#kleitos

Lil break from the charts with the guards official design off armor 😌

I honestly don't think he'd be able to, unless he were literally blind with rage or hallucinating. He killed Kleitos, although close to him, because Kleitos pushed him over the edge and both were drunk. It seems there had already been words between them and I imagine Kleitos had been quarreling with him for a while.

Many murders are committed by family members or someone else very close to the victim. I honestly don't think the murder of Kleitos was calculated (although a few have suggested as much). I think it truly was a crime of passion, and Alexander felt genuine remorse.

Yet he doesn't seem to have quarreled with Hephaistion the same way. I just don't see him killing Hephaistion with his own hand, ever. There was that threat in India, but as will become evident when my article on it comes out (probably next year?), I don't think that event happened, or not as Plutarch relates it. And even if it did and there was such a threat, when it came down to following through? No. Especially not in cold blood. As noted, the only way I think it could have happened would be a complete accident as a result of hallucinating or something.

Like i always wondered how your maids and suitors would look like in a modern au!

I would LOVE to see more!😫

Hehehe oh I know! It’s just that I don’t have much, I have a Eurydamas pic…

Or Thriasus and Laomedes friendship

Thanks to wasa and Sinner we made a lot of hunger games /office games so I developed more Thriasus and gave him his glow up…

For the “office games” pic we decided to do funny photos.. well

Inside joke (oh plus in the first the lil guy is Pseras, I’ll see if someday I’ll make him public!)

Our bumble of joy Kleitos!😌💕

As regularly now I’ll spread some info!

Well as you can see my overly protective and diligent boy, regardless of trust or not it’s protective over everyone! (Except the guards cause he trust them and feel like they don’t need protection on regular basis, only when in danger/hurt) he is a good puppy after all

I know I know

“But what about Pyrros!?” He’s there🙂‍↕️ I just need to work more on him, and actually give him more personality than just “I’m grateful and overly protective over my older sister”

But in anycase I might do a bonus chart with Pyrros as well! And use the double arrows!

We’ll see…

Anyway!

I do find cute the detail that I most definitely headcanon him with Hercules (from the Disney movie)’s voice, while Melia has Megara as her voice claim so it’s a cute detail I wanted to add!

Even if in reality, Melia sees him more like a younger brother, cause he’s very much alike to her brothers!

The handsome fella standing next to Kleitos is Tychon, my beloved ladybug guard oc made by @genrihgayne 💕

Kleitos of Ithaca

(Κλειτός — “renowned, called forth”)

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Spirit Animal:

Molossian Hound

Not merely a war dog, but a guardian of hearth and flock.

Symbolism:

• Protective without cruelty

• Strong yet warm-hearted

• Loud laughter, strong presence — but disciplined in duty

• Loyal to the household above all

⸻

Status in the Palace:

Kleitos entered palace service after Odysseus had already departed for Troy.

With the king absent, Ithaca required reliable men to maintain order beyond the palace walls. Kleitos was not born noble, but he was born free — and in the Mycenaean world, freedom and reputation could open doors.

His family formally presented him to the palace as a man willing to enter royal service. Such arrangements were common: a free household could bind one of its sons to the wanax’s estate in exchange for honor, stability, and protection.

He was accepted not for bloodline, but for proven character.

⸻

Backstory:

Kleitos was born to livestock keepers in the inland hills of Ithaca. His family raised large Molossian-type hounds trained to defend sheep from wolves and raiders.

From childhood, he learned:

• Strength is responsibility.

• Protection is service.

• The strong stand between danger and the vulnerable.

When Odysseus left for Troy, the balance of Ithaca shifted. Without a ruling king present:

• Local disputes grew more frequent.

• Minor feuds escalated.

• Authority became uncertain in rural districts.

Kleitos began stepping in during conflicts — not as an official, but as a respected young man known for fairness and restraint. He broke up fights without bloodshed. He listened before acting.

Word of him reached the palace.

During a time when loyal manpower was needed, Kleitos was brought into service as a palace guard — formally sworn to the royal household.

He became known quietly as “the one who stands between.”

⸻

Kleitos is:

• A free man

• Bound by oath to the royal household

• Likely granted food, equipment, and status in return for service.

He is part of the king’s warrior-retinue — though still young within it.

⸻

Conflict with the Other Guards:

With Odysseus absent:

• The authority to punish noble guests is politically delicate.

• Penelope maintains the household, but cannot openly wage war on visiting aristocrats.

• Guards must tread carefully to avoid civil conflict.

Many older guards understand this. (Like Alkaimos or Pistos)

Kleitos struggles with it.

To him:

• Protection should not depend on politics.

• Disorder within the hall is still disorder.

• A house should not decay while its defenders stand idle.

When told:

“We cannot act without the king.”

He feels the frustration deeply.

But he does not disobey.

His restraint shows maturity beyond his years.

⸻

Personality

• Open smile

• Quick laughter

• Tireless worker

• Direct and honest

• Deep moral clarity

• Protective of servants and common folk

• Genuinely believes in justice

He does not serve out of ambition.

He serves because he believes a household must be defended — even in waiting.

⸻

Strengths:

• Strong defensive fighter

• Excellent shield discipline

• Skilled at de-escalating conflict

• High endurance

• Inspires confidence among rural communities

⸻

Flaws

• Impatient with excessive caution

• Struggles to understand political compromise

• Sometimes visibly frustrated

• Still learning the weight of hierarchy

⸻

Relationship to Telemachus:

Kleitos respects Telemachus not because he is prince — but because he sees him trying to grow into the role.

He may:

• Offer small words of encouragement

• Stand slightly closer when tension rises

• Be the first guard whose posture shifts when a suitor oversteps

He does not treat Telemachus as a boy.

He treats him as a future king.

Could it have ended differently? Almost certainly. That’s the tragedy of the whole thing. I will say, I don’t think he “punished” Kleitos with death intentionally. His immediate reaction to the murder tells us it wasn’t anything so calculated as a deliberate execution. Like much in ATG’s career, we may know what happened, more or less, but not WHY it happened. That’s where the interpretation of our later authors (or the missing contemporary authors) gets in the way.

Some modern historians have even called into question whether it happened at a symposion, seeing the event as part of a later Roman trope of Drunk Alexander. Lord knows, Seneca and others use it as an example of an inability to control one’s passions. Nonetheless, Macedonian drinking parties—albeit exaggerated beginning with the writings of Theopompos on—were a feature of Macedonian royal life. I could see one that ended in such a terrible tragedy.

So, Alexander killed Kleitos, but the circumstances are confused.

The reported argument between Alexander and Kleitos contained in any of our extant sources must, I think, be regarded has highly suspect. Even our so-called “best” historical source, Arrian, places the event out of order in his history to create a narrative about Alexander’s increasing descent into Asian “tyrannical” rule, a part of which includes the proskynesis event which my colleague Hugh Bowden has taken the air out of quite effectively. I no longer believe proskynesis happened.

So, if we reject the Roman-influenced narrative of good ol’ boy Macedonian upset at Alexander’s New Persian Airs, WHAT THE F. HAPPENED??! Why did Alexander and Kleitos fight?

I’m not sure there’s a certain answer. But I do recall that (I think?) Waldemar Heckel pointed out the Kleitos event occurred in the wake of the Marakanda massacre, and the symposion at which ATG speared Kleitos also featured an informal “play” wherein the commanders of the lost troops were spoofed as at fault for their own deaths. It was the worst loss the Macedonians had experienced in Asia. Alexander wasn’t there, and so the loss didn’t technically fall on his tally sheet.

Except it did, because he failed to clarify the chain of command. This apparently resulted in contravening orders from the commanders, and that ended in catastrophic loss. At the symposion, Alexander did not call down as inappropriate those presenting the play.

That infuriated Kleitos, who challenged Alexander, and Alexander replied in a rage.

To me, that actually makes some real sense. The whole Baktria-Sogdiana campaign wasn’t going well and the Marakanda massacre became a very bloody cherry on top. Kleitos dared to call out Alexander for it. Things got really ugly…and just as bloody.

If there was any silver lining, it’s that Alexander had some sense knocked into him. He looked more closely at the conflict. After this event, when he captured the Sogdian Rock and (maybe?) Roxana, he married his way out of the war in Baktria-Sogdiana. I say maybe captured Roxana as it’s unclear if he acquired her there or earlier. Either way, he married her now and was able to leave the region (in peace) about three months later. The Marakanda massacre and murder of Kleitos appear to have been turning points in how ATG assessed his regional strategy.

Short answer: Yes. At least the historical man. After Kleitos's murder, he would have to have questioned.

My Hephaistion doesn’t fear Alexander would execute him while sober, but after Kleitos, he does wonder if Alexander in a rage could kill him. And, seeing Alexander’s reaction to Kleitos’s murder, fears what Alexander might do to himself in his grief, as a result.