards to men, in Alexander’s time it was normal for a man to sleep with another. If Alexander slept with men, it would not have been considered weird or looked down upon. The main evidence of Alexander’s sexual relationship with Hephaestion comes from Alexander’s love of comparing themselves to Achilles and Patroklos from the Iliad. Achilles and Patroklos were lovers, which is something never touched upon in school. The only other piece of evidence is how Alexander reacted to Hephaestion’s death which cannot be taken as a clear sign of homosexuality. In the end, there is no way to tell for sure if Alexander and Hephaestionstion were lovers.
Despite the whole lack of actual and completely correct references to Alexander the Great, the fact that he had a very strong relationship with Hephaestion is set in stone. Hephaestion died less than a year before Alexander. Alexander freaked out, and cried over Hephaestion’s body for a day before being dragged away. Hephaestion’s funeral was fit for a king, and conservative estimates say it cost $2,368,200,000 including the Games that took place at Babylon in Hephaestion’s honor. His death left Alexander devastated and Alexander just couldn’t live for much longer without Hephaestion by his side. It makes me really sad to see Hephaestion never mentioned in any text book. Alexander the Great would be nothing without his Hephaestion.
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