Bucephalus disease. The most famous horses - from Bucephalus to Losharik - Locals

Bucephalus - the favorite horse of Alexander the Great- is known no less than its great owner.
According to ancient authors, Bucephalus was descended from a barbarian stallion and a Thessalian mare. It was an animal tall, golden-red color. Alexander's father Philip II acquired it in 343 BC. e., during Olympic Games in Dion, for 13 talents (that's about 340 kilograms of silver).

Coin from the time of Philip, father of Alexander the Great. Who is depicted on it? Alexander and Bucephalus?

The horse turned out to have a wild disposition and would not let anyone near him.
And the answer to the miracle was simple - Bucephalus (that’s what the Macedonian horse called) grew up in a stable, and when he was taken out into the bright sunlight, which Macedonia is so rich in, a shadow appeared at his feet, the stallion was frightened by it and shied away, throwing off the rider.
Alexander, who was only 12 years old at the time, guessed that Bucephalus was simply afraid of shadows, turned his horse’s muzzle towards the sun and jumped on his back. From that day on they became inseparable.

There is another, legendary version of this story. According to her, Bucephalus was not a horse, but a unicorn.
The unicorn was brought to his father, King Philip of Macedonia, for sale by a certain Thessalian or, according to another version, Alexander received it as a gift from the queen of Egypt. The strange beast felt the fear of people approaching it and thanks to this it was invincible. Only Alexander was free from the fear inherent in mortals.
Alexander argued that due to lack of courage or ability to curb the animal, they were missing a great opportunity. Philip at first did not pay attention to him, but the boy insisted, and finally the king answered him irritably:

Don't you consider yourself more skillful than these adult warriors?

“I can deal with this creature better than them,” Alexander said stubbornly.

Bucephalus was brought into the arena, fanfare called for silence, and Alexander confidently entered the field. He was small even for his age, and next to the large unicorn he looked like a child, but his self-confidence was not just bravado. He observed previous attempts and noticed several techniques in them that seemed incorrect to him. The worst mistake was to approach Bucephalus as a horse whose will must be broken.
Alexander understood that the unicorn would accept the rider only if he himself agreed to it.

He also noticed that before the animal was mounted, a cloak was thrown over its head. And then, to show that he did not intend to act in the same way, Alexander untied the strings of his cloak and threw it to the ground. In addition, he made it clear to Bucephalus that he did not have any weapons, whips or ropes with him. And Alexander also noticed that Bucephalus was clearly irritated by the long shadows cast by those standing around him. And so, grabbing the bridle, he let go of the grooms who were holding the animal and turned so that the low sun began to hit Bucephalus directly in the eyes
And so he was left standing completely unprotected. The unicorn stepped closer and bowed its head so that its shining horn almost touched the boy's chest, opposite his heart. A murmur ran through the crowd, and one could hear Philip's archers, stationed there to protect his son, draw their bowstrings, but it was clear to everyone that if the unicorn struck, nothing would save Alexander.

"Sarcophagus of Alexander"

What seemed like an eternity passed, and suddenly the animal bowed its head and poked its horn into the ground as a sign of submission. Bucephalus allowed the young man to jump on him. Alexander did not move for some time, giving them both the opportunity to get used to each other. And then the unicorn galloped forward; faster than the wind flew away into the distance.
But finally he galloped back to the joyful cheers of the crowd. They say that the king cried with joy and pride for his son, and when he dismounted, he kissed him and exclaimed:

O my son, seek for yourself a kingdom equal to and worthy of you, for Macedonia is too small to contain you.

Out of respect for the power of the unicorn, Alexander gave it the name Bucephalus, that is, “Bull-headed.”

Bucephalus accompanied Alexander almost to the end of their days and carried it in all the major battles during the conquest of Egypt and the Persian Empire.
Something of the character of the unicorn entered Alexander's flesh and blood. The young hero became famous for his justice, restraint and mercy towards surrendered enemies.

The battle between the troops of Alexander the Great and the Persians at Issus. Antique mosaic. IV century BC uh

They also said that Alexander once looked at his portrait in Ephesus, painted by the famous artist Apelles, and was dissatisfied with the work. Then by chance they brought Bucephalus to the portrait, who, with his neighing, greeted the owner depicted in the picture as if he were alive. Apelles exclaimed sarcastically: “Lord, the horse turned out to be a better connoisseur of art than you.”

An image of Alexander the Great with a helmet in the shape of the scalp of the lion Hercules. Detail of the so-called Sarcophagus of Alexander, excavated in Sidon.

For more than 20 years, the faithful Bucephalus carried the hero across the vast expanses of Asia.
Legend and history agree that Bucephalus died in the last major battle Alexandra against the Indian king Porus on the banks of the Jela, or Hydaspes, one of the five mighty branches of the Indus River. The debate only revolves around the cause of his death - whether it was wounds, old age or simply exhaustion. Be that as it may, his departure marked a change in Alexander’s fate. His legendary luck seemed to have abandoned him, and his character, which had already shown signs of imbalance, began to quickly change for the worse.

Edinburgh. Alexander the Great tames Bucephalus

Alexander won the battle against Porus with great difficulty. This was his last great victory, and after that his army refused to go further. He was forced to turn back, but his decision to explore the shores along the way led to the death of thousands of people while crossing the Makran Desert, in the south of what is now Pakistan.
Plutarch gives a figure of 80,000 dead, and despite the fact that Alexander himself suffered all the hardships along with his soldiers, this sacrifice of death was the reason for the loss of his popularity.

After the death of the horse, Alexander founded the city and named it after his battle friend. It is the only city in the world named after a horse (modern Jalalpur in Pakistan).

That Alexander's luck deserted him with the death of his unicorn should not have seemed mere coincidence to his contemporaries. The death of Bucephalus may even have been considered as the reason for India's deliverance from conquest.

tome from Ayaib al-Mahlukat ("Amazing Creatures")

A millennium and a half later, India was again saved by the unicorn when early XIII century, Genghis Khan set out with his countless army to conquer India.
On the high mountain pass of Mount Jadanaringa in northern India, from where the whole country opened up before the conqueror’s gaze like an open precious casket, a unicorn suddenly appeared before him.
Genghis Khan stopped, and his entire roaring army followed him. The animal approached the commander, humbly knelt before him three times and disappeared into the heights. Genghis Khan fell into a trance, after which he began to think out loud: “What does it mean that this dumb animal bows to me like a man? Isn’t my father’s spirit sending me a warning from heaven?” As a result, he decided that this was so and turned his army back.

Unicorns in the paintings of Roger and Linda Garland

The name of the favorite horse of Alexander the Great, what was the name of the Macedonian horse, other famous horses in history Alexander the Great - quick facts about the conqueror.

What was the name of the Macedonian horse?

According to the biographical information of Plutarch, Alexander the Great was given a horse for his 10th birthday, who became the only one true friend conquering commander and served him faithfully until his death. Alexander the Great with early years stood out among the children of the court nobility, and the wayward horse, brought as a gift, obeyed only him. Alexander the Great's horse was 11 years old, when a merchant from Thessaly offered Philip II, Alexander's father, his for 13 talents - about 350 grams of silver. At that time, such a price was huge, and even for an unbroken, obstinate horse, but the king made a deal if Alexander could curb the animal.

Plutarch about the taming of the horse by Alexander:

« Alexander ran up to the magnificent horse, grabbed him by the bridle and turned his head towards the sun– most likely, he noticed that the horse was afraid of shadows. He ran for a short time next to the horse and stroked it with his hand, but then, making sure that the animal had calmed down and was breathing calmly, he threw off his cloak and easily jumped onto the horse. At first I had to pull the reins while holding the horse, but no blows or pulling of the reins was required, as the horse changed its restive behavior and transferred its will into the hands of Alexander. Philip and his retinue were silent in confusion and anxiety when Alexander, according to all the rules of horseback riding, turned to them - proud and jubilant. The father shed tears of joy, kissed Alexander, who dismounted from his horse, and said: “Seek, my son, a kingdom on your own, for Macedonia is too small for you!”

The horse was named Bucephalus (Bucephalus), which is translated from Greek as “bull-headed”. The horse was given the appropriate nickname either because of its wide forehead and big sizes, or for waywardness. You can also guess about “Plato,” whose real name was hidden behind a pseudonym assigned by friends. What else is distinctive according to the instructions of historians and eyewitnesses: Bucephalus, the Macedonian horse, had one peculiarity– the legs had vestigial toes, covered with the horn of the middle toe, which formed the hoof. Despite the fact that in art Western Europe, Bucephalus is depicted as a war horse, Alexander took care of his “friend” until his death.

Bucephalus, Alexander's horse, first accompanied the future emperor on a military campaign to Asia, but did not participate in hostilities - the Macedonian diligently took care of his faithful horse, using wild horses in battles. In the battle of Granik (the army of the Macedonian and Persian satraps) one of them was killed under Alexander.

The abduction of the Macedonian horse

Plutarch, continuing the biography of Alexander the Great, tells a story in the Caspian territories of Persia - The barbarians (Uxii) stole the beloved Macedonian horse. Then Alexander demanded to return him, threatening that he would destroy their entire people, together with their wives and children, if such an insistent request was refused. The Macedonian horse was returned intact, and Alexander even rewarded the kidnappers. The same story is described by Curtius, the Roman historian, and Arrian, the ancient Greek historian and geographer.

Immortalization:

Alexander the Great named the city in honor of Bucephalus, which is now called “Jalalpur” and is located in Pakistan.

Famous horses in history:

• Rocinante - Don Quixote's horse;
• Béarn gelding - D'Artagnan's horse;
• Bolivar is a literary horse character from O’Henry’s work “The Roads We Take”: “Bolivar cannot bear two!”

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Everyone already knows that 2014 is the year of the horse. And, for sure, many of you New Year's Eve They will wear something with a horse print or put on a mask, or even a whole horse’s head. In order not to answer the question “who are you?” With the hackneyed phrase “a horse in a coat,” we suggest quickly studying the list of the most famous horses and finding yourself in it. And, in the end, stop confusing Bucephalus with Bolivar!

PEGASUS

The favorite of the muses, the winged stallion Pegasus, according to ancient Greek myths, was born from the blood of the Gorgon Medusa when her head was cut off. He was Perseus's horse in the episode of saving Andromeda and Bellerophon's accomplice in the murder of the Chimera. The horse flew at the speed of the wind, and before that it accelerated along the ground and knocked out springs with its hooves. This is how the famous source of Hippocrene arose near the grove of the Muses, from which poets drew inspiration. Pegasus also delivered lightning and thunder from Hephaestus to Zeus on Olympus. The Templars placed the image of a winged horse on their coat of arms as a symbol of contemplation, eloquence and glory.

TROJAN HORSE

From school course In history, everyone remembers that it was this horse that helped the Greeks win the war, which began because Paris stole Helen, the wife of the Greek king Menelaus. The Greeks sailed to Troy, besieged the city, built a wooden horse, inside which, according to some sources, 50 of the best warriors of Sparta hid, according to others - 100, according to others - 23, or even nine. The naive Trojans, mistaking the huge horse at the gate for a gift, brought it into the city, and at night the soldiers got out of the horse, opened the gates to the rest of the army and took possession of Troy. Virgil’s hemistich “fear the Danaans, even those who bring gifts” has become a proverb, and the expression “ Trojan horse" is now used in the sense of an insidious plan.

BUCEPHALUS

Bucephalus (from Greek “bull-headed”) is the favorite horse of Alexander the Great. According to legend, at the age of ten, Tsarevich Alexander was the only one who was able to tame this horse, and since then only Bucephalus allowed him to ride. Moreover, the horse always knelt when he was brought to his owner. Alexander loved Bucephalus madly, took care of him and did not use him in battles. According to legend, the Persian barbarians kidnapped Bucephalus, but when Alexander threatened them with complete extermination, they immediately returned him to the owner. By the way, they say that this nickname was actually given to Alexander by his enemies, and he turned his attention to his horse because of his disproportionate physique. It is also believed that Bucephalus was not afraid of anything except his shadow.

UNICORN

This mythical creature symbolizes chastity. Present in many mythological systems - more often with the body of a horse, less often - of a goat, deer or bull, and in some places even with wings. The most unusual Persian unicorn is in the form of a three-legged white donkey with six eyes, nine mouths and a golden horn. But we are used to white, with blue eyes. Legends claim that he is insatiable when pursued, but obediently lies down on the ground if a virgin approaches him. In general, they say, it is impossible to catch a unicorn, and if you do, you can only hold it with a golden bridle. All his power, naturally, lies in the horn, and it is also attributed to him healing properties in the treatment of various diseases and snake bites. Unicorns eat flowers and drink morning dew. They also look for small lakes in the depths of the forest, in which they swim, from which the water becomes very clean and acquires healing properties.

CENTAUR

By Greek mythology- These are wild mortal creatures with the head and torso of a man on the body of a horse. They usually accompany Dionysus and are distinguished by their violent temperament and intemperance. In myths, centaurs are either educators of heroes, or, on the contrary, hostile to them. Chiron was considered the wisest centaur, who was almost always dressed, which emphasized his closeness to people. Sometimes the front legs of the centaurs were human - to enhance civilization. The centaurs fought tirelessly with their neighbors the Lapiths, trying to kidnap the wives from their tribe for themselves. Once the Lapiths invited centaurs to a wedding, and the tipsy guest insulted the bride by starting the famous “centauromachy.” The centaurs fled defeated, and then most of them were killed by Hercules, and those who escaped listened to the sirens, stopped eating and died of hunger. As a rule, the centaur is naked and armed, and in particularly ancient images he is endowed with both human and horse genitals.

KINNAR

This is a centaur in reverse: the body of a man, the head of a horse. Kinnars are semi-divine winged creatures. The first book of the Mahabharata says that the kinnars were in the service of Indra and were celestial musicians and singers.

INCITATE

Favorite horse of Emperor Caligula. According to legend, Caligula first made the horse a citizen of Rome, then appointed him a Roman senator. They say that Caligula would have managed to make his horse consul if he had not been killed. He loved this stallion so much that he built him a stable of marble and ivory with a golden drinking trough. Then he gave him a palace with servants and utensils. Caligula declared Incitatus “the incarnation of all the gods” and ordered him to be venerated. After the assassination of the emperor, it was said in defense of the horse that he, unlike other senators, did not kill anyone and did not give the emperor a single bad advice. But there was one problem: according to the law, no one, not even a horse, could be expelled from the Senate before the end of his term of office. Then Incitat's salary was cut, and he was removed from the Senate as not meeting the financial qualifications.

HORSE OF THE PROPHETIC OLEG

The meanest horse in history. According to legend, the Magi predicted to Prince Oleg that he would die from his beloved stallion. Oleg ordered the horse to be taken away, lived without him for many years and remembered the prediction only four years later, when he had long since died. Oleg laughed and wanted to look at the bones, stood with his foot on the skull and said: “Should I be afraid of him?” At that moment, a snake crawled out of the skull and fatally stung the prince.

HORSE FROM THE GAME “LUCKY ACCIDENT”

BOLIVAR

This is from the story “Roads We Take” (1910) by the American writer O. Henry. Bolivar is the name of a horse on which two friends could have escaped, but one of them, named Dodson, nicknamed Shark, abandoned his friend and escaped on the horse himself. In his defense, he said: “Bolivar cannot stand two.” Later, when Dodson became a major entrepreneur, these words became his motto, which guided his relationships with his business partners. In short, it’s either you or you.

THE LITTLE HUMPBACKED HORSE

A small, hunchbacked, but very playful and intelligent horse from Ershov’s fairy tale of the same name. As usual, he helped Ivan in all matters, protected, entertained. Few people know, but the fairy tale experienced all the vicissitudes of censorship - at first it was published with amendments, and in 1843 it was completely banned and was not published for 13 years. Pushkin praised “The Little Humpbacked Horse,” and Belinsky declared that the fairy tale “has not only no artistic merit, but even the merit of an amusing farce.”

RED HORSE

“Bathing the Red Horse” is a famous painting by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, painted in 1912 and which brought him fame. Petrov-Vodkin based his horse on a real stallion named Boy, and to create the image of the rider, the artist used the features of his student, a very handsome young man, the artist Kalmykov. Moreover, it was Kalmykov’s work with red horses bathing in water that may have inspired Petrov-Vodkin to create his masterpiece. They say that the horse was first painted as a bay, and then the color was changed to red to make it more similar to the colors of the icons. Now - in the Tretyakov Gallery.

CANVAS METER

An old, sick, experienced horse from a story by Leo Tolstoy. In fact, the gelding’s name was “Muzhik First,” and Kholstomer was his nickname. In the story, he tells his story to the other horses in the first person. Due to a defect in the breed, Kholstomer was considered second-class from childhood, although he was fast. One day he fell in love with a mare, but was immediately castrated. Then Kholstomer was given to the stablemaster, but he turned out to be faster than the count's, and he was sold, and then more than once. Kholstomer was killed in a ravine by a farrier, but his skin and meat were useful to someone, while one of his owners, an officer, although he was buried with pomp, lived a generally worthless life. The story was written in 1886 based on a true story.

WHITE-MANED HORSES

The cartoon, beloved by all Soviet children, about how Little Bear gave his friends new country- Tilimilitryamdiyu. (Screen, 1980)

HORSES OF THE HORSEMON OF THE APOCALYPSE

Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a term from the sixth chapter of the Revelations of John the Theologian, the last of the books of the New Testament. There is still no consensus on what exactly each of the horsemen represents, but they are often called Plague (on a white horse), War (on a red horse), Famine (on a black horse) and Death (on a pale one). By the way, they are mentioned in the songs: Metallica “The Four Horsemen”, Alisa “Horsemen”, Rammstein “Der Meister”.

LOSHARIK

Losharik is a small horse made from juggling balls, voiced in the 1971 cartoon by Rina Zelenaya. The cartoon is, in fact, philosophical: Losharik is different from the “real” circus animals, so they constantly mock him, doubting his artistic talent. Moreover, they simply refuse to perform with him! The juggler is upset and also breaks off all relations with Losharik, and the horse leaves the circus. But the audience is outraged because they loved Losharik, and so the juggler, performing, throws up his balls and, out of habit, folds Losharik again. Peace, friendship, applause. Animator of the cartoon - Yuri Norshtein (“Hedgehog in the Fog”).

NIGHT MARE

It's not what you think. Few people know that English word“nightmare” literally translates as “night mare.” History goes back to Ancient Greece, where in the temples of the Great Mother there were two castes of priestesses: priestesses of the day in red robes and priestesses of the night (lamias) in black. The priestesses' clothing was a tight-fitting net woven from horse hair, and the priestesses had horse hair woven into their hair. The lamias left the temple only at night.
Only the most beautiful and passionate women, skilled in love. Any man could desire one, but in order to possess the priestess, the man had to tear the net on her body with his bare hands. Horsehair is very durable, and only in a fit of crazy passion strong man could do something like this. If he did not have enough strength, then punishment followed immediately. In the case of the day priestess, the loser was castrated, the lamias gave the loser a kiss and at that time they plunged a dagger, which served as a hairpin, into the back, killing instantly. Lamia is the prototype of the night mare. In Greece and Rome, it was believed that at night a black mare appears at crossroads, and the person who sees her will either face immediate death or great love. Thus, the lamias turned from priestesses into night ghosts. The Romans brought it with them to Britain, where the word mare also means girl in Old English.

HORSE IN A COAT

Famous horse from folklore. There is even a monument erected to him in the center of Sochi. An imposing horse in an expensive English coat, with a cup of wine and a branded pipe in the horse’s smoky teeth, sits with his forelimbs stretched out. The horse smiles with a wide horse smile: life, they say, is a success! The monument was created using a blacksmith's forge, a hammer, a sledgehammer and welding machine from a piece of water pipe weighing more than 80 kg. All this cost 120 thousand rubles and was financed by one kind person, and then the monument was bought by the city of Sochi.

PRZEWALSKI'S HORSE

This is a wild horse. Unlike other horses, she has no bangs, a short erect mane and long hair on the tail they do not grow from the very base of the tail, but only on its lower half. She also has long, wavy hair and a larger head than a normal horse. The horse is named after the man who discovered this species - Nikolai Przhevalsky, a Russian traveler and naturalist, in Central Asia who noticed an animal unknown to science. There are about 2,000 individuals in the world, and the stud book of Przewalski's horses is kept by the Prague Zoo. In the early 1990s, several horses were released into the Ukrainian exclusion zone as an experiment. Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where they, surprisingly, began to actively reproduce.

ROSINANTE

The name of Don Quixote's horse. The hero took a long time to choose the name of his horse, because... it was supposed to indicate her past and present, corresponding to the new type of activity and status of the owner. As a result, he settled on the name Rocinante (“rosin” - nag; “ante” - before) - “a name that explains that before this horse was an ordinary nag, but now, ahead of all the others, it has become the first nag in the world.” As you know, she was terribly skinny.

PONY

For example, from the famous Soviet cartoon “The Pony Runs in a Circle.” It's about living in a zoo little Pony, who took children for rides and dreamed of participating in a military parade. One day a general came to the zoo and decided to ride a pony. While riding, the general remembered his childhood and imagined himself as a little boy. And the pony realized that his job is to give joy to children and adults, and what he does is no less important than participating in parades.

PEDAL HORSE

Its history is known thanks to the diaries of Alexander the Great found during excavations. Before Bucephalus (see above), Alexander did not ride live horses, because his father was very worried that the prince would harm himself. They built him a wooden horse with wheels, driven by pedals. The same horses were made for his friends, and they staged battles on pedal horses, imitating real battles. Perhaps thanks to this, Alexander became a skilled commander. But now this phrase means a person who is narrow-minded, dull and stubborn. And all because in the 50s of the last century, in the bowels of the defense industry of the USSR, they designed a horse that combined wheels and a bicycle that was in short supply. The product was called “pedal horse”, but was soon discontinued as not functional. And the name itself went down among the people, becoming one of the symbols of human stupidity.

SPIRIT

A horse from an American cartoon by DreamWorks Animation. In the 1870s, there were bloody battles between the American nation and the Indians, and on the banks of the American Cimarron River a foal was born who would eventually be named Spirit. When he grew up, he became the leader of the herd. And everything would have been fine if one day the stallion had not decided to check what kind of light was visible in the distance and had not been captured by people. But, naturally, with his unbending will he surpasses everyone who tries to conquer him. This is a completely drawn film that was nominated in several Oscar categories, but never won a single award.

HORSES ON ANICHKOV BRIDGE

Anichkov Bridge is one of the business cards St. Petersburg. In terms of general architecture, it’s nothing special, but Klodt’s sculptural group “The Taming of a Horse by Man” made this bridge famous. Well, the horses themselves are famous to many. Including the fact that instead of the genitals of one of them, the author depicted the profile of Napoleon. And the whole point is that at one time the emperor darkened Klodt Honeymoon very persistent courtship of his young wife.

SIVKA-BURKA

“Sivka-burka, prophetic kaurka” is a canonical assistant character in Russian folk tales. Explanation: sivka is white, burka is dark red, prophetic is wise, foreseeing the future, kauriy is fiery red. This is a beautiful heroic horse (not to be confused with the Little Humpbacked Horse).

FIRST MOVIE HORSE

This is the first horse to be filmed galloping. Someone argued with someone that a horse, when it gallops, does not leave the ground, and the second said that it flies up at a gallop. There were no movie cameras yet, so they placed a lot of cameras with ropes along the wall. The jockey rode his horse along the wall, breaking these ropes, and a bunch of pictures were obtained, from which they compiled a moving film and proved the flight phase. Essentially, this horse played important role in the development of cinema.

GUINGNM

This is a fictional horse with a mind similar to that of a human. The country of the Houyhnhnms is described in the fourth part of Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels. The Houyhnhnms were vegetarians and ate oats and dairy products. Their main virtues are friendship and goodwill towards all their fellows. They never lie, and in the Houyhnhnm language there are no words at all for “lie” and “deception.” They do not know illness, they die without suffering. Some of the Houyhnhnms, less gifted by nature, worked as servants, but this is the only social inequality in their society.

HORSES LEVISES

These are the horses from the famous label that appeared on Levi's jeans in 1886. According to legend, the creators of the brand heard about how one driver tied the cars with jeans when their coupling broke during the journey, and safely reached the nearest station. Then the owners of the brand decided to conduct a similar experiment and successfully tested their jeans for strength with horses.

THREE WHITE HORSES

Choose anyone. But in principle, as Mayakovsky said, “we are all a little bit of a horse, each of us is a horse in our own way.” Especially in the coming year.

Many people know the name of Alexander the Great (Macedonian king from 336 BC) - a conqueror renowned throughout the centuries. An interesting fact is that Alexander's horse, named Bucephalus, also etched in history along with its owner.

One of the most reliable works on Alexander’s appearance. The only surviving image of the great commander, made from life

We want to tell you a little about how this horse was purchased by the future commander. By the way, the famous ancient Greek philosopher and biographer Plutarch. We hope that ours will bring you at least new knowledge.

Courage was shown with early youth. One day his father, Philip II, was advised to buy a good 11-year-old stallion named Bucephalus.

It should be noted here that the word “Bucephalus” comes from the Greek “Bucephalus”, which means “Bull-headed”. And indeed, the proposed horse had an unusual head shape and resembled a bull.

The price asked by the merchant was truly royal: he set a huge sum of 13 talents, which is equal to approximately 340 kilograms of silver. By those standards it was incredibly expensive even for a very good horse.

However, given the fact that the animal was wild and untamed, Philip, without thinking twice, decided to refuse the purchase.

To this, the offended Alexander, who was 10-11 years old at that time, exclaimed:

“Father, because you don’t know how to ride properly, you are giving up a magnificent horse!”

To this the Macedonian ruler, angry, replied:

“I bet you won't curb him.” However, if you succeed, I will buy it for you.

Alexander quickly returned, approached Bucephalus, grabbed him by the bridle and turned him against the sun. He did this because he immediately noticed how the horse was afraid of its own shadow. Then he began to stroke, talk and run next to the stallion, holding him to his agility. When Bucephalus got used to Alexander’s voice and began to breathe heavily, the future commander threw off his cloak and instantly jumped onto his horse.

At that same second, the horse began to wriggle, jump in different directions and rear up in order to throw off the unfamiliar weight from its back. The boy, holding on as best he could, allowed the animal to “let off steam” and get used to the rider.

So the famous Bucephalus was tamed by Alexander the Great, after which for a long time became a faithful companion, friend and ally of the future conqueror of the world.

Interesting case happened to Alexander's comrade-in-arms during one of his campaigns against Persia. The barbarians kidnapped the royal favorite, as a result of which Alexander announced:

“If my horse is not returned by the appointed time, I will exterminate all your people.”

Of course, Bucephalus was delivered to the ruler safe and sound. It would seem to be a simple case from the realities of the war of that time, but it clearly demonstrates how attached the commander was to his horse.

Alexander the Great on a fragment of an ancient Roman mosaic from Pompeii

It is also useful to know that Bucephalus had one distinctive feature: the vestiges of toes were clearly visible on his feet.

The translation is not entirely correct.
That's why correct translation- "hair-headed".
But there is one small difference between an ox and an ox: “An ox is a castrated male cattle.”
It is somehow difficult to imagine that the great commander would proudly sit on a horse with a head similar to the head of a castrated bull.

By Sergey Svyatkin on in

The translation is not entirely correct.
Traditionally, the translation of Βουκεφάλας or Βουκέφαλος is divided into the roots of two words: βούς and κεφαλή. If there are no objections to the word κεφαλή - head, then βούς is “ox”, not “bull”.
Or maybe just Βουκέφαλος - Bull dick!?

So, diametrically opposed points of view from a castrated bull to a bull phallus. Let’s have some fun further and “reconstruct” Bucephalus as Βουκέ​ φαλλος, where Βουκέ​ is throat, mouth, spit, and φαλλος is also a phallus in Africa :))

For the investigation of horses and cows, the legends about all sorts of strange bull-headed bucephali and man-ox centaurs do not give much, but let them be for the sake of completeness of coverage of the material. Therefore, we will add some more information for thought.

Alexander the Great was allegedly born in the city of Pella, very close to the current port of Thessaloniki, which the Greeks call Thessaloniki. It’s tempting to call this area Thessaly. But historians insist that Macedonia was here, and Thessaly, the homeland of the mythical Centaurs, is further south. There is a curious city of Volos (Greek: Βόλος) located approximately 326 km north of Athens, 215 km south of Thessaloniki and 60 km southeast of Larissa at the foot of the mountain of the centaurs - Pelion. The city was founded in the 19th century as sea ​​port for the export of goods produced on the Thessalian plain. Thessaly and Volos were reunited with Greece only in 1881.

Alexander’s father’s name was Philip, which means “horse lover,” historians report that he was good with horses, about a thousand riders, and once even captured 20 thousand horses from the Scythians, but on the way back someone took them away: (On a coin Philip is depicted on a normal, non-horned horse:

Silver tetradrachm of Philip II from the museum in Thessaloniki

Philip either founded, or captured and renamed some fortress Philippopolis of Thracia - now Plovdiv - a city in the southern part of Bulgaria, the administrative center of the Plovdiv region, located on the Upper Thracian Lowland, on both banks of the Maritsa River (in antiquity Gebr).

A little further downstream, the river with the wonderful name Gebr comes close to the famous Shipka Pass, and on the other side on the Yantra River there is a city that you always want to call Gebrovo, although it is correctly Gabrovo. The famous Bulgarian jokes about the residents of Gabrovo are all about stinginess and greed. It is no coincidence that just below Gabrovo along the Yantra is the old capital of Bulgaria - Veliko Tarnovo. But we will return to the Gebr River (I remind you - now Maritsa) and go downstream the same way Orpheus’s head floated from Thrace :))

Not very far from the mouth is the city of Adrianople (Bulgarian: Odrin, now Turkish: Edirne), which, apparently, was not conquered only by the lazy. Troops Russian Empire judging by the reports of historians, they visited there regularly, like a local police officer visiting a violent drunk. And what? The only sensible through route across land from the Aegean Sea to the Danube (others are much worse).

So, with jokes and jokes, we covered the basics ancient history Bulgaria. The part that is close to Aegean Sea(landmark Adrianople on Hebra) is Rumelia, where Philippopolis on Hebra is Thrace, and where Gabrovo is on Yantra, Bulgaria actually was along the Danube.

In 1977, Greek archaeologists discovered the burial of Philip, as usual, they argued for the sake of decency and as a result, as usual, came to an agreement. Bulgarian archaeologists also strained themselves and opened the tomb of Orpheus, although it is believed that he was torn into pieces by local Bukhara bacchantes, and his head down the Hebru River directly through the Aegean Sea sailed to the glorious island of Lesbos and worked miracles with local divas there. Now at the grave of Orpheus, beautiful girls in beautiful mantles are organizing games, hanging out with candles, tourists have gone to school, and the Greeks with their Philip are hopelessly behind in the tourism of the burial. Lesvos is also slowing down, it’s high time to sell silicone Orpheus heads with miracles to tourists