In Fox's interpretation of Alexander's life, the conqueror views himself as a kind of "new Achilles", both a rival and admirer of this Homeric hero. Honestly, I find it very difficult to speculate on the third question, considering how contingent it is on other information we simply don't know. (1) Were Alexander and Hephaestion lovers? (2) How old was Hephaestion? and (3) If they were lovers AND Hephaestion was older, is it plausible to invoke Philip's absenteeism from Alexander's life as an explanation for their relationship? There are a few layers of unanswered questions here. Hephaestion's age is not known and its discovery could put their relationship in an unexpected light: he may have even been the older of the two, like the Homeric hero with whom contemporaries compared him, an older Patroclus to Alexander's Achilles" (56). The context and questionable authorship of the letter make its historical value tenuous.įox goes on to analyze Alexander's attachment to Hephaestion: ".it is not always fanciful to explain the homosexuality of Greek young men as a son's need to replace an absent or indifferent father with an older lover. However, the authenticity of these letters have been questioned by modern scholars. The famous line Fox references, of an Alexander being "ruled by Hephaestion's thighs" comes from a collection of letters, written during Roman times, purporting to quote Diogenes of Sinope, a contemporary of Alexander. In Fox's own words: "Hephaestion was the one whom Alexander loved, and for the rest of their lives their relationship remained as intimate as it is now irrecoverable: Alexander was only defeated once, the Cynic philosophers said long after his death, and that was by Hephaestion's thighs" (Alexander the Great, pg.
Their affair began while they were pupils of Aristotle at Mieza, if not earlier, and ended only after Hephaestion's death. With that in mind, what does Fox have to say about Hephaestion?īasically, Fox fully subscribes to the theory that Alexander and Hephaestion were (more or less) lifelong lovers. Rather, it is an interpretation - one plausible take on Alexander and his career. You can read more about Fox's involvement in the film here.Įven though Fox's account of Alexander is immensely detailed, he admits it is not exactly a biography of Alexander the Great. For this reason, director Oliver Stone hired Fox as the primary historical consultant for the film Alexander.
His 1974 book Alexander the Great offers one of the most compelling, and detailed, portrayals of the conqueror in modern times.
You can listen here.Įnglish historian Robin Lane Fox is one of the world's most influential scholars when it comes to Alexander the Great. 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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