Document 4-1: Ephippus Of Olynthus, On the Burial of Alexander and Hephaestion: Ephippus of Olynthus Remembers Alexander the Great (ca. 323 B.C.E.)

Remembering a Legend

EPHIPPUS OF OLYNTHUS, On the Burial of Alexander and Hephaestion: Ephippus of Olynthus Remembers Alexander the Great (ca. 323 B.C.E.)

Even before his death in 323 B.C.E., Alexander the Great had become a legend, the hero for whom the defeat of the mighty Persian Empire was only the first step toward the conquest of the known world. Alexander, who thought of himself as the son of Zeus, encouraged this belief in his superhuman abilities, emphasizing in his manner and dress the connection between himself and the gods. The following excerpt from a treatise by Ephippus of Olynthus captures Alexander’s style. As you read it, ask yourself why Alexander behaved as he did. What political advantages might he have gained by his overt claims to semi-divine status?

Concerning the luxury of Alexander the Great, Ephippus of Olynthus, in his treatise On the Burial of Alexander and Hephaestion, relates that he had in his park a golden throne and couches with silver feet, on which he used to sit while transacting business with his companions. Nicobule1 says, moreover, that while he was at supper all the dancers and athletes sought to amuse the king. At his very last banquet, Alexander, remembering an episode in the Andromeda2 of Euripides, recited it in a declamatory manner, and then drank a cup of unmixed wine with great zest, and compelled all the rest to do the same. Ephippus tells us, too, that Alexander used to wear at his entertainments even the sacred vestments. Sometimes he would put on the purple robe, cloven sandals, and horns of Ammon,3 as if he had been the god. Sometimes he would imitate Artemis,4 whose dress he often wore while driving in his chariot; at the same time he had on a Persian robe, which displayed above his shoulders the bow and javelin of the goddess. At times also he would appear in the guise of Hermes;5 at other times, and in fact nearly every day, he would wear a purple cloak, a chiton shot with white, and a cap with a royal diadem attached. When too he was in private with his friends he wore the sandals of Hermes, with the petasus6 on his head and the caduceus7 in hand. Often however he wore a lion’s skin and carried a club like Heracles.8 . . .

Alexander used also to have the floor sprinkled with exquisite perfumes and with fragrant wine; and myrrh and other kinds of incense were burned before him, while all the bystanders kept silence or spoke words only of good omen because of fear. For he was an extremely violent man with no regard for human life, and gave the impression of a man of choleric temperament.

From G. W. Botsford and E. G. Sihler, eds., Hellenic Civilization (New York: Columbia University Press, 1915), pp. 682–683.

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