Alexander And Hephaestion's Relationship In The Virtues Of War

Hephaestion, son of Amyntor, was a Macedonian nobleman who was raised in the arts of war, politics and philosophy. Despite a lack of information regarding his upbringing, Hephaestion’s adolescent environment largely paralleled that of his closest companion Alexander, the soon to be, Great. The beginning of the friendship between Alexander and Hephaestion commenced during their shared apprenticeship. Having both been underneath the tutelage of Aristotle. Lectures taking place in Mieza, granted Hephaestion and Alexander unparalleled education. During this time period, Alexander the great was 15, therefore, historians have estimated that Hephaestion must have been similar in age. This unbelieveable upbringing and a close friendship with Alexander are what would
Little is known about the upbringing and education of Hephaestion. However, due to Hephaestion being born a macedonian nobleman, he was likely trained in riding and fighting at an early age. Similar to Alexander, Hephaestion must’ve contemplated his role to play in the expanding world that Philip was creating. Steven Pressfield portrays Hephaestion's adolescent contemplation in his book “The Virtues of War”, when Hephaestion is training with Alexander and others. In this quotation, the group of friends comprising of Alexander, Hephaestion and other soon to be warriors becomes too lackadaisical, Hephaestion: “That way is Persia, my numbskull friends, the lands we dream of one day conquering. The persians know we are coming. What do they do now? As we giggle and clown, the sons of the East are hard at training. While we sleep, they toil. While we dwadle, they sweat” The foresight presented here by Hephaestion in this epic novel, delivers believable contemplation that Hephaestion and Alxander may have also