Missing You II
Alexander/Hephaistion Fanfic
Title: Missing You II
Pairing: A/H
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Slash (implied), angst
Summary: Alexander’s thoughts while Hephaistion is away on a mission.
A/N: A different take on a scene we all know. The one where Alexander climbs into bed naked and watches Bagoas put out the light.
( Missing You II )
Title: Missing You II
Pairing: A/H
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Slash (implied), angst
Summary: Alexander’s thoughts while Hephaistion is away on a mission.
A/N: A different take on a scene we all know. The one where Alexander climbs into bed naked and watches Bagoas put out the light.
( Missing You II )
First, Cassander's comments are a plot devise more than anything else. Plus, as you pointed out Bagoas is a slave, so what would Cassander care if he cursed the boy, beat him, called him names ecetera. It's more to annoy Alexander, who obviously holds other cultures in higher regards than his companions.
Second, Alexander may seem weak, but a few things should be taken into account. One, these men are his childhood friends. They probably teased the pair when they were younger, as all children do and as Alexander says in the story. I doubt that he would off several of his old friends and trusted generals for teasing that is a repeat of their youth.
Two, the death of Cleitus is at an entirely different point in Alexander's life and the two events aren't really the same. When Alexander killed Cleitus - going off how it was portrayed in the movie here - he was drunk - very, probably stressed out because of the conditions in India - no gold or spoils, no decisive victory, men dying from disease, weather and poisonous snakes and already annoyed from the encounter with Roxane. Also, Cleitus was making comments about his family, the death of his father and - seems to me - to be making implications about Alexander and his mother's involvement in the murder and maybe with each other sexually.
Third, while it maybe the "norm" that older men took younger men as lovers, that does mean there were not exceptions. Rules are meant to be broken - as the saying goes - and who better to do the breaking than Alexander the Great.
Plus, I like to ascribe the Roman view of sex - and that of many pagan peoples, as the Macedonians were - to my stories. Meaning, that if they wanted to do something or sleep with someone, they weren't shy about it - they just went for it. They don't even follow rules about marrying between close kin often - Alexander's sister married her uncle, many pharaohs married their sisters, etc - I mean we all now the jokes about royalty inbreeding.
So, I find it hard to believe that Alexander would let popular opinion sway his actions regarding Hephaistion. They certainly didn't change his mind about Roxane, and he obviously cared more for Hephaistion than her.
Okay, that turned about to be quite long, but I hope that explains some of my thinking behind this story. So, as I said I don’t particularly disagree with you about the historical inaccuracies that may be in my story. But it is my story, it’s fiction and it’s an idea that wanted out of my brain.
Either way, thanks for reading and leaving your thoughts.
Okay, I’ll stop now. :)
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