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Alexias wrote:J Reames updated her thesis in her essay entitled The Cult of Hephaestion in ‘Responses to Oliver Stone’s Alexander’. Her principle points are that she doesn’t think Hephaestion became one of Alexander’s Bodyguards until the weddings at Susa, or when he became Chiliarch. It seems to be more widely accepted that he became a Bodyguard after the death of one of Philip’s old Bodyguards at Halicarnassus (I think). She also believes that the column Hephaestion commanded in Bactria was not engaged in military activity but in resettling the populace into towns after the actions of the other 4 columns.

I'd be terribly interested in reading the argument for his elevation at Susa. I might have thought he'd already be somatophylax prior to being ordained primus inter pares of the empire - with the notable exception of the conqueror himself of course.

I believe Reames is probably right with respect to his Bactrian activities. Hephaestion seems always paired with another marshal when fighting is the the likely aim.

Alexias wrote:Lucian ‘A Slip of the tongue in salutation’:

"Eumenes of Cardia, writing to Antipater, states that just before the battle of Issus, Hephaestion came at dawn into Alexander's tent. Either in absence of mind and confusion like mine, or else under a divine impulse, he gave the evening salutation like me--'Hail, sire; ’tis time we were at our posts.' All present were confounded at the irregularity, and Hephaestion himself was like to die of shame, when Alexander said, 'I take the omen; it is a promise that we shall come back safe from battle.'"

I had an argument with someone about this recently, and I am quite happy to be proven wrong, if someone can show me that there is room for doubt in translating the verb in the opening sentence. Unfortunately I can’t find a copy of the original text on the web.

The words are: heothen eiselthon eis ten skenen (ἕωθεν εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν σκηνὴν) or "at dawn entered into the tent". The tent being, of course, that of Alexander. Perhaps, aside from the text, there is something else leading Reames to her view?

Her implication is that they had been sleeping together; but I would not set any store by a story from a letter quoted by a satirist, cod letters were a common literary form in the Hellenistic and Roman worlds, one could stretch the form back to Isokrates and the form - bad omen into good - is a common trope. The promotion of Hephaistion is never mentioned and so may have occured under Philip, Ptolemy son of Seleukos, whose position as Royal bodyguard he is meant to have filled was probably only an officer of the foot agema and not one of the Seven; Diodoros also calls him the leader of the somatophylakes at Gaugamela, Susa seems too late.

Hi there Chris,

I am late here, but I would like to share a thought:
The lack of data about Hephaestion, which leaves sooo many blank spaces for Alex's admirers (me including ), and gives out a profusion of Why's (oh dear, we will hardly know, damn! ), must be one big reason for some scholars either dismissing him, or adjectivising him, in offense (so I hear/heard in this forum). And, not understanding some of these Why's, like Why he was made Chiliarch, Why he married an Hakhamenid princess (wow), Why was he always (well, most of the time) with Alex ( ), leaves a hole on Alexander's life too.
What can be worse for angry scholars?
See ya!
Susa