An atypical affair? Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros and the nature of their relationship

Authors

Jeanne Reames, University of Nebraska at OmahaFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1999

Publication Title

The Ancient History Bulletin

Volume

13

Issue

3

First Page

81

Last Page

96

Abstract

Most recent Alexander historians - especially those writing after Stonewall - assume that the friendship of Alexander the Great and Hephaistion Amyntoros was not purely platonic.² Despite this, the names of Alexander and Hephaistion rarely find their way into modem lists of ancient lovers, nor are they much mentioned in studies of Greek homoeroticism³ - perhaps because they fail to fit the model first detailed by K.J. Dover in 1978. This dichotomy is a curiosity of recent specialization in classics. Alexander historians assume the affair while historians of Greek sexuality ignore it. In any case, the matter of Alexander and Hephaistion has not really been addressed in light of the last fifteen years of scholarship on Greek homoeroticism. Certainly, the answer cannot be assumed. For one thing, the two men were coevals; that by itself would disqualify them according to commonly agreed-upon criteria. So perhaps it is time to bring these two threads of scholarship together.

Recommended Citation

Reames, Jeanne, "An atypical affair? Alexander the Great, Hephaistion Amyntoros and the nature of their relationship" (1999). History Faculty Publications. 17.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/histfacpub/17