I love so much "ALEXANDER" movie with Jared and Colin Farrel and thanks to it and all fanfictions about Ale & Phai related, I became interested to their real lives.. so I made a lot of historical research and I love them in the same way, I think they're my favourite historical figures :)
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great
HEPHAESTION
 Hephaestion. Statue fromAlexandria (National Archaeological Museum,Athens) | Hephaestion (c.357-324): Macedonian nobleman, closest friend and lover of king Alexander the Great. During the expedition against Persia, he served sometimes as a military commander, but he was probably a better organizer.
According to a document that is included in Arrian of Nicomedia's Indikê(quoted here), Hephaestion was born in the capital of ancient Macedonia,Pella. His father Amyntor must have been an important man, because his son was educated at the court of king Philip (360-336). The Greek name of Hephaestion's father suggests that he was one of the Greek mercenary leaders or intellectuals who came to Macedonia and received an honorable treatment. (The father of Alexander's admiral and friend Nearchus is another example.)
| Alexander the Great Artabazus Craterus Coenus Nearchus Perdiccas Peucestas Philotas Porus |
 | When he was still young, Hephaestion met the crown prince Alexander. Although an explicit connection between Hephaestion and the famous Macedonian scientist and philosopher Aristotle of Stagira is not mentioned in our best sources, we may assume that Hephaestion, like Alexander, was educated by Aristotle, whose school at Mieza (below modern Naousa) was situated in one of the most beautiful and green parts of Macedonia. If we are to believe Diogenes Laertius, the author of an entertaining collection ofPhilosopher's lives, Aristotle published a collection of letters to Hephaestion, which suggests that the two wrote to each other during Alexander's Persian campaign. However, Diogenes is not always a reliable author.
Hephaestion is first mentioned at the very beginning of the histories of Alexander's Persian campaign, when the invaders reached Troy (May 334). He is never introduced as 'a friend' or 'a companion' of the king; he is simply mentioned, which suggests that the historians assumed that everybody knew Hephaestion's position as Alexander's lover. (We don't have to introduce Juliet once Romeo is on the stage.)
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Hephaestion on the Alexander sarcophagus (Archaeoloigcal Museum, Istanbul)
| At Troy, Alexander venerated the ancient heroes. It is said that he went to the tomb of his legendary ancestor Achilles and that Hephaestion sacrificed to Achilles' friend Patroclus. Again, this suggests that Hephaestion was Alexander's lover, because in the fourth century, it was widely believed that the two legendary heroes had been lovers. (Homer states that they used to spend the night separately - a remark that is only meaningful when it was already taken for granted that the two were lovers.)
If the parallel between Achilles and Patroclus on the one hand and Alexander and Hephaestion on the other hand was really perfect, Hephaestion was -like Patroclus- older than his lover. Since Alexander was born in the summer of 356, we may assume that his friend was born in, say, 357.
After the visit to Troy, Hephaestion disappears for some time from our sources. This suggests that he was with Alexander and did not occupy commands worth mentioning. It is only after the battle of Issus (November 333) that we reencounter Hephaestion in our sources, in a famous anecdote. After the Macedonian victory, queen Statira was captured. She went to Alexander and kneeled down in front of Hephaestion, thinking that he was the king. Alexander saved her face by saying 'Don't worry, mother. Everywhere, he is Alexander too'.
It is possible that Hephaestion is depicted on the Alexander sarcophagus (although some scholars think that the man represented is Antigonus Monophthalmus). If the identification is correct, Hephaestion fought on horseback during the battle of Issus.
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 | Alexander was now twenty-three and Hephaestion may have been twenty-four or older. According to the Macedonian and Greek ideas about love and sexuality, the time for homosexual affairs was over. The young men had to marry. Hephaestion could no longer be Alexander's lover, and had to find a new role, especially since the king accepted a Persian mistress, Barsine. However, the friendship between the two men remained very close.
Hephaestion was sent on a diplomatic mission to Sidon, where he had to appoint a new king. He chose a man named Abdalonymus. This was not a very important task, but it should be noted that he had not had earlier assignments. During the next year, he commanded the navy of the Phoenician towns that had sided with the conquerors; this meant that he had to supply the main force. This was a more important job. (It should be noted that these assignments are not mentioned in our most important source, Arrian.)
During Alexander's stay in Egypt (first half 331), Hephaestion was approached by a friend of the Athenian politician Demosthenes, an enemy of the Macedonians. The envoy said that he hoped that Hephaestion would put in a good word for Demosthenes with Alexander. It is unclear whether Hephaestion was persuaded, or, if he was, what was the result.
On October 31, 331, the Macedonians and Persians fought a large battle atGaugamela in northern Mesopotamia. Hephaestion was now one of the members of Alexander's bodyguard, the somatophylakes. (In fact, these seven men were not real bodyguards but adjutants.) During this bloody battle, he was wounded in an arm.
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Again, Hephaestion disappears from our sources for some time, except for an undated assignment as guard and protector of Persian captives. He becomes 'visible' again in October 330, when several soldiers conspired against Alexander. Almost immediately, it became clear that the commander of the Companion cavalry (the best soldiers in the Macedonian army),Philotas, had known of the plans and had not reported his discovery.
At first, Alexander forgave Philotas, but the next day, the accusations were renewed by the phalanx commanders Craterus and Coenus, Philotas' brother-in-law. It is not known whether they had a secret agenda, but we may be suspicious, as we see two infantry commanders accusing the leading cavalry commander. During the night, Philotas was arrested.
As the army exercised capital jurisdiction in Macedonia, Alexander organized a trial. He accused Philotas and the court found him guilty of conspiracy. However, the precise nature of the conspiracy was unclear. Hephaestion, Craterus and Coenus declared that torture should be employed to force the truth out of Philotas. He confessed that he and his father had wanted to kill Alexander to become kings themselves. After this confession, the commander of the Companions was executed.
What to make of this story? No one doubts that the first conspiracy was a fact, but the existence of the conspiracy of Philotas and Parmenion is another matter. The confession of the tortured man can, of course, not be taken as proof. On the other hand, it is strange that Philotas did not report the first conspiracy. It is possible that he wanted to see what happened: if the soldiers' attempt failed, nothing was lost, if it were successful, the army would chose him as its commander and king. He had much to gain, but the fact that he had a motive does not mean that he really did what he was accused of. We will never known what really happened.
The consequences of the murder were clear. In the first place, the execution of Philotas made the murder of his father Armenian inevitable - and in fact, he was killed. In the second place, the Companion cavalry was placed under two men: a safety measure against too powerful officers. The new commanders were Clitus, a trusted senior officer, and Hephaestion, who was still inexperienced.
The years 329, 328 and 327 saw fighting in Bactria and Sogdia, satrapies in the northeast of the Achaemenid empire. Since most of the fighting was done on horseback, we would expect the commander of the Companion cavalry to be prominent in our sources, but Hephaestion is conspicuously absent. The reason is that the unit of Hephaestion and Clitus was too large for the guerilla warfare in Sogdia. It was divided into smaller units, and Hephaestion commanded only one of them. (It should be noted that Alexander killed Clitus, which would have made Hephaestion the senior commander of the Companions, an assignment that was probably still above his powers.)
So, Alexander was skeptical about Hephaestion's capacities as commander, but this did not mean that his friend was out of favor. He is mentioned as the official who had to secure provisions during the winter, an important task. Moreover, Hephaestion acted as Alexander's best man when he married with the native princess Roxane (text). But Hephaestion rarely served as commander during a fight; when he commanded an army that was to see battle, he was always sharing the command with a more experienced officer (e.g., Clitus, Artabazus, Perdiccas).
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| With Perdiccas, Hephaestion led an army along the river Kabul and across the Khyber pass into the Punjab (Spring 326). Here, they captured a town named Peucelaotis (Indian Puskalāvatī, north of Peshawar). They continued to the Indus, where they built a bridge near Hund and negotiated with king Omphis (Ambhi) of Taxila, an ally of the Macedonians. | ||
Hephaestion's cavalry unit took part in the battle on the banks of theHydaspes (modern Jhelum; May 326), where king Porus (Puru) of Pauravas was defeated. After his surrender, Alexander reappointed him as ruler of his own kingdom. However, one of his relatives, also called Porus, continued the struggle and Hephaestion was sent out against him. This time, his fellow-commander was one Demetrius.Alexander wanted to attack the Indian kingdom Magadha in the Ganges valley, but the Macedonian soldiers refused to go any further. They were far away from home in a country where it seemed to be raining continuously (it was the monsoon season). Shortly before Alexander's thirtieth birthday, an open revolt broke out. The king understood that he had to return. Hephaestion was ordered to built a garrison town on the banks of the riverAcesines (modern Chenab), where veteran mercenaries were left behind. | ||
 Indian archer, on a coin struck by Alexander to commemorate his Indian victory (©!!) | The Macedonian army was now divided into three columns. Alexander took charge of the main force, which was transported on ships and moved slowly to the south. Craterus commanded the second column (on the west bank of the river), and Hephaestion was responsible for the third one. No fighting was expected, and therefore, this could be Hephaestion's first sole command.This also meant that Craterus and Hephaestion operated as far apart as possible. There are several indications that Alexander's best commander and his best friend were not on speaking terms. The difference between them was summarized as follows: Hephaestion was philalexandros (a lover of Alexander), Craterus a philobasileus (a lover of the king). The details of their rivalry are, however, poorly understood. In June 325, Alexander put an end to the quarrel by ordering Craterus' army to go to the west. | |
When the two remaining army columns reached the delta of the Indus river, Hephaestion was ordered to build a new city, Patala. This is what the Greek sources tell us, but it is probably better to say that he rebuilt an existing settlement, because Pâtâla is the Indian word for Ship's camp. Here,Nearchus (another personal friend of Alexander) built a large fleet, which was to transport a large part of the army to Babylonia.In August, Alexander and some 33,000 men left Patala and started forCarmania. During their march, they built a large grain store, where Nearchus and the 33,000 men under his command could resupply themselves. Alexander's men first defeated the Oreitans, the native population, and Hephaestion, who commanded the baggage train, was ordered to build a new city, Rhambaceia (modern Las Bela). Leonnatus was left behind to defend the region; after all, Nearchus still had to pass along the shore and the grain store had to be kept intact. Meanwhile, Alexander and the main part of the army moved to the west. They had to march through the Gedrosian desert, which is more or less equivalent to the south of modern Beluchistan. The Macedonians knew that this country could only be crossed in the weeks after the monsoons rains; they would arrive in Carmania when the harvest was ready. To profit from this favorable conditions, Alexander had to hurry. The journey through the Gedrosian desert was a disaster. For sixty days, the army was marching through the desert, and the blazing heat and the lack of water caused innumerable casualties. Baggage animals had to be butchered. Probably the army itself remained relatively intact, but the concubines of the soldiers, the merchants and other noncombatants suffered terribly form hunger and thirst (text). Since Hephaestion followed after Alexander, the misery of his men must have been worse: after all, the vanguard had seized all food they it find. | ||
 | In December 325, the armies of Alexander, Hephaestion, Nearchus and Craterus reunited in Carmania. This was a time for celebration. Alexander dressed himself as the god of ecstasy, Dionysus, his mythological ancestor, and the rest of the army followed suit - everybody being in a state of drunken exaltation for seven days (text.)The army continued its march to the west and reached Susa, where Alexander, his officers and his men had a holiday. There were festivities and valiant soldiers were decorated. Some received purple tunics, and there were golden diadems for Nearchus, for Leonnatus (who had defeated the Oreitans), for Peucestas (who had saved Alexander's life in India), and for Hephaestion. Nobody objected to the coronation, which comes as a surprise, because six years before, many had considered it outrageous that Alexander started to wear a diadem. The greatest of the festivities in Susa was a marriage ceremony that lasted five days. Since Alexander had conquered Babylonia, Elam and Persia proper in 331/330, many Persian princesses had had a Greek education; now they were ready to marry Macedonian officers. Dancers, actors and musicians had come all the way from Greece to add glamor to the event. | |
 | Alexander himself married Achaemenid princesses from two dynastic lines: Barsine, a daughter Darius III Codomannus, and Parysatis, a daughter ofArtaxerxes III Ochus. Hephaestion married another daughter of Darius III, Drypetis. Other commanders married princesses of lesser rank (text).In these days, Hephaestion was also appointed as chiliarchos, 'vizier', andPtolemy became Alexander's edeatros, 'taster': both were Greek names for old Persian court functions. According to the Persian customs, Hephaestion was entitled to a walking stick and golden earrings, as can be seen on the picture of Pharnaces, who had been vizier (hazarapatiš) almost two centuries earlier. | |
In the summer of 324, Alexander and Hephaestion commanded army groups in Elam and the south of Babylonia: not for fighting, but to find out the course of the main rivers and the coasts. Alexander's next plan was a naval expedition to Arabia, and it was imperative to control the coastal area. Besides, there were many recruits from Iran, who needed to be trained.As vizier, Hephaestion was responsible for many things, and his decisions about the royal correspondence may have been the cause of a conflict withEumenes, the secretary of Alexander. However, our sources are silent about the details of their rivalry. The only thing we know for certain is that Alexander ordered them a reconciliation. Late in the summer, Alexander went to the north, to visit Ecbatana, one of the capitals of his empire. He was received by Atropates, the satrap ofMedia. As usual, there was a drinking party, but this time it had a sad consequence: Hephaestion fell ill and died (October 324). Drypetis and Alexander were shocked, and Eumenes -seizing the opportunity to get into Alexander's good books- proposed to give divine honors to the dead hero, who was cremated in Babylon. | ||
 | Plutarch of Chaeronea writes that Alexander once remarked that without him, Hephaestion would be nothing. This was true. Hephaestion was a competent officer, but was lacking the brilliance of rival commanders likeParmenion and Craterus. He was a skilled diplomat and a great organizer, but he did not speak his foreign languages like Peucestas and did not write as beautiful as Eumenes. However, he was closer to the king's heart, and this must have made his position very, very difficult: all court officials envied him. This made him an isolated man, who was completely dependent on the king. Therefore, Alexander could completely rely on Hephaestion. |
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