Philip II and Alexander the Great: Father and Son ... - Historia Antigua

78 PHILIP AND ALEXANDER AT WAR
celebrated by Homer and so made immortal. 64 Plutarch briefl y
mentions Alexander’s crossing of the Hellespont, but he agrees
with Arrian in describing the king who makes sacrifi ce to Athena
Ilias and to the Greek heroes on the Ilium rock. He also adds that
the offering at Achilles’ tomb was preceded by the ceremony of the
bare-breasted king running around the hero’s stone. 65 In his even
briefer account, Justin 66 relates that Alexander, before sailing to
Asia, offered sacrifi ces to the gods, asking from them success in his
war to avenge the Greeks for the offenses suffered at the hands of the
Persians ( petens victoriam bello, quo totiens a Persis petitae Graeciae
ultor electus sit). From the ship, before going ashore, Alexander
launched his spear and, as soon as he arrived, he went to Troy to pay
homage to the tombs of the heroes. 67
All the sources mentioned so far seem to make reference—directly
or indirectly—to the work of Callisthenes, 68 who accompanied the king
to Asia in order to celebrate his deeds. 69 With regard to Alexander’s
arrival in Asia, the historian used two themes taken from mythology
and from the historical tradition: the Homeric one of the comparison
between Alexander and Achilles 70 and the contrast between Alexander
and Xerxes. Both of these themes had been widely used by the intellectuals
in terms of the fi gure of Philip. While Isocrates, in 346 B.C., suggested
a comparison between the king’s expedition to Asia and that of
his ancestor Heracles to Troy 71 and, in 339 B.C., he also compared the
Macedonian king to Agamemnon, 72 Demosthenes and Speusippus,
respectively, had attacked and defended Philip by recalling the
Persian Wars through the persona of Alexander I of Macedonia. 73
In this case, Callisthenes linked the theme of vengeance against the
Persians to the Herodotean tradition. According to Herodotus, in fact,
Xerxes had offered libations during the crossing of the Hellespont, 74
outraged the gods and Poseidon in particular because, driven by his
pride, he dared to fetter the Hellespont, linking Sestus to Abydus,
with a bridge made of ships; 75 he profaned and plundered Protesilaus’
tomb in Elaeus; 76 he made sacrifi ce to Athena Ilias and to the heroes
to gain their favor in his crossing of the Hellespont and in his expedition
against Europe and Athens; 77 and he was responsible, with the
other Greeks in Asia, for the destruction of the temple of Sardis. 78
Quite the opposite were Alexander’s aims: he made sacrifi ce to the
gods in Europe, before crossing the Hellespont, and in Asia, as soon
as he arrived, he honored Zeus Apobaterios, Athena, and Heracles
and, on the Ilium rock, Athena Ilias and Troy’s heroes. 79
Callisthenes described the episode of Alexander’s arrival in Asia
in such a way as to make evident the difference between Alexander’s
and Xerxes’ intentions: the Macedonian conquest is seen under the