One-shots of fascinating, tragic, beautiful and little-known true love stories. Most are from history. Some are from legends and myths. All of them have touched my heart in some way, and I hope they touch yours too.
Oh, and I've also made a graphic...
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Time Period: 356 BCE, Macedon (Modern-Day Northern Greece) Source: Historical documentation Song: "What Did Ancient Greece Look Like?" *video can be found above - highly recommended*
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I have to say this is one of my favourites. Okay, scratch that. Almost every one of these is my favourite as I'm writing it. But this one is definitely up there.
I'm a sucker for relationships that span entire lifetimes. And this one certainly does. We have to start all the way back in Alexander's babycrib to understand it. So, Alexander was born to Phillip II (King of Macedon) and his wife, Olympias. The two hated each other. Olympias actually convinced Alexander that he was Zeus' child instead, because she wanted him to have nothing to do with his father. She made Alexander's birth into somewhat of a legend, saying all these mythical things about it (visions of thunderbolts and lions, etc).
I'm not sure about you, but I grew up thinking Alexander was a part of mythology, probably due in part to all these mythical legends that were told about him. Note: I'm Greek, so I grew up hearing Alexander this, Alexander that. Maybe you haven't even heard of him until now! But for us, he is a big deal. Huge deal. Another note: it's actually funny how intertwined mythology and history are in Greece. I seriously didn't know the difference between the two. I still don't, and I kind of like it that way - it's more magical. I remember my grandfather showing me this place Paris took Helen before the Trojan War. I asked him how Paris met Helen and he told me, straight-faced, "Aphrodite introduced them." See?
So anyway, Alexander was a real guy, but he was also super mythological, just like every other heroic figure in Greek history was. And because of all these legends about him, his father Philip II had high hopes for his son. He was going to be the greatest warrior. This is just to set the scene for how much of a big deal Alexander was in the kingdom. Everyone in the Macedon court where he grew up thought he was somewhat divine and treated him like it.
Hephaestion was around Alexander's age, and he was the son of a general in Phillip II's army. As such, he also grew up in the Macedon court. From the beginning, both he and Alexander were great childhood friends.
They were such great friends that wherever Alexander went, Hephaestion went too. And Alexander went many places. He was going to be the greatest warrior. As a boy, he studied combat under Leonidas (yes, the main guy from The 300). Hephaestion went along with him.
Then, in their teens, Alexander went to study under Aristotle for three years. Hephaestion, as well as some other young boys from the Macedon court, accompanied him there, too. These group of boys would be Alexander's life-long friends, making them all part of his cavalry when it became time for him to lead an army of his own.
That time soon came, as a series of wars called Phillip II's attention, and Alexander was left to rule in his father's place as Regent. To protect his kingdom, Alexander promoted Hephaestion as his cavalry's leader. Alexander's military instructions proved to be spectacular, and he was undefeatable wherever he went. This is what Alexander is known for: his incredible military skills, and his inability to be defeated.
