#hephaestion

thinking about alexander and his beloved hephaestion again. him reading the illiad by homer and seeing himself and his friend in the great demi-god and hero; him standing with his lover over achilles' and patroclus' grave. him giving hephaestion the position of chiliarch, meaning he was second in rank only to alexander himself. him saying to his enemy's wife that she has made no error in prostrating before hephaestion because he is alexander himself. him chasing glory and flying too close to the sun, like icarus had done, losing his one true love. his grief being so deep that he cut off his hair like achilles once did for his patroclus; forbidding music and ordering mourning throughout the entire state; worshipping hephaestion like a god. him not soon after succumbing to death's sweet embrace and there becoming a youth once again, meeting his dearest friend in the afterlife with a smile.

I only discovered today that Alexander the Great believed that he was a descendant of Achilles on his mother's side. This man and his mythological obsession, oh, how deeply I can understand him...