Hephaestion
The death of Hephaestion was of great pain for Alexander. Only with new aims, new conquers would he be able to forget his pain. Thus further than Arabia, Alexander aimed to march forward to Lybia and Etruscan, Lucania and Brouttion from Italy to Sousa was significant so he could finalize his decision. In Italy the Molossians of Epirus would follow Alexander’s course, who invaded Italy from Epirus, whilst in Lybia he would proceed fron the coast. From there he would go toward Carthage, Spain up to the Pillars of Hercules.
May of 323 the preparation for the campaign to Arabia were completed. Alexander was in Babylon and he made the necessary sacrificies to succeed his new enterprise. His faith towards God was not lost in spite of his achievements that could have caused his enthusiasm to compare himself as equal to God.
Also at Babylon Alexander conceived the idea to establish, as an indication of gratitude for his victory, grand temples, offered to the gods of Olympus. To Apollo of Dilos and to Delphi, to Zeus at Dodoni and to Dion, at Athina Alkidimo at Cyprus, to Artemis at Amphipoli and to Athina at Troad.
He aimed at honouring in particular his father Philip. ” To build a pyramid equal in measurement with the tallest pyramid in Egypt”.
He did not lived to fulfil it, but one of his generals Lysimachus built the tombstone on top of Philips tomb in Vergina. In favour of Alexander’s plans, the tomb was not plundered until the excavation in 1977 by professor Manolis Andronikos.
Tradition says that before his death Alexander called all of his generals and notified his last wishes: His body to be transferred on the shoulders of the best doctors of that time, his treasures to be scattered all the way up to his tomb and his hands to be swaying in the air for all to see.
And Alexander explained the following to all his amazing co-warriors.
” I want the most distinguished doctors to lift my body, to show that not even they have the strength to treat people in front of the power of God, I want the ground to be covered with my treasures, for everyone to see that the riches I obtained here, will remain here, I want my hands to be swaying in the air, so people can see that we come here with empty hands and we leave with empty hands, when the most precious treasure finishes, which is time “.
After a high fever, Alexander died. The calender showed 10th June 323, and Alexander had succeed doing so many things in a very short time, that no one had achieved up to that time in history. The death of Alexander closed a chapter in the history of Macedonia and worldwide.
A remarkable warrior, first in battle with exceptional talent in the art of war but also enviable intelligence. I believe that he can only be compared to his father Philip and with Hercules and that he would have been better than them. And of course he succeeded, as his friends and enemies agreed.
