Alexander and Hephaestion: Censorship and Bisexual Erasure?

[Sweetmemory41]

A poster presentation from George Washington University - https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/do ... &locale=en

[Alexias]

The problem with this is that it brings sex first and foremost in their relationship and ignores all the other elements - friendship, military comradeship, delegation, support of policies and so on.

[sikander]

The problem with this is that it brings sex first and foremost in their relationship and ignores all the other elements - friendship, military comradeship, delegation, support of policies and so on.

Greetings Alexias,
Good point. I have the impression with several historians that their own biases play a part in the way the relationship is perceived. I was struck by the words about Alexander being "shorter, stockier and more feminine" than Hephaistion...reminds me of green's "fundamentally stupid" comment. Where does the "feminine" come in? It wouldn't be a word I would associate with Alexander...

Regards,
Sikander

[hiphys]

If you wouldn't associate the word 'feminine' with Alexander, certainly you don't know the book, The Madness of Alexander the Great and the Myth of Military Genius, by R. A. Gabriel!

[sikander]

If you wouldn't associate the word 'feminine' with Alexander, certainly you don't know the book, The Madness of Alexander the Great and the Myth of Military Genius, by R. A. Gabriel!

Books are one person's opinion, as well as anything else. There are many stories about famous people that can be interpreted how the reader wants, just as behaviors are often interpreted based on culture and bias. And of course, human charateristics are often divided into categories as a way of creating expectations in any society.

PTSD as a factor in Alexander's behaviors are certainly not a new idea, and few would argue that possibility. But in delving into his
psychology", too many authors try to analyse a man outside their own culture, people, world, society, etc and without understanding his...

We'll just have to agree to disagree...

[hiphys]

I disagree of course with the thesis of R. A. Gabriel!

[Alexias]

I haven't read this book, but there is a preview here https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/ ... frontcover. Is it worth reading?

I read the first few pages of the above, but I wonder if he might have considered fully the differences between ancient and modern warfare. There were long periods when Alexander and his army were not fighting, they did not have to deal with the constant stress of bombs dropping out of the sky or the ground blowing up under their feet, or the noise of modern warfare. The nearest they would have got to modern warfare was perhaps a siege.

And post traumatic stress, means after the stress has finished. Alexander didn't finish fighting, so was there time for him to show signs of PTSD? Yes, there were constant pressures during his campaign and his character did change. He had to adapt to the stresses of guerilla warfare in Bactria and Sogdia, and the difficulty of keeping the army going in India. But did this impair his ability to function?