The horn of the sycthian ass

[adisciplus]

There is a tradition that Alexander was murdered by poison, which was brought from Greece in the hoof of a mule that alone could resist the effects of this liquid. There is speculation that this tradition arose from the dedication of the horn of a Scythian Ass mentioned by Aelian:

"Haec cornua a Sopatro apportata fuisse ajunt Alexandro Macedoni, et illum admiratum misisse Delphos ut dedicaren nk Pythio cum hac inscriptione: Hoc tibi Alexander Macedo mirabile cornu Dedica, o Paean, ex asino Scythico, Illaesum quod aquam Stygis est pote claudere solum, Invictique alias vincere vim laticis."
- AELIANUS CLAUDIUS - DE NATURA ANIMALIUM

"They say these horns had been brought by Sopatrus for Alexander Macedo, and that he [viz, Alex Macedo], having admired them, sent them to Delphi so that he might dedicate them to the Pythian One (viz, Apollo) with this inscription: ‘This marvellous horn from the Scythian ass, Alexander Macedo dedicates to you, O Paean [epithet of Apollo], because it is possible for him alone, unwounded, to hold the Stygian water and to overcome the power of otherwise unconquered water."

Question: Who is this Sopatrus and is he somehow linked to the Athenian bull-murderer during whose trial the blame fell to the knife not its wielder?

[Taphoi]

Since the Bouphonia was very ancient (Pausanias says the original ox-murder took place in the time of King Erechtheus), it would seem unlikely that the Sopatros associated by Porphyry with its foundation myth is related to a character from Alexander's era. There is an outside chance that Sopatros the poet from Paphos mentioned by Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2.71a is the same as the one mentioned by Aelian.

Best wishes,

Andrew

[agesilaos]

Aelian was not the most faithful of transcribers and the juxtaposition of 'Alexander Macedoni' ie Alexander of Macedon and '***patros' one might immediately suspect that the latter is a garbled reference to Antipatros; especially given the properties quoted for the horn. I would not cite this as any evidence of a real plot it almost certainly comes from a more fully worked up version of the Poison plot and mirrors the story of Olympias dedicating the blade that slew Philip.

Surely Aelian wrote in Greek?