Alexander Of Macedon - Blog Posts

Iliad-related stuff about Alexander the Great (according to Plutarch):

- He owned a very special copy of the poem, annotated by his tutor Aristotle himself. He guarded the manuscript in a small, precious chest that once belonged to Darius of Persia, and slept with it - and his dagger - under his pillow every night

- When he was a young boy, one of his tutors liked to call himself 'Phoenix' (the name of young Achilles' mentor) and Alexander's father Phillip 'Peleus', while little Alex was obviously Achilles himself (he was literally obsessed with the guy, since he also believed to be his descendant from his mother's side)

- Speaking of which, Alexander visited and paid homage to said hero's tomb in the region of Troy with games and stuff, honoring his "blessed fate" since he had had "such a trusted companion [aka Patroclus] in life and a noble herald [aka Homer] in death." (some other sources say that Hephaestion was with him as they paid homage to the tombs of Patroclus and Achilles respectively. Plus the way Alex's grief after Hephaestion's death mirrors perfectly that of his fav hero would deserve its own post)

- During the same journey there, he got offered to see the mythical lyre played by his namesake, Paris (also known as Alexander in the Iliad), to which he replied something like "hell no I couldn't care less, let me see the lyre that Achilles used to play" lol

Imagine this: a young, mighty king has just conquered some faraway regions in the East, so he and his men decide to celebrate one night.

Still a bit tipsy after the celebration, the conqueror goes to attend the dance competition held in his honor: the winner turns out to be a young eunuch of extraordinary beauty, praised generously and crowned by the king himself.

Seeing the two of them so close, the men and all the others start applauding from the stands, and they all start shouting in unison: "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

The king, amused, does not object: he smiles and wraps his arms around the beautiful dancer, whom he kisses gently on the lips among the cheers of his men.

No, I did not just come up with this. It's a small historical anecdote. And the king in question is none other than the GOAT Alexander the Great.

Sometimes I think I know Alexander better than myself.

I still can't believe he died a day after my birthday (Or maybe three) 😱