ALEXANDER THE GREAT died (b: 356 BCE); King of Macedonia and conqueror of a kingdom extending from Greece to Persia, Egypt and India, Alexander the Great is one of the most fascinating men of all times. He was not only a great soldier, but he was also renowned for his passionate love of his comrade-in-arms Hephaestion.

Handsome and courageous, Alexander was already, in antiquity, the subject of many histories, some written by people who had known him, most unfortunately lost. The irrefutable achievements of his short life are so extraordinary that they seem almost legendary. It is therefore difficult to distinguish the truth from the many myths that coalesced around such an appealing figure. Alexander’s father Philip was himself a brilliant general who had greatly strengthened his kingdom and brought it to dominate the Greek city-states; his dream was to lead them against the Persian Empire, the arch-rival under whose rule Greek colonies on the coast of Asia had fallen.

Many of the noblemen with whom he was raised and tutored were to become his comrades in arms, his generals, and the governors of his empire. One of them, Hephaestion, was clearly his lover. Alexander, like many ancient Greeks, cultivated an ideal of heroic friendship that did not exclude sexual expression. He carried with him on his conquests a copy of the Iliad, and sought to emulate its heroes. When he first crossed into Asia and reached Troy, he sacrificed on the tomb of Achilles while Hephaestion did the same on that of Patroclus. So close did Alexander feel to Hephaestion that when the captured women of the Persian King’s household mistakenly threw themselves at Hephaestion’s feet rather than at his own, he found no offense in this and excused them by saying that his friend was another Alexander.

Finally, his grief at the death of Hephaestion, one year before his own, was also–in its intensity and public display–to parallel that of the Homeric lovers. Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. He was just one month short of attaining 33 years of age. Various theories have been proposed for the cause of his death which include poisoning by the sons of Antipater or others, sickness that followed a drinking party, or a relapse of the malaria he had contracted in 336 BC.

It is known that on May 29, Alexander participated in a banquet organized by his friend Medius of Larissa. After some heavy drinking, immediately before or after a bath, he was forced into bed due to severe illness. The rumors of his illness circulated with the troops causing them to be more and more anxious. On June 9, the generals decided to let the soldiers see their king alive one last time. They were admitted to his presence one at a time. Because the king was too ill to speak, he confined himself to moving his hand. The day after, Alexander was dead.

After Alexander’s death, in 323 BC, the rule of his Empire was given to Alexander’s half-brother Phillip Arridaeus and Alexander’s son Alexander IV. However, since Philip was apparently feeble-minded and the son of Alexander still a baby, two regents were named in Perdiccas (who had received Alexander’s ring at his death) and Craterus (who may have been the one mentioned as successor by Alexander), although Perdiccas quickly managed to take sole power.

Alexander’s body was placed in a gold, anthropoid sarcophagus, which was in turn placed in a second gold casket and covered with a purple robe. Alexander’s coffin was placed, together with his armor, in a gold carriage that had a vaulted roof supported by an Ionic peristyle. The decoration of the carriage was lavish and is described in great detail by Diodoros. According to one legend, Alexander was preserved in a clay vessel full of honey (which can act as a preservative) and interred in a glass coffin.