References to Hephaestion in the sources
Quintus Curtius Rufus
3.12.15 When the funeral services had been duly discharged, Alexander sent messengers to the female prisoners to announce his coming and then, leaving the crowd of his attendants outside, he went into their tent with Hephaestion.
3.12.16 Hephaestion was by far the dearest of all the king’s friends; he had been brought up with Alexander and shared all his secrets. No other person was privileged to advise the king as candidly as he did, and yet he exercised that privilege in such a way that it seemed granted by Alexander rather than claimed by Hephaestion. While he was the king’s age, in stature he was his superior, [3.12.17] and so the queens took him to be the king and did obeisance before him after their manner. Whereupon some of the captive eunuchs pointed out the real Alexander, and Sisigambis flung herself at his feet, apologizing for not recognizing him on the ground that she had never before seen him. Raising her with his hand, Alexander said, ‘My lady, you made no mistake. This man is Alexander too.’
4.1.16 The king in Sidon, Strato, relied on the support of Darius for his position, but because his surrender to Alexander had been prompted by his citizens’ wishes rather than his own, he was considered unworthy of his rule, and Hephaestion was authorized to appoint to the throne the Sidonian he considered most deserving of that high office.
4.1.17 Hephaestion was the house-guest of two young men who enjoyed some distinction among their fellow-citizens, but when given the opportunity of assuming the throne they said that traditionally nobody was elevated to the position unless he was of royal blood.
4.1.18 Hephaestion expressed admiration for their high principles in declining the kind of power that others pillaged and murdered to gain: ‘My congratulations to you on being the first to realize how much greater an achievement it is to disdain kingship than to accept it. But name someone of royal blood, a man who will remember that he acquired his power from you.’
4.1.19 They could see that many viewed the prospect of such great power with a hopeful eye and from inordinate ambition for the throne were now flattering individual friends of Alexander. They decided, however, that none had a better claim than one Abdalonymus who, though distantly related to the royal family, was now reduced by poverty to tending a market garden in the suburbs, from which he derived a meagre income.
4.5.10 Alexander ordered Hephaestion to skirt the Phoenician coast with his fleet, and he himself came in full force to the city of Gaza.
4.16.31-3 His officers must not be cheated of their praise either. The wounds each received are testimony to their valour; Hephaestion suffered a spear-wound in the arm; Perdiccas, Coenus and Menidas were almost killed by arrows. If we want a fair assessment of the Macedonians of the day we shall have to say that the king truly deserved such subjects and his subjects so great a king.
6.2.9 He not only ordered the captive released but he also had her possessions returned to her and a search instituted for her husband so that he could return his wife to him if he were found. The following day he instructed Hephaestion to have all the prisoners brought to the royal quarters and there he verified the lineage of each of them, separating from the common people those of noble birth …
6.8.17 Then, at the time of the second watch, when the lights were out, some of the king’s friends, namely Hephaestion, Craterus, Coenus and Erigyius, met in the royal quarters with a few men, along with Perdiccas and Leonnatus from the bodyguard. Orders were issued by these for the men on guard at the king’s tent to keep watch under arms.
6.11.10 The general feeling was that Philotas should be stoned to death according to Macedonian custom, but Hephaestion, Craterus and Coenus declared that torture should be employed to force the truth out of him, and those who had advocated other punishment went over to their view.
6.11.11 So, when the council was adjourned, Hephaestion, Craterus and Coenus got up together to conduct the interrogation of Philotas.
7.7.9 In the interval, while animal entrails were being inspected to discover the secrets of destiny, Alexander had his friends sit closer to him than usual so that he would not reopen his scar, as yet unhealed, by straining his voice. Hephaestion, Craterus and Erigyius had been admitted to his tent along with the bodyguards.
7.9.19 Euxenippus was still very young and a favourite of Alexander’s because he was in the prime of his youth, but though he rivalled Hephaestion in good looks he could not match him in charm, since he was rather effeminate.
8.1.1 Afterwards the dispersal of the enemy made it necessary for him to fragment his forces, so he divided the army into three sections, giving Hephaestion command of one, Coenus another and retaining command of the third himself.
8.1.10 He gave both deputations a courteous hearing and remained in stationary camp waiting for Hephaestion and Artabazus. When they joined him, he came into the area called Bazaira.
8.2.13 Ten days were spent at Maracanda, mainly devoted to restoring Alexander’s self-respect. He then dispatched Hephaestion with a section of the army into the territory of Bactriana to organize supplies for the winter.
8.10.2 The king gave them a courteous welcome and instructed them to accompany him, for he intended using them as guides for his journeys. When no one else came to meet him, he sent Hephaestion and Perdiccas ahead with a section of his troops to crush any opposition to his power, giving them orders to advance to the river Indus and construct boats to ferry the army to the far banks.
8.12.4 From here on the sixteenth day he reached the river Indus, where he found that all the preparations he had ordered for the crossing had been made by Hephaestion.
8.12.6 Given permission to act as regent, Omphis nevertheless did not presume to exercise the authority and, though he had courteously welcomed Hephaestion and dispensed corn to his forces free of charge, he had not gone out to meet him, reluctant to entrust himself to anyone’s protection but the king’s.
8.14.15 Alexander surveyed both the king and the army of the Indians. ‘At last,’ he declared, ‘I see a danger that is a match for my courage – I must take on beasts and fine warriors together!’ Then he looked at Coenus and said: ‘Together with Ptolemy, Perdiccas and Hephaestion I am going to attack the enemy left wing …’
9.1.35 Leaving Sophites in his kingdom, Alexander now advanced to the river Hypasis. By this time he had been joined by Hephaestion, who had brought another area into subjection.
9.10.6 There he entrusted the major part of his force to Hephaestion, splitting the light-armed among himself, Ptolemy and Leonnatus.
10.5.20 Next to her sat one of her two grand-daughters who was in mourning after the recent loss of her husband, Hephaestion, and the general anguish reminded her of her personal grief.
Hephaestion’s wedding, death, funeral, discussion of character, heroization are lost from Curtius’ history.
Plutarch, Life of Alexander
15 no mention of Hephaistion at Troy – “He anointed with oil the column which marks the grave of Achilles, ran a race by it naked with his companions, as the custom is, and then crowned it with a wreath …
21 no mention of Alexander and Hephaistion visiting the Persian women.
39.9 Hephaestion was in the habit of reading the king’s letters with him, and on this occasion his eye fell on a letter which had been opened. The king did not prevent him from reading it, but took the ring from his own finger and pressed the seal to his lips, so much as to tell him to keep silence
41.5 When Hephaestion was absent on some business, Alexander wrote with the news that while they had been amusing themselves hunting an ichneumon, Craterus had accidentally been run through the thighs with Perdiccas’ lance.
47.9-12 Alexander noticed that among his closest friends it was Hephaestion who approved of these plans and joined him in changing his habits, while Craterus clung to Macedonian customs, and he therefore made use of the first in his dealings with the barbarians and of the second with the Greeks and Macedonians. In general he showed most affection for Hephaestion and most respect for Craterus, for he had formed the opinion and often said that Hephaestion was a friend of Alexander’s, while Craterus was a friend of the king’s. For this reason a feeling of hostility grew and festered between the two and they often came into open conflict. Once on the expedition to India they actually drew their swords and came to blows, and as their friends appeared and began to join in the quarrel, Alexander rode up and publicly reprimanded Hephaestion: he told him that he must be a fool and a madman if he did not understand that without Alexander’s favour he was nothing. then later in private he sharply rebuked Craterus. Finally he called both men together and made them be friends again. He swore by Zeus Ammon and the rest of the gods that these were the two men he loved best in the world, but that if he ever heard them quarrelling again, he would kill them both, or at least the one who began the quarrel. After this, it is said, neither of them ever did or said anything to offend the other even in jest.
49.12 We are told then when he heard Philotas uttering broken and pitiful cries and pleas for mercy to Hephaestion he exclaimed, ‘Ah, Philotas, if you are so weak and unmanly as this, how could you involve yourself in such a dangerous business.
54.5 The king was talking to Hephaestion and paying no attention to Callisthenes, and the philosopher, after he had drunk, came forward to kiss him.
72.2-5 At this time it happened that Hephaestion had caught a fever, and being a young man who was accustomed to a soldier’s life, he could not bear to remain on a strict diet. No sooner had his physician Glaucus gone off to the theatre, than he sat down to breakfast, devoured a boiled fowl and washed it down with a great cooler-full of wine. His fever quickly mounted and soon afterwards he died. Alexander’s grief was uncontrollable. As a sign of mourning he gave orders that the manes and tails of all horses should be shorn, demolished the battlements of all the neighbouring cities, crucified the unlucky physician and forbade the playing of flutes or any other kind of music for a long time until finally an oracle was announced from the temple of Ammon, commanding him to honour Hephaestion and sacrifice to him as a hero. To lighten his sorrow he set off on a campaign, as if the tracking down and hunting of men might console him, and he subdued the tribe of the Cossaeans, massacring the whole male population from the youths upwards: this was termed a sacrifice to the spirit of Hephaestion. He determined to spend ten thousand talents on the funeral and the tomb for his friend, and as he wished the ingenuity and originality of the design to surpass the expense he was especially anxious to employ Stasicrates, as this artist was famous for his innovations, which combined an exceptional degree of magnificence, audacity and ostentation.
Compiled by Amyntoros and Marcus