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ABSTRACT
This paper explores the previously unexamined parallel characterization of Alexander the Great and his horse Bucephalus in Hellenistic art, Ancient Greek history and biography, the Alexander Romance, and the Medieval Spanish Libro de Alexandre (Book of Alexander). Throughout sixteen centuries of the Alexander tradition, the pair assimilate aspects of each other's character. Sometimes, the shared characteristics are presented as laudable, including strength, courage, and a special connection to the divine. On the other hand, the pair sometimes share a ferocious and wrathful nature. Alexander was first characterized through his mount in Hellenistic art, in which Bucephalus promotes Alexander's representation as strong, vigorous, and possessing a special connection with the divine. In the historian Arrian and biographer Plutarch, Bucephalus can also represent Alexander's character's darker, more ferocious side, although at times only to allow the king to triumph over it. The bond between horse and rider reaches its apex in the Alexander Romance, where a shared monstrosity indicates that a certain nobility coexists with something beastly in Alexander's nature. Finally, in the Libro de Alexandre, Bucephalus plays a vital role in the Christianization of the pagan king in medieval legend.
KEYWORDS Alexander, Bucephalus, Alexander Romance, Plutarch, Arrian, animals
The classical historian Paul Cartledge rudely remarks about Hephaestion, Alexander the Great's close friend from childhood and possible lover, "It is tempting, indeed, to say that the two greatest loves of [Alexander s] life were both dumb brutes" (230). The second "dumb brute" that Cartledge refers to is Bucephalus, the famous conqueror's trusty steed. Over time, as stories about Alexander were passed from generation to generation and through multiple cultures in what could be called the Alexander tradition, legends about Bucephalus and Alexander changed and multiplied. A common quality underlies depictions of Bucephalus in ancient art, in the works of the Greek biographer Plutarch and historian Arrian, and in fanciful retellings of the king's story such as the Alexander Romance (Historia Alexandri Magni) and the medieval Spanish Libro de Alexandre (Book of Alexander). Throughout these works from disparate periods, the horse and master assimilate aspects of one another's character. Other research has pointed out similarities between Alexander's characteristically turned neck in ancient portraiture and ancient depictions of lions (Cohen, "Turning Heads" 92-100) and parallels between Bucephalus...