![]() ![]() ![]() In other words, Hephaestion admired Alexander as a person, not merely a leader. Once, when a companion had compared Hephaestion to Craterus, another of Alexander's closest friends, Alexander responded by explaining that Craterus was "king-loving" while Hephaestion was "Alexander-loving" (XVII, 114). Diodorus reports that Alexander loved Hephaestion more than any of his friends. In addition, this group, which normally consisted of seven men, apparently did not have a commander.įinally, the most prominent discussion about Hephaestion in this account comes after his death. It explains that, at the time of this battle, Hephaestion was not yet a member of Alexander's most elite group of advisers/bodyguards, known as the " Somatophylakes" (Note: According to Wikipedia, Hephaestion actually was a member in 331 BCE). However, according to the footnote, this doesn't add up. He refers to Hephaestion as the commander of the king's bodyguards. The next interesting mention comes much later, during the decisive Battle of Guagamela, when Diodorus tells us that Hephaestion was wounded by an enemy spear. When Queen Sisygambis mistakenly bows before Hephaestion, Alexander tells her not to worry, "for actually he too is Alexander" (XVII, 37). Hephaestion, Diordorus tells us, was "the most valued of his friends", in addition to being taller and more handsome than Alexander. ![]() Here, Diodorus tells a similar version of the story told by Curtius and Arrian. The first mention of Hephaestion in this work comes after the Battle of Issus, when Alexander visits the captured Persian royal family. He also omits any reference to Hephaestion at Troy, merely stating that Alexander visited the tombs of the heroes and honored them. Regardless, how does Diodorus describe Alexander's companion Hephaestion? Is there anything special about his account compared to the others we've looked at?Īs his account begins at Alexander's succession to the throne of Macedon, Diodorus does not provide us any insight into how Alexander and Hephaestion may have met. The accuracy of Diodorus' account, which deals in some mythic events, has been debated by critics. But this doesn't necessarily make him the most reliable. This means that, of the five best surviving sources on Alexander's campaigns, Diodorus was closest to the historical time period of wrote about. We know very little about Diodorus, except that he was from Sicily and wrote during the 1st century BCE. Let's begin with Diodorus Siculus and his sprawling work, The Library of History, which purports to tell the history of a large part of the world (include Greece, Egypt, Persia, India and parts of Europe) from the Trojan War to the 1st century BCE. Now it's time to look at what some of the other ancient sources said about Hephaestion, including Diodorus, Aelian, and Diogenes of Sinope. You can read those posts by clicking on the names above. So far, I've looked at what Arrian, Plutarch, and Curtius had to say about Alexander the Great's relationship with Hephaestion. UPDATE: Episode III of the Achilles Gene podcast, which investigates the mystery of Alexander and Hephaestion, is now available! It features stories from their life and analysis from the world's leading expert on this topic. ![]()
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