Hephaestion

Hephaestion ( ''Hēphaistíōn''; c. 356 BC  –  October 324 BC), son of Amyntor, was an ancient Macedonian nobleman of probable "Attic or Ionian extraction" and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. He was "by far the dearest of all the king's friends; he had been brought up with Alexander and shared all his secrets." This relationship lasted throughout their lives, and was compared, by others as well as themselves, to that of Achilles and Patroclus.

His military career was distinguished. A member of Alexander the Great's personal bodyguard, he went on to command the Companion cavalry and was entrusted with many other tasks throughout Alexander's ten-year campaign in Asia, including diplomatic missions, the bridging of major rivers, sieges and the foundation of new settlements. Besides being a soldier, engineer and diplomat, he corresponded with the philosophers Aristotle and Xenocrates and actively supported Alexander in his attempts to integrate the Greeks and Persians. Alexander formally made him his second-in-command when he appointed him Chiliarch of the empire. Alexander also made him part of the royal family when he gave him as his bride Drypetis, sister to his own second wife Stateira, both daughters of Darius III of Persia.

When Hephaestion died suddenly at Ecbatana around age thirty-two, Alexander was overwhelmed with grief. He petitioned the oracle at Siwa to grant Hephaestion divine status and thus Hephaestion was honoured as a ''Divine Hero''. Hephaestion was cremated and his ashes taken to Babylon. At the time of his own death a mere eight months later, Alexander was still planning lasting monuments to Hephaestion's memory. Provided by Wikipedia
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Published 1987
Hephaestion on metre /

: Hephaestion's Encheiridion is the most influential text in the history of metrical scholarship. It has been superseded for some genres of Greek verse but remains basic to the description of others. Its terminology continues to be applied to most of the verse written in Western literary traditions. The present volume offers a translation of th eelliptic Greek text and of a parallel account of metre included in Aristides Quintilianus On Music , with a commentary, an introduction analyzing the approach of ancient metricians in term of their own practical aims, an index of all significant words in the Greek texts, and an English index. The book is designed to be equally accessible to Greekless students of metre and to Greek scholars. It should enable them to take clear stand with regard to the ancient heritage in this field, and to define more unequivocally than has been possible any terms they choose to retain, thereby contributing towards greater coherence and consistency in discussion of poetic metre.
: Includes indexes. : 1 online resource (xiii, 186 pages) : Includes bibliographical references and index. : 9789004328358 : 0169-8958 ; : Available to subscribing member institutions only.

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