Alexander the Great not only led great conquests, but also - a lush erotic life. It's easiest to call him bisexual, although that would be a big oversimplification.
Alexander the Great is one of those characters whose erotic life is filled with incredible myths. It happened because of his friend Hephaestion, with whom the founder of the new empire had a similar relationship as the mythical Achilles with Patroclus and whom he ordered to honor after his death.
But it was also because of the favorites who hovered around the Macedonian (it is possible that one of them had his fingers in the mysterious death of the young ruler in Babylon). Such as the eunuch Bagoas, to whom the ruler publicly treated with some affection.
The Cheronea Plutarch described:
On arriving at the royal castle in Gedrosia, Alexander gave his soldiers rest again and ordered great festive celebrations there. He then watched them narrate, drunk, choir competitions. The winner of the competition was his favorite Bagoas. The Macedonians, seeing how he had passed in ornate clothes through the theater and sat down next to Alexander, clapped their hands and shouted for him to kiss him until he actually embraced and kissed him.
Therefore, nowadays, some would like to see Alexander the Great as a declared homosexual. But he had three wives (Roxana, Statejra and Parysatis), a mistress (Barsine), and he had at least one son (Alexander IV)!
Alexander the Great (photo:public domain)
According to prof. Daniel Ogden, author of the research paper Alexander's Sex Life, we can better understand the Macedonian man and his behavior, abandoning the clinging to the belief widespread years ago that the ruler was heterosexual and free from licentiousness. Better to acknowledge that the great conqueror was bisexual, with multiple partners and "adventures" with men.
It seems that Alexander - although Macedonian, not Athenian or Thebanian - was very much like the Greeks of his time, whose lives and erotic preferences eluded clear classification. He must have expanded the boundaries of his sexual freedom a little, just as he expanded the boundaries of the world known to the Greeks at the time.
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The text was created during the author's work on his latest book. " Ages of shame. Sex and erotica in antiquity ” . Click and buy with a discount on empik.com.