Bucephalus

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Statue of Alexander the Great riding Bucephalus, Thessaloniki, Greece
Statue of Alexander the Great riding Bucephalus, Thessaloniki, Greece
For the branding mark anciently used on horses, see Bucephalus (brand).

Bucephalus (Ancient Greek: Βουκεφάλας, from βούς bous, "ox" and κεφαλή kephalē, "head" meaning "ox-head") (ca. 355 BC? – June, 326 BC) was Alexander the Great's horse and arguably the most famous horse of antiquity. Ancient accounts state Bucephalus died after the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC in what is now modern Pakistan and is buried in Jalalpur Sharif outside of Jhelum, Pakistan.

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[edit] The taming of Bucephalus

Bucephalus was described as having a black coat with a large white star on his forehead. He was supposed to have a "wall," or blue eye, and his breeding was that of the "best Thessalonian strain." Plutarch tells the story of how in 344 BC, a 10-year-old Alexander won the horse (although other sources put Alexander's age at 12).[1] Philonicus the Thessalian, a horse dealer, offered the horse to King Philip II for the sum of 13 talents. Since no one could tame the animal, Philip was not interested, but his son Alexander was, and promised to pay for the horse personally should he fail to tame it. Alexander was allowed to try and surprised everyone by subduing it. Alexander spoke soothingly and turned the horse away so that the horse did not see its own shadow, which seemed to distress it, and so tamed the horse. Plutarch says the incident so impressed Alexander's father that he told the boy "O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee."[1]

The Alexander Romance presents a mythic variant of Bucephalus' origin. In this tale, Bucephalus — a colt whose heroic attributes surpassed even those of Pegasus — was bred and presented to Philip on his own estates. The mythic attributes of the animal are further reinforced by the Delphic Oracle, who tells Philip that the destined king of the world will be the one who rides Bucephalus, a horse with the mark of the ox's head on his haunch.

In the 2004 film Alexander, Bucephalus was portrayed by a Friesian.

[edit] Alexander and Bucephalus

Alexander and Bucephalus in combat at the battle of Issus portrayed in the Alexander Mosaic.
Alexander and Bucephalus in combat at the battle of Issus portrayed in the Alexander Mosaic.

As one of his chargers, Bucephalus served Alexander in many battles. The legend of Alexander's magnificent horse fired many an artist's imagination, from the ancient to the modern world. Paintings of Labrum's Alexanderine subjects, including Bucephalus, survive in the Louvre Museum. One in particular, The Passage of the Granicus, depicts the warhorse battling the difficulties of the steep muddy river banks, biting and kicking all foes.

Like his hero and supposed ancestor Achilles, Alexander stated his horses were:

...known to excel all others — for they are immortal. Poseidon gave them to my father Peleus, who in his turn gave them to myself.

[citation needed]

Arrian states Bucephalus died sometime between the ages of 28 to 30, a good age for a horse even today, in June of 326 BC, after being fatally wounded at the Battle of Hydaspes at which Alexander's army defeated that of the Indian King Porus. Alexander promptly founded a city in honour of the horse, Bucephala. The city lay on the west bank of the Hydaspes river (thought to be modern-day Jhelum in Pakistan). [2] The modern day town of Jalalpur Sharif outside of Jhelum is said to be where Bucephalus is buried. [3]

[edit] Bucephalus in popular culture

  • In the 1988 Terry Gilliam movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, the Baron's white stallion is named Bucephalus, and is capable of fantastic feats.
  • One interpretation of the ancient statue group The Horse Tamers in the Piazza del Quirinale in Rome is "Alexander and Bucephalus".
  • Electronic musician Aphex Twin released a track called Bucephalus Bouncing Ball on his 1997 EP, Come to Daddy.
  • The Black Stallion is the title character from author Walter Farley's bestselling series of classic young adult novels. In 1979, the original 1941 novel was adapted to a film (see: The Black Stallion (film)). In the beginning of the movie version, Alec's father describes a small figurine of a stallion as being a statue of Bucephalus, and told the tale of his taming, drawing a parallel between young Alec and Alexander the Great at the same age. The tale, of course, foreshadowed the boy Alec's taming of the wild Black Stallion, just as Alexander tamed Bucephalus.
  • In the 1959 Francois Truffaut film Les Quatre Cents Coups, or The Four Hundred Blows, Rene points out a huge metal horse statue his father keeps in the house. Later, when the boys are playing in Rene's room and the horse has become bestrewn with clothing, the father enters and scolds, "Bucephalus is not a coat rack!"
  • The writer Anthony Burgess had a pet turtle named Bucephalus.
  • A book called 'I Am The Great Horse' tells the exploits of Alexander from Bucephalus' point of view.
  • In 1934-1935, Fred Birchmore of Athens, GA rode around the world on a bicycle he named Bucephalus. Birchmore and Bucephalus traveled approximately 25,000 miles. Bucephalus is now on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Arthur Hugh Clough (editor), John Dryden (translator), Plutarch's 'Lives', vol. II, Modern Library, 2001. ISBN 0-375-75677-9
  2. ^ Rolf Winkes, "Boukephalas", Miscellanea Mediterranea (Archaeologia Transatlantica XVIII) Providence 2000, pages 101-107.
  3. ^ Michael Wood, "In the footsteps of Alexander the Great" [1].

[edit] External links