theworldofalexanderthegreat-blog

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Portrait of Hephaistion. Artist unknown. Greek, about 320 B.C., Marble.

The son of a noble Macedonian family, Hephaistion was the beloved companion of Alexander the Great. Together since boyhood, Hephaistion fought alongside Alexander as he created his great empire. When Hephaistion died in Persia in 324 B.C., Alexander mourned him extravagantly. He was given a royal funeral and Alexander ordered the cities of Greece to worship Hephaistion as a hero.

This head of Hephaistion, broken from a full-length statue, was originally part of a multi-figured group, which might have depicted a sacrificial scene. The J. Paul Getty Museum has more than thirty fragments of this group. The participants include Alexander, Hephaistion, a goddess, Herakles, a flute player, and several other figures, as well as animals and birds. This group may have served as a funerary monument for some nobleman who wanted to associate himself with Alexander, or it might be a monument erected in response to Alexander's call for the creation of a hero cult.

The appearance of this head has changed over time. A metal ribbon or diadem once circled the head, although only a shallow groove remains today. The head was also re-carved in antiquity, with the hair shortened and the lower eyelids altered.

Source: J. Paul Getty Museum

#portrait #hephaestion #artist unknown #greek #320 bc #marble #alexander the great #macedonian #ancient macedonia #ancient greece #ancient history #ancient world #history #history lovers #history blogs #j paul getty museum

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Ruins of Ancient Pella, a birthplace of Alexander The Great. Pella, Macedonia, Greece.

#ruins #ancient pella #birthplace #alexander the great #pella #macedonia #ancient macedonia #ancient greece #greece #ancient history #ancient world #history #history lovers

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Wreath with detached stem including leaves and detached berries. Artist unknown. Greek, 300-100 BC., Gold.

Two hollow wires that fasten in the front with a simple hook and eye form the framework of this Hellenistic gold wreath. On these wires, the anonymous goldsmith soldered thinner stems embellished with laurel leaves and berries. The ends of the hollow wire framework imitate the broken ends of twigs.

Gold wreaths such as this one derive their form from wreaths of real leaves worn in religious ceremonies and given as prizes in athletic and artistic contests. Because of their fragility, gold wreaths were probably not meant to be worn. They were dedicated to the gods in sanctuaries and placed in graves as funerary offerings. Although known in earlier periods, gold wreaths became much more frequent in the Hellenistic age, probably due in large part to the greatly increased availability of gold in the Greek world following the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great.

Source: J. Paul Getty Museum.

#wreath #artist unknown #greek #300-100 bc #gold #hellenistic #ancient greece #ancient history #ancient world #alexander the great #history #history lovers #history blogs

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Statue of Alexander The Great, Thessaloniki, Greece. Amazing picture by Kurt Schrauder. 

#statue #alexander the great #thessaloniki #greece #photography #beautiful photo #ancient history #ancient world #ancient greece #alexander ho megas #history #history lovers #history blogs

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Head of a youth (fragment of a statuette). Asia Minor, Smyrna, 2nd century BC.

This is probably a part of large statuette of a naked hero or athlete, an image influenced by monumental sculpture. The subtle moulding betrays the hand of a true sculptor. The conveying of a state of inner turmoil and the play of passions are among the most important themes found in Greek sculpture from the time of Alexander onwards. The great sculptor Lysippos, whose worked in the time of Aexander, made famous statues of Agios and Apoxyomenos, which undoubtedly had an influence , albeit indirectly, on the image of the young hero that became established in Hellenistic art. The youth’s deep-set eyes are given a particularly dramatic effect by the shadow falling from the sharply protruding arches of the eyebrows and the high bridge of the nose, an effect intensified by the almost sickly swelling of the lower eyelashes.

Masters in Smyrna, a city whose site has, according to legend, been chosen by Alexander on the advice of the goddess Nemesis- specialised in making terracotta copies and replicas of munumental statues. Hermitage Amsterdam 2010.

#head of a youth #fragment #statuette #asia minor #smyrna #2nd century bc #alexander the great #the immortal alexander the great #hermitage amsterdam #2010 #ancient greece #alexander ho megas #ancient history #ancient world #history #history lovers #history blogs

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Alexander The Great's triumphal entry into Babylon, 1675 etching and engraving , printed on two sheets. Gerard Audran (1640-1703) after Charles Le Brun. 

Engraving in reverse of the painting in the Louvre, which Charles Le Brun completed in about 1665. (The Immortal Alexander The Great, Hermitage Amsterdam 2010).

#alexander the great #triumphal #babylon #1675 #etching #engraving #art #gerard audran #charles le brun #louvre #1665 #the immortal alexander the great #hermitage amsterdam #2010 #ancient history #ancient world #history #history lovers #history blogs

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The magnanimity of Alexander The Great (The tent of Darius), 1670s engraving, printed on two sheets. Gerard Edelinck (1640-1707) after Charles Le Brun. (The Immortal Alexander The Great, Hermitage Amsterdam 2010).

#magnanimity #alexander the great #the tent of darius #1670 #engraving #gerard edelinck #art #charles le brun #the immortal alexander the great #hermitage amsterdam #2010 #alexander ho megas #history blogs

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The Dying Alexander (detail)

Head of The Dying Alexander (detail) , 17th-18th century copy after the famous antique marble head in the Uffizi, Florence.

“A dark mist crossed the sky, and a bolt of lightning was seen to fall from heaven into the sea, and with it a great eagle. And the bronze statue of Arimazd in Babylon quivered; and the lightning ascended into heaven, and the eagle went with it, taking with it a radiant star. And when the star disappeared in the sky, Alexander too had shut his eyes.”

The Legend had begun.

~The Nature of Alexander by Mary Renault~

#the dying alexander #detail #marble head #alexander the great #uffizi #florence #ancient greece #ancient history #ancient world #nature of alexander #book #quote #mary renault #literature #history #history lovers #alexandros ho megas

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Head of a youth with Alexander’s features, Asia Minor, Smyrna, 2nd century BC. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

#head of a youth #alexander the great #asia minor #smyrna #2nd century bc #hermitage museum #st petersburg #russia #ancient history #ancient world #history #history lovers

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Clay cuneiform tablet. Chronicle about Alexander in Arabia. Late Babylonian. Material: clay, Findspot: Omran. Excavated by Hormuzd Rassam. Source: British Museum.

#chronicle #alexander the great #arabia #late babylonian #clay #omran #hozmuzd rassam #archaeologist #ancient history #ancient world #history #history lovers #british museum

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Fragment of a relief with a Persian warrior, one of the guards of Darius or Xerxes. Iran, C. 500 BC. 

This relief shows head of a warrior in a tall tiara, with a quiver for arrows behind his back and a spear in his hand. (The Immortal Alexander The Great, Hermitage Amsterdam 2010) 

#fragment #relief #persian warrior #guard #darius #xerxes #iran #500bc #ancient world #ancient hi #history #history lovers #the immortal alexander the great #hermitage amsterdam #2010

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Alexander The Great wearing a lion skin, a frequent attribute on monetary portraits alluding to Herakles, his mythical ancestor; inscribed letters on the face are later additions. Pentelic marble, ca. 300 BC. Found in Kerameikon. National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece. 

#alexander the great #lion skin #herakles #pentelic marble #300 bc #ancient greece #ancient history #ancient world #history #kerameikon #national archaeological museum #athens #greece #history lovers #education

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This photograph shows a detail from one of the most celebrated ancient mosaics to have survived into the modern era. The mosaic depicts Alexander the Great’s defeat of the Persian king Darius; the detail here illustrates Alexander himself.

In its entirety, the mosaic measures 5.82 x 3.13m (19ft x 10ft 3in), and is made of around a million tesserae (small mosaic tiles). It was discovered in the largest house in Pompeii, the House of the Faun, in a room overlooking the central peristyle garden of the house. It is thought that this house was built shortly after the Roman conquest of Pompeii, and is likely to have been the residence of one of Pompeii’s new, Roman, ruling class. The mosaic highlights the wealth and power of the occupier of the house, since such grand and elaborate mosaics are extremely rare, both in Pompeii and in the wider Roman world.

#ancient mosaic #alexander the great #darius #persian king #mosaic #tesserae #pompeii #house of the faun #roman world #history #ancient history #ancient world

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Head of Alexander The Great, found in 1886 near the Erechtheion. Beautiful portrait of young Alexander, possibly a sculpture by Lysippos 336 BC. Acropolis Museum.

#alexander the great #head #1886 #erechtheion #portrait #sculpture #lysippos #336bc #acropolis museum #ancient greece #ancient history #history #history lovers

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Box mirror with the head of Pan, late 4th century b.c.; Hellenistic
Greek, Bronze. Box mirrors, like this one, came into use toward the end of the fifth century B.C. It consists of a protective cover bearing a relief that was hammered separately and applied. On this box mirror, the edges around the head of Pan bear evidence of the procedure. By lifting the ring below the relief, one could reveal the mirror, a bronze disk with a highly polished surface. Being a woodland creature like the satyr, Pan is always portrayed with the horns, ears, and shaggy legs of a goat. Here he wears a fawn’s skin with two small hooves tied in a knot around his neck. His long curls are in disarray, his forehead is slightly furrowed, and his eyebrows are raised in an expression that verges on pathos. This rendering of Pan recalls portraits of Alexander the Great. Following his death in 323 B.C., Greek artists adapted the Macedonian ruler’s features for their likenesses of gods.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum Of Art

#box mirror #head of pan #4th century bc #hellenistic greek #bronze #ancient history #ancient world #history #history lovers #the metropolitan museum of art

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Silver tetradrachm of Alexander the Great, circa 310-275 BC. Alexander’s portrait in the guise of Herakles wearing the skin of a lion’s head. From Macedonia, Greece. Boden museum, Berlin.

#tetradrachm #silver #alexander the great #portrait #herakles #macedonia #ancient greece #ancient history #ancient world #history #boden museum #berlin

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Statue and bust of Alexander the Great in the Istanbul archaeological museum. The extraordinary bust was found by archaeologists working at Pergamum.

#statue #bust #alexander the great #istanbul archaeological museum #archaeology #pergamum #ancient history #ancient greece #ancient world #ancient #history