Hephaestion's Death:A Moment of Grief for Alexander or a Catalyst for his Quest for Immortality?
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Hephaestion was the most loyal friend of Alexander the Great. He was the supporter of Alexander’s policy and participated in building Alexander’s image so by creating parallels with the Homeric figures. It already started at the beginning of the Macedonian expedition when they visited Achilles and Patroclus tombs. Mourning after Hephaestion death allowed Alexander expressed deep grief in a truly Homeric way. Mourning time was the last opportunity to refer to the created by them Homeric image of friendship. Alexander wished to be remembered by his contemporaries and subsequent generations just as his ancestors did. Therefore, sometimes undertook actions that were of an image-related nature. Extraordinary way of express feelings and lavish character of funeral ceremony, number of people involved the in preparations raise the question of Alexander’s purposefulness. Important for this consideration is fact that commemorating Hephaestion also became an opportunity to aspire to divinity once again. The study aims are to analyze of actions taken by Alexander the Great after the death of his friend and consider how it influenced to Alexander’s image.
Source: Athens Journal of History
Author: Klaudia Oczachowska
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4408960638