Amphipolis

by delos13

Is there anything that ties Hephaistion to the now famous burial at Kasta Hill? Maybe those who tried and failed to find the connection simply didn't dig far enough in time?

This story is my annual contribution to Hephaistion's memory.

I know that everybody thinks about Alexander and Hephaistion as Achilles and Patrocles but I recently discovered that Hephaistion has an amazing connection to another famous hero who was no less close to Achilles than Patrocles and whose history ties neatly to the burial place known these days as Kasta Hill to the north of Amphipolis.

Two years ago the splendid mosaics and sculptures were discovered inside the so called Amphipolis Tomb. In the middle of speculation to whom that tomb might have belonged, another discovery was made with an anagram that many think might be that of Hephaistion. But nothing ties Hephaistion to Amphipolis so why on earth anybody, including Alexander, would want to commemorate his memory there? My story may be an answer to that question.

Readers' comments are always highly appreciated and are what the author is hopes for.

X

The branch treacherously creaked and, before Alexander could do anything, he went crashing to the ground with other branches, leaves and ropes cascading upon him in total defeat. Luckily, the sycamore tree wasn't very high and Alexander's fall from grace was though humiliating but not very painful. He shook his head trying to get rid of the debris and spewed out leaves and small twigs that somehow managed to get into his mouth. He shifted to the right, trying to reach the tree to use it as a support to get up and cringed at the pain that shoot through his behind, it looked like he managed to fall on the thick root that protruded from the ground at the exact spot where Alexander landed.

"Need some help?" the prince heard the voice coming from the left. He bit his lip to suppress the groan of pain and slowly turned in the direction of the voice. There he saw a boy, probably a year or two older than himself, in a nice dark blue chiton and a chlamys almost matching in colour. Russet leather belt held his clothes in place and also served as base for a modestly sized purse. The leather strip of the same colour kept his black hair in order and his sandals, judging by the throngs that went up almost to his knees, were a matching piece as well. All in all, the stranger presented a perfect picture of the young boy who obediently followed the rules imposed by the adults. Yet, being alone, or almost alone in the woods didn't seem to bother him.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" hurriedly asked the prince.

"My name is Hephaistion," the stranger pleasantly smiled, "I am the son of general Amyntor and your father told me I would find you somewhere here."

"My father?"

"Yes. King Philip. You are Prince Alexander, aren't you?"

"Why would you think so? May be I am some shepherd or swineherd looking for an escaped swine."

"On the top of a tree?" the boy called Hephaistion asked.

"How much do you know about swine in Macedon?" Alexander asked with aplomb.

Hephaistion snorted merrily, "Well, I am sure….," then he laughed again and grinned from ear to ear. "You are so funny. I am pretty sure swine don't fly here. But seriously, you father told me how you looked like and also your guards, over there," Hephaistion motioned with his hand somewhere to his right, "told me you went in this direction."

"Well, all right, I am Alexander. Why would my father want you to find me here?"

"Err, because he said it was where you liked to go and he thought we could be friends, just like he himself and my father are."

"I never heard of general Amyntor before," stated Alexander.

"We were out of Macedon for some time and besides, do you know each of your father's generals by name?"

"Yes, and not only generals, many of his officers too, and even soldiers. If one day I am to command my father's army…."

"Then you would choose your own generals," suggested Hephaistion.

"Ha!" Alexander looked at the newcomer with interest.

"See, not only I know that swine don't fly in Macedon, or in any other place for that matter, I can teach you many other interesting things, for example….," the youngster stopped his speech and looked up at the tree, "so, what exactly you were doing up there?"

"Nothing much," Alexander shrugged his shoulders, "I have enough teachers, thank you, I don't need your services."

Hephaistion smiled again, "I was joking! Are you going to climb the tree again? We can do it together."

"I was quite fine on my own," Alexander said tersely. The truth was, Alexander wasn't sure how painful his standing from the ground would be and though he knew he could bear the pain, he didn't want this boy to witness his moment of weakness.

"Sure, but it is fun doing things with somebody else. Besides, your father told me you were very competitive. So, you need somebody to compete against. I am very good at climbing trees, by the way. Let me help you," and with those words Hephaistion stepped closer and extended his hand towards Alexander.

"I don't need your help," Alexander swatted the offered hand.

"Does it mean you won't aid me if I ask for help?"

"If you need help, of course I will help you but I don't need your or anybody's else help now."

"Oh, com'on, you fell and you obviously hit yourself otherwise you wouldn't be sitting and fidgeting all this time. What's the big deal? I am sure if I weren't here you'd find a way to stand up and move but I am here, so I can help you. Aren't that what friends are for?"

"I am fine," insisted Alexander. At that moment, his glance fell on the big branch that looked solid enough to be used as a tool and was within his reach. The grasped it in triumph and, using it as a crutch, quickly stood up. Unfortunately, he misjudged the sturdiness of the branch and almost fell back to the ground when it suddenly snapped in two but Hephaistion lurched forward in time and managed to prevent Alexander's second crush.

"Looks can be deceptive," he lectured, "you should have tested the strength of that branch before leaning on it."

Alexander huffed in annoyance, "Where I would be without you!"

"On the ground again," laughed Hephaistion. "Can you walk?"

Alexander decided to swallow the humiliation and silently took a few steps. "I am fine," he said again after testing his ability to move. It was somewhat painful but Alexander could handle it. "It's not the first time I fell," he felt obliged to explain not wanting the other boy to think about him as a weakling.

"Sure, who doesn't fall?" Hephaistion seemed not to be fixated on Alexander's failure, "do you like climbing the trees?"

"Yes. Among other things."

"Such as? What do you like to do? Why did you want to climb that tree? Is it your favorite?"

"You ask too many questions."

"I know," suddenly Hephaistion hang his head as if in defeat, "I am told so quite often. I am just curious by nature."

"Well, if you want to satisfy your curiosity, you have to guess, I will give you three chances. Are you up to it?"

"Yes!" Hephaistion's eyes sparkled with excitement. "But if I can't guess, will you tell me anyway?"

"All right, I promise," Alexander said almost solemnly. First, he wanted to threaten Hephaistion with some sort of humiliating punishment if he couldn't guess but then decided against it. After all, the boy seemed to be an interesting company.

"It's too late in a season to search for the birds' eggs," Hephaistion debated with himself, "and chicks are already have feathers and could fly…."

"Is it your first guess?" impatiently asked Alexander.

"No, no. Wait, I know," the boy's eyes lit with delight, "Honey? Is there a nest of bees with honey?"

"No."

"Hm," Hephaistion pondered, "the tree is not high enough to be used as an observation point but one can hide…. Were you hiding?"

"No, I wasn't hiding. Last guess."

"No?" Hephaistion searched Alexander's face as if trying to find the answer there. "You aren't playing games with me, are you?"

"No, I am not. I swear."

"All right. Well….maybe… after all…. There was no particular reason why you climbed that tree, it was just there, and you like climbing trees, so you just climbed it…. or…. wait…it is some sort of a ritual, you always climb this tree when you come here, like good luck charm."

"That's two reasons, pick one."

"But….."

"We had an agreement."

Hephaistion sighed, "Oh, well, fine. It is a good luck charm, a ritual."

"You are wrong." Alexander smiled at his small victory.

"Oh….," Hephaistion seemed disappointed. "Was the previous reason correct, you climbed it just because?"

"No, there was a reason."

"Well, tell me, you promised."

"R-right," Alexander confirmed and felt silent. Suddenly, he regretted promising to tell the true reason. It was his own secret and he didn't like sharing secrets, especially with somebody he just met. It was the most unfortunate. Of course, he could lie and invent some other excuse but somehow it didn't feel right.

"You don't want to tell me?" guessed Hephaistion. "Is it because we never met before or you want it to remain secret?"

Alexander shook the head in negative motion without saying a word. Hephaistion looked at the prince with expectation. He felt it might be best to allow Alexander to keep his secret despite the promise, on the other hand, his curiosity was truly picked (as it was in most of the cases) and he wanted to know the answer; not so that he could boast to possessing the prince's secret but he really wanted to know the reason for Alexander's quest. Suddenly, he knew how to make Alexander talk.

"Do you think your ancestor Achilles shared his secrets with…?" he started but didn't have a chance to finish the question.

"Patrocles? Of course! They didn't keep any secrets from each other but we barely met and…"

"No, I didn't mean Patrocles," Hephaistion was surprised at Alexander's suggestion. "I meant Phoenix."

"Phoenix?" There was a natural surprise in the prince's tone.

"Yes, Phoenix, Achilles' tutor."

"I know who Phoenix was!" Alexander affirmed. "But I don't see a connection."

"I told you I can teach you some things just like Phoenix taught and advised Achilles. You know I am older than you are; besides, I am Phoenix' descendant."

Alexander's jaw dropped at such a proclamation but then he frowned, "You are lying! I don't like when people lie to me, be it because they want to impress me or think I am stupid."

"I am not lying," Hephaistion said quietly. "You consider yourself a descendant of Achilles, why it seems to you impossible that I am Phoenix' descendant?"

"Because if you had bothered to learn the history, you would know that Phoenix' father Amyntor," Alexander suddenly stopped realizing that if nothing else, both Phoenix and Hephaistion had the father with the same name, "Phoenix' father Amyntor," repeated Alexander, "castrated and blinded him. Phoenix," Alexander continued to lecture, "fled to Phthia to the court of Peleus, Achilles' father and Peleus took him to centaur Chiron who was able to heal his blindness but couldn't restore his private parts. Phoenix never had children."

"Amyntor didn't castrate nor blind his son, instead he cursed him with blindness and …inability to have children. Do you know why?" Hephaistion tested extend of Alexander's knowledge.

"Of course! Phoenix' mother Cleobule was jealous of the new concubine that Amyntor bought at enormous price and installed in his house. So she convinced Phoenix to sleep first with the maiden because she was still a virgin."

"Right," confirmed Hephaistion, "Phoenix slept with his father's concubine but was discovered by Amyntor who put a double curse on him. And do you know why Amyntor's curses was so powerful?"

Alexander thought for a moment but then had to admit his defeat, "I don't recall."

"It's all right," acknowledged Hephaistion, "Amyntor was a Heliadae, his grand-father's father was Helios himself. All offsprings of Helios possessed this ability, just like Medea or Circe. This is why Chiron could only lift one of the curses, the blindness, but not the other. But when Phoenix fled to Phthia, he took his father's concubine as well, because they fell in love. By the way, do you know why, of all the places, they fled to Phthia? Peleus wasn't his only powerful friend."

"No, tell me!" Alexander's eyes lit with excitement. He didn't know much about Phoenix, only what his teachers told him and it seemed that Hephaistion knew the story far better. Was it really possible that the boy was Phoenix' descendant and the knowledge passed from generation to generation?

"Because the girl's name was Phthia as well!" Hephaistion declared in triumph. "Phoenix thought it was a good sign but he also knew Peleus from before, they met during the voyage of Argo to retrieve the Golden Fleece. You're familiar with the story, right?"

"Of course I am," assured him Alexander.

"I had no doubt," Hephaistion broadly smiled. It was a sincere smile and Alexander suddenly didn't mind being lectured by somebody almost his age.

"So it happened that Phthia got pregnant by Phoenix before his father laid a curse on him, so Phoenix had one son."

"What was his name?" impatiently asked Alexander. "Were he and Achilles playmates too?"

"The son's name was Amyntor too and no, he and Achilles never met."

"Phoenix called his only son in honour of his father who cursed him?" Alexander asked with surprise.

"Well, Amyntor, Phoenix' father, was a king of Ormenion, an old city near Mount Pelion and Phoenix was his only son. The only other child was a daughter Astidamia who was married to Heracles."

"Really? I didn't know that. So, you related to Heracles too?"

"Now you believe me?" Hephaistion caught Alexander's slip of tongue.

"I didn't decide yet," the prince wiggled out, "but go on."

"In any case," continued Hephaistion, "as I was saying, Amyntor didn't have anybody to inherit the kingdom and pretty soon he started to regret his actions. So, when he learned that his son escaped together with his mistress, instead of further cursing him or ordering a pursuit, he waited a few months and then sent envoys to the court of King Peleus asking for his son to return. Phoenix wasn't sure if he could trust his father but he didn't want to sever the connections permanently. So, when his own son was born, he named him Amyntor and send the message to his father that if his proposition was honest, he should declare Phoenix his heir publicly and then, after few years, if he sees that father didn't bear him any ill will, he will return."

"Did he?"

"Not right away. A few years later he joined Peleus and other heroes in Kalydon to hunt the famous boar. As you remember, the Hunt didn't go well for Peleus, he accidently killed his father-in-law, Eurytion. I am sure you know the story of Peleus very well so I will tell you only the portion that involves my ancestor Phoenix. Peleus wasn't a king of Phthia yet, it was Eurytion, whose daughter, Antigone, was married to Peleus. Return to Phthia turned out disastrous for both Phoenix and Peleus.

Phoenix discovered that his son Amyntor went blind in his absence, the boy was around five years old at the time. Some said that though Chiron managed to lift the curse of blindness from Phoenix the curse didn't go away and now his own son had to bear its brunt forever. As for Peleus, he was expelled by its citizens who held Eurytion in high respect. He fled to Iolcos to king Acastos, son of the king Pelias. The old Pelias was dead by this time, killed by his own daughters who naively believed what Medea told them. Phoenix, Peleus and Acastos knew each other from the voyage of Argo.

Acastos agreed to cleanse Peleus of the spilled blood and for some time both Peleus and Phoenix with his young son Amyntor stayed in Iolcos. Unfortunately, Acastos' wife fell in love with Peleus and the things got complicated. It was when Phoenix received another invitation from his father to return to his native city and he decided to take his chances especially since he hoped that maybe his father, who put the curse of blindness on him can also lift it, especially now, since it took possession of his own grandson and namesake. Besides, he didn't wish to spend his whole life as Peleus' dependant. When he came back to Ormenion, he found his father in a poor health and a city under the constant threat of neighboring tribes. The old Amyntor died soon without being able to lift his own curse from his grandson. Despite all his efforts, Phoenix couldn't defend Ormenion against his enemies. So, he took his young son, his mother and fled to Eion, a city at the mouth of Strymon River."

"This is why Neoptolemos, Achilles' son, took Phoenix' body there after the end of Trojan War!" exclaimed Alexander. "I never knew why."

"Cleobule, Phoenix' mother was from Eion. Cleobule's nephew, Zeuxippos, was at the time the king of Eion. He had many sons and daughters. He was very welcoming towards his aunt and her grandson who, coincidently, was the same age as his youngest and favorite son, I don't know his name, though. Besides, young Amyntor was blind and didn't pose any dynastic risks. However, for whatever reason, Zeuxippos was rather cold towards Phoenix himself and Phoenix' only son, Amyntor, didn't show much love towards his father either.

Few years passed and Peleus not only managed to reclaim the city of Phthia again but also married the goddess Thetis. Well, you know how that wedding ended. Phoenix was of course invited and Peleus managed to convince him to stay in Phthia. Achilles was born and when the time came, he was sent by his father to be educated by Chiron. It was Phoenix who took the young price to the wise centaur. Phoenix wasn't a bad man and though the relationship between him and his son Amyntor were never especially warm, Achilles grew up to love Phoenix as his own father but you already knew that."

"Yes," Alexander said quietly. "Can you tell me more? What happened later?"

"Well, you probably know as much as I am about the Trojan War. Achilles was killed and his son Neoptolemos took over his father's troops. After Troy fell to Odysseus' trick and the spoils of war were divided, Phoenix ask Neoptolemos to take him to back to Eion to see his own son. Neoptolemos agreed, he knew how his father loved and respected his tutor but Phoenix took Achilles' death very close to his heart and he died during the voyage back. Still, Neoptolemos fulfilled his promise and brought Phoenix' body to Eion. There, he was buried by Amyntor, who didn't take part in Trojan War because of his blindness but instead got married and already had several children. He called his oldest son Phoenix, so both names continued through generations, the oldest son was always called either Amyntor or Phoenix."

"So, you're not the oldest son?" Alexander drew the logical conclusion.

"Now I am. I had three older brothers but none of them reached the age of five. So, when I was born, my father announced it was time to change the family tradition and give me a different name."

"But why Hephaistion?"

"Well. Everybody told me that when my brothers were born, they all were very beautiful babies. Many marveled at their beauty and some people even came specifically not so much as congratulate my mother and father, but to see the beauty of their newborn. Maybe some were so envious that they put an evil eye and this is why my brothers died. When I was born, I was very ugly."

"Really?" Alexander sincerely expressed his doubts. "You don't look ugly to me now, quite the contrary."

"Well," Hephaistion slightly blushed, "I don't know about now but my nurse told that when I was born, I was red, screaming, with small piggish eyes, tiny nose, thin lips on the big mouth and protruding ears. My father was happy because he said men don't have any need for beauty, they need to be appreciated for other qualities, such as valor, loyalty, prowess in war and shrewdness in politics. But my mother was upset, so much so that when I was brought to her for first time to feed, since my mother refused to handle her babies to the wet nurse, she couldn't …eh… produce any milk, but then it came but I wasn't at her breast and the milk was spilled on the floor. When my father learned about it, he was dispatching a trusted man to Delphi to ask the god for a good new name for his newborn son. If he was to brake the tradition that was in the family for countless generations, he wanted to have Apollo's blessing. But he immediately canceled the trip and he announced that the god already spoken."

"Of course!" Alexander's eyes lit with understanding and admiration, "Hephaistion means dedicated to Hephaistos, and when he was born, he was so ugly that Hera refused to feed him and spilled her milk over the sky in anger, this is why we have a Milky Way."

"Yes," Hephaistion smiled, "besides, Hephaistos is a god of fire and Phoenix was a fire bird, so, in a way, the tradition continued. And now I think that if indeed it was Apollo who inspired my father to give me this way, the god saw in the future and knew that one day we'll meet."

"How so?" asked Alexander.

"Well, surely you know what happened after Hera refused to breastfeed Hephaistos?"

"Yes, she threw him from Mount Olympos into the ocean where…..by Ares' balls, you're so right!" Alexander exclaimed with excitement, "baby Hephaistos was saved and raised by Thetis, Achilles' mother. We were destined to meet and become friends, best friends!"

"We were?" asked Hephaistion with surprise. Not long time ago the Prince bulked at the idea of friendship proposed by his own father but now he seemed determined to make it happen.

"Yes!" there was no doubt in Alexander's voice. "Look, that tree will fit our purpose well. Can you help me to climb it? I am still a bit sore from my recent fall."

Surprised at such quick and completely unexpected turn-around in Alexander's behaviour, Hephaistion nevertheless was quite happy with the idea and helped the prince to climb the tree.

"What now?" he asked when they comfortably nestled between two thick branches of the old sycamore.

"First, you're going to finish you story," suggested Alexander and then we're going to build together a tree house."

"A tree-what?" Hephaistion stared in surprise at his new friend.

"A tree-house," repeated Alexander. "You know, a house in a tree. We can come here when we want and nobody will find us here. We can keep some things here, like you know, a few pieces of clothes and maybe some food and then we can run away and have our own adventure. Only it should end better than Kalydonian Hunt or Argo voyage. Maybe even better than the Trojan War. What do you think?" Alexander ask with expectation.

"Great idea!" Hephaistion enthusiastically declared. "Wow, a tree-house! I never thought about it and I climbed so many trees. I would love to do that!"

"Together?"

"Of course, how could you ask?"

"I don't know…." Alexander's enthusiasm suddenly webbed away. "Everybody says I dream too much. Father and his generals, they all laugh at my ideas, and older boys dismiss them as silly."

"Don't you have friends your own age?"

"Well, there is Perdiccas and Leonnatos, also Harpalos and Nicanor but….they either don't like my ideas, or sometimes say they don't like and then steal them, especially Harpalos. Maybe they're not that bad, it's just…. I never felt comfortable enough to tell them about the tree house. I wanted to build it for ages….anyway…. but if you think it is a stupid idea….."

"Are you kidding? It is a great idea! I like building things."

"Really?" Alexander still found it hard to believe his luck. "I am not sure what I was doing wrong."

"Will figure it out together," assured him Hephaistion.

"Now I am so glad we met! But you didn't finish your story. I really never heard about your father. He is Macedonian though, am I right?"

"Yes, our family is Macedonian for a several generations now. Well, going back to the beginning of my story. The family continued to live in Eion for many, many generations. I know how rare it is to trace your family's history this far back but we do. The city of Eion persisted through ages when so many others fell into oblivion. Sadly, it was almost destroyed some 150 years ago by Athenian general Cimon. Most of its citizens were captured and sold as slaves but my family managed to escape.

Then, some forty years later, new settlers led by Athenian general Hagnon established a new colony some twenty five stadia up the Strymon River and called it Amphipolis. The former site of Eion was their initial base where a few families that managed to escape the slavery, lived in poverty and neglect. My family was one of those. The head of our family was called Amyntor at the time. He was a blacksmith of sorts. So, as you can see, my father had quite a few reasons for calling me Hephaistion. In any case, though I am sure the Athenian settles had their own craftsmen, this Amyntor managed quite well and even rebuilt his old family house in Eion. The city continued to exist but it never quite managed to regain its former stance. Amphipolis ruled the area but despite the numerous opportunities to move there, the family stayed in Eion even though resettling in Amphipolis would bring the family closer Phoenix' grave that was further north of Amphipolis. Of course, by Phoenix I mean Achilles tutor."

"You know the place where the Phoenix was buried?" Alexander asked with fascination. "But why so far from Eion?"

"Well, it is my family oral tradition. There is a hill to the north of Amphipolis. I was there twice. People still point to it as a resting place of some long forgotten hero, nobody know who exactly buried there but father said it contains the remains of our renowned ancestor. Maybe in older times Eion was further inland. I am not sure but I am not lying."

"I believe you!" exclaimed Alexander.

"Thank you," Hephaistion felt emotional. "Thank you for believing."

A short silence fell between two new found friends but then Alexander's own curiosity took the better of him. "What about Macedon? How come your family moved here?"

"Macedonian King Perdiccas, son of King Alexander, allied himself with Spartan General Brasidas and helped him to take Amphipolis. Then both moved against Eion but were unable to take it."

"I know!" the Prince was eager to showcase his knowledge of history to his new friend, "Eion was successfully hold by Thucydides who later wrote a history of the Peloponnesian Wars."

"You are right," smiled Hephaistion. "Unfortunately, Phoenix, the oldest son of Amyntor that I just told you about, was captured by Macedonian troops. He fought his captors so bravely that he was brought before King Perdiccas himself. Perdiccas, though impressed by the young man's prowess, offered him life in exchange for being his spy and going back to Eion and help to capture the city by betraying it. Phoenix refused despite being threaten to be executed if he wouldn't comply with King's wishes. But then the King changed his mind or maybe simply forgot about his captive, he had quite a lot on a go.

In exchange for helping Spartans to capture Amphipolis, Spartans promised Perdiccas to help him against Illyrians. It didn't went exactly well but somewhere along the road everybody forgot that Phoenix was a captive and he took part in ensuing war. He was quite good at it and happy too. He always dreamt of being a soldier but his father insisted on him to continue his trade as blacksmith. In one of the skirmishes with Illyrians, Phoenix risked his life to bring back comrade named Boeos who was severely wounded. Though the man never fully recovered, he lived long enough to organize the wedding of his only daughter to Phoenix."

"And so Phoenix stayed in Macedon?"

"Yes. Phoenix had one younger brother left in Eion, but he never had any children. Of Phoenix' two sisters, one was married even before Athenians captured Amphipolis, and another one later on married into Macedonian family as well. So, the family stayed in Macedon from that time. As for my father, he knew your father since they were children and he was one of the hostages that were sent to Thebes together with your father."

"So strange that I never heard about him before. How come? You said he was a general but…."

"He is never in Macedon. We lived in Athens for some time and also in Pherae. We move around a lot."

"Why?"

"I am not really sure. My father says it is in the interests of Macedon. But now I think we're going to stay here for a while. I hope."

"I hope so too!" smiled Alexander. "Long enough to finish building a tree house and became a true warriors. And then we're going to conquer the world, I will be as brave as Achilles and you as wise as Phoenix. Deal?"

"Deal!"