The main romantic stories of the most loving king of Macedonia: How the captives of Alexander I became his wives

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Alexander the Great is one of the most romantic heroes in Western history, where he is described as a beautiful young man with fluttering curls, galloping on his faithful horse Bucephalus to meet new battles and adventures. There are many legends about him. The most famous is how he dealt with the Gordian knot. In love affairs, he also succeeded. He had three wives, many concubines and two boy lovers.

The love of the king of Macedonia

The Macedonian had fairly modern views for those times on the relationship between men and women. He respected and even considered them almost equal to men, despite the teachings of his mentor Aristotle, who assigned women a clearly secondary role.

Since the Macedonian aristocrats considered normal and frequent ties between men, Alexander also had two lovers. He entered into love affairs with his close friend Hephaestion and favorite Bagoi. Fearing that the young man would not express a strong interest in the opposite sex and would be left without heirs, Alexander's parents hired a beautiful Thessalian courtesan named Callixena for their minor son. But she did not evoke strong emotions and feelings in him. However, over time, the harem of Alexander the Great began to replenish and already began to number 360 concubines.

Campaspa is the first woman to attract Alexander

Campaspa is one of the favorite concubines of the Macedonian from the Thessalian city. She was the first to arouse Alexander's interest in women. He was about twenty at the time. She was listed as a mistress for two years. Alexander admired her beauty and asked his artist friend Appeless to paint her naked. But in the process of painting the picture, the artist fell in love with the model. Having learned about the feelings of a friend, the Macedonian, showing his generosity, presented his concubine to him as a gift. It is believed that it was she who inspired and became a model when Appeles wrote a painting depicting Venus.

Barsina is a new significant hobby of the Macedonian

Barsina was acquired by Alexander, along with the court of the Persian king Darius, after he fled, being defeated in battle in 333 BC. at Issus. Despite the fact that the new concubine was seven years older than Alexander, she was still able to conquer him with her beauty. She also became the mother of Alexander's first child. In 327 BC. she bore him a son, Hercules. Despite the fact that this was the firstborn, he could not become the heir to the king, since his mother Barsina was still considered in the eyes of his subjects only a concubine. And after Alexander took Roxana as his wife, Barsina and Hercules moved to another place and lived there quietly until Alexander's death. But when Hercules was the only surviving son of Macedon, he was nevertheless declared the heir. This happened when he became an adult. Which played a fatal role in the life of the mother and son. In 309 BC. they were killed mercilessly.

Roxanne is a captive who conquered from the first meeting

Roxana is a Bactrian princess who turned out to be a prisoner of Alexander, like all the inhabitants of the fortress called the Rock of Sogdiana. This fortress surrendered to the Macedonians when they attacked it in 327 BC. Roxana at that time was about fifteen, and Alexander twenty-nine years old. The Macedonian saw her at a luxurious feast, where the young girl was brought by her father, along with thirty noble girls, so that they would entertain the king.

The Macedonian could take any of the girls by force, but not only did he not touch her, but also decided to marry her. Someone considers this marriage to be political, allegedly by this, Alexander wanted to reassure the local rulers of Bactria so that they would see that the king had chosen a girl from their place as his wife. And some saw in her the only woman whom the Macedonian fell in love with. Many were unhappy with this choice of the king. They believed that a real heir could not be born from the one who was originally just one of the girls for amusement. But despite this, Roxana gave birth to a Macedonian heir, who was also named Alexander. But, after the death of Macedon, in the battle for the throne, both Roxanne and her son were imprisoned in a fortress, and then killed.

Statira - the second wife of the king

Statira, the eldest daughter of the Persian king Darius, married Alexander in 324 BC. Statira was twenty-one at the time of the wedding, and Alexander was thirty-two. This union was created from the political considerations of the Macedonian. Many sources indicate that Statira was, so to speak, the king's formal wife, since he did not even touch her. Perhaps the role was played by the fact that Satire was already a mother of three children, which did not increase interest in her as a woman. Some even claim that after the wedding, they did not see each other at all. Macedonian always considered political interests more important than love and passion for women, if these feelings ever took place in his life. But this did not save Statyra from a tragic fate. She was killed out of jealousy by Alexander's first wife, Roxanne.

Paristatida - third wife of the Macedonian

Paristatida, the daughter of the Persian king Aptaxers III, became the third wife of Alexander, and at the same time as Statyra in 324 BC. But, unfortunately, there is practically no data left about her fate. It is only known that she was killed, presumably in 323 BC. by order of Roxanne.

Phalestris - a woman who really wanted to give birth to a child to the king

Phalestris is the queen of the Amazons, who appeared with a detachment of three hundred women, having learned that Macedonian was not far from them. The warrior confessed to the king that she wanted to give birth to his heirs. She promised to keep her daughter for herself, and give her son to Macedonian. The impudence and passion of this woman attracted Alexander, and he stayed with her for thirteen hot nights. But since history is silent about Alexander's son from the queen of the Amazons, most likely they had a daughter who stayed with her mother.

Cleophis is the mother of another son of Macedon

Cleophis is a queen from India. They wanted to seize her throne, but she was able to keep it. The truth is not with the help of strength and wisdom, but thanks to his feminine charms, sharing his bed with the Macedonian. For the lost dignity, Queen Cleophis was no longer respected and even given shameful nicknames. The fruit of their relationship with the king was a son, who was also named Alexander. When the boy grew up, he began to rule in India.