Hi Dr. Reames! What do you think of the remarks made by some people that Hephaestion was a rash, spoiled and foolish person because of his quarrels with Craterus and Eumenes?
As my answer to this is pretty much the sum of my published work on Hephaistion, that might be a bit much for a Tumblr reply. Ha. It's Peter Green who said a variation on that, btw (and Plutarch supposedly quoting Alexander). Green called Hephaistion, "Tall, handsome, spoilt, spiteful, overbearing, and fundamentally stupid" (p. 465, U. Cal ed., 1991 reprint), and more or less jump-started my dissertation. (Waldemar Heckel would agree with Green, btw.)
You can find my articles on academia.edu
As for the Hephaistion-Krateros quarrel in particular (and Alexander's supposed retort telling Hephaistion he was rash and foolish), I just submitted a paper which should be out with Karanos some time next year/late this year (?), called "Cyclops vs. Wolverine: Hephaistion and Krateros, Plutarch, and Swords." It's the elaborated-on version of what I gave at the big international ATG conference here in Omaha last fall (September 2024).
The abstract might interest you (and others)....
Abstract: The tale of Hephaistion and Krateros pulling swords on each other in India, recorded only by Plutarch, may not be a real event but an anecdotal illustration of Alexander’s new Persianizing policies versus traditional Macedonian resistance, embodied by Hephaistion for the former, and Krateros for the latter. If tension between the two marshals was probable enough, as suggested by the Philalexandros-Philobasileus comparative, a physical confrontation was most likely invented by Plutarch for literary ends.
My current monograph on Hephaistion and Krateros (although I made zill headway on it this summer for a variety of reasons connected to the next ATG conference in Barcelona February 2026, and university duties) also deals with Hephaistion's reputation in more detail, and his quarrels with both Krateros and Eumenes.
I'd also point out that Eumenes quarreled with a lot of people. ;-)
