Did Alexander the Great have a romance with Hephaestion? Sexuality and relationships debated

The six-part Netflix docuseries reveals Alexander the Great's burning desire to conquer the world using interviews from experts and reenactments, with Buck Braithwaite starring in the lead role.

As well as the cause of Alexander the Great's death, there has been much conversation about the King's sexuality. While he got married three times to three different women, some historians are firm in their belief that Alexander the Great was in fact gay. Others have suggested that he was bisexual and ancient writings have alluded to the King of Macedon's sexual relations with men.

So, what was Alexander the Great's sexuality? Who was he married to? And did he have a romantic relationship with his friend Hephaestion?

Read on for everything you need to know about Alexander the Great.

What was Alexander the Great’s sexuality?

The truth is, when it comes to the sexuality of Alexander the Great, his sexuality has been long debated and is somewhat ambiguous.

Ancient historians - who were familiar with the mixture of myth with fact - made a note that Alexander appeared to be little interested in sensual pleasure at all.

Details survive of Alexander's parents King Philip and Queen Olympias even encouraging Alexander to spend time with highly regarded courtesans but he showed little interest.

However, other accounts described Alexander as also shunning the offers of male prostitutes throughout his life, even if he praised the beauty of some males.

According to the ancient historian Plutarch, Alexander had enjoyed sexual relations with Barsine, daughter of Artabazos II of Phrygia.

However there were two figures that some historians claim Alexander had queer relationships with.

It's very hard to say whether Alexander identified as gay, heterosexual or bisexual. According to ancient writings, he did have relationships with the same sex but there is no concrete evidence to prove his sexuality.

Did Alexander the Great have a romance with Hephaestion?

Hephaestion was a childhood friend of Alexander's and was a companion and cavalry commander to him.

The pair journeyed to Troy together and paid tribute to the fallen heroes Achilles and Patroclus - with many historians and classics writers having debated the nature of their relationship.

Following the death of Hephaestion, historians agree that Alexander was distraught and refused to eat for days. An elaborate funeral was conducted in Babylon in honour of Hephaestion, and Alexander even tried to have his companion deified.

It has been suggested by some modern scholars that as well as being close friends, Alexander and Hephaestion were also lovers and this relationship is explored in the six-part docuseries.

Dr Salima Ikram of The American University in Cairo stated that Hephaestion was also his lover, describing Hephaestion as the King of Macedon's "greatest love".

Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones of Cardiff University further explained how homosexual relationships were the "norm" in Ancient Greece, so Alexander's possible romantic connection with Hephaestion was accepted.

Alexander himself gave Hephaestion the name "Philalexandros" meaning friend of Alexander. It has been observed that the ancient Greek word for friend "φίλος" (philos) was also applied to lovers in the homo-erotic or sexual sense, which could suggest that they were also in a romantic relationship.

Was Alexander the Great married?

Regardless, Alexander did marry three times, however, as was often the case in ancient history, these were political marriages above all others.

Some historians have claimed that each of the wives did at some time receive passion from Alexander.

He was married to these three wives:

• Roxana of Bactria
• Stateira of Persia
• Parysatis of Persia

Alexander even had a son, also named Alexander, with Roxana.

Regardless of whether true love existed between Alexander and Roxana, following his death, Roxana eliminated both of his other wives and secured the future of herself and her son.

Alexander: The Making of a God is available to stream on Netflix.

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