Definition:

Hephaestion (c.357-324), a Macedonian nobleman from the capital city of Pella, was educated at the court of King Philip of Macedon, where he met Alexander the Great and presumably Aristotle. Hephaestion is thought to have been Alexander the Great's gay lover. He fought with Alexander on his campaigns and was with Alexander at Troy, although when he was about 25, Hephaestion was sent on a diplomatic mission to Sidon.


In 331, Hephaestion was part of Alexander the Great's bodyguard. Hephaestion became a commander of the Companion Cavalry after the execution of Philotas. Hephaestion was part of a mass wedding in Susa in 324, where he married a daughter of Darius III. He died suddenly in Ecbatana, in October 324. His funeral was lavish, his ashes buried at Babylon [Livius.org Hephaestion] and he was posthumously awarded the status of a hero.