Alexander's Lover [Alexander the Great + Hephaestion | mxm]

III

Aristotle, upon finding him, demanded why he wasn't playing with the other boys. When he learned that Alexander had been studying his annotated copy of the poem, he was deeply impressed.

"It's yours," he said when Alexander tried to give it back. He knew Alexander was a special boy, that he would go on to do great things. Every hero had their tutor. He would be honoured to be Alexander's.

"I want to know more," Alexander beseeched him.

So Aristotle taught them the thoughts of other philosophers.

He spoke of Aeschylus and his tragedy The Myrmidons. In it, the great tragedian wrote of Achilles, erastes, and Patroclus, eromenos. He wrote of how fond Achilles was of "the reverent company" of Patroclus' thighs and how Patroclus was "ungrateful for many kisses."

The ancient Greek lyric poet Pindar spoke of them too, Aristotle recounted. He drew an analogy between his characters Hagesidamus the student and Ilas the trainer to Patroclus and Achilles in the Olympian, and even compared Hagesidamus to Zeus' lover, Ganymede.

"Plato himself," Aristotle imparted, "writes of your esteemed Achilles in his Symposium. Perhaps you've read it."

"He presents them as an example of divinely approved lovers," Alexander recites solemnly.

"That's right. But he contradicts Aeschylus and suggests that, in fact, Achilles is the eromenos and Patroclus the erastes."

"So who was right?"

Aristotle chuckled.

"How shall we ever know? Homer never specified. Aeschylus, Plutarch, Theocritus, Martial, Lucian, Aeschines... They all say that Homer's audience at the time would have understood implicitly. That is why he is so vague."

On and on their discussions went. Alexander's ambition and curiosity knew no bounds. He would conquer the world, if only by learning all of it.

By night, he slept with the copy of Homer's Iliad under his pillow. By day, he practiced spear-throwing, sword-fighting and wrestling. His skills improved steadily, becoming sharply honed for battle. He fancied he was the great and ferocious Achilles.

***

When they were fifteen, Alexander and Hephaestion requested permission of Aristotle to sail together to the town of Pisa, in Peloponnesus. Aristotle chuckled. "One soul abiding in two bodies," he called them, and bade them go.

The boys sailed off together, laughing and cheering and pretending they were off to conquer the world.

After a few hours of smooth sailing, they took to gossiping about the other boys. They were delighted to be able to have some privacy.

"Perdiccas is nice," Hephaestion posited. "I don't like Craterus, though. And Nearchus is dreadfully dull."

"I hate Cassander," Alexander muttered. "If he were not Antipatros' heir, he would not be here."

"You don't seem to like Philotas very much, either."

"I don't."

Alexander laughed, watching his friend's profile. The sun was at its zenith. The wind ruffled Hephaestion's shoulder-length hair, which gleamed like burnished gold. Alexander noticed that his eyes sparkled in the sunlight, glittering blue like the scintillating ocean.

Hephaestion turned to Alexander after a long stretch of silence.

"Do you miss home?"

"I'd never tell anyone else this, but I don't miss my parents. They bade me to sleep with women - I refused, of course - and they were constantly quarrelling about this and that..."