# Bucephalus > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bucephalus > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bucephalus.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucephalus > Source revision: 1355015317 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Horse of Alexander the Great For other uses, see [Bucephalus (disambiguation)](/source/Bucephalus_(disambiguation)). This article has an unclear citation style. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation and footnoting. (March 2026) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Bucephalus Coin depicting Bucephalas, issued by Seleucus I Nicator. Note the horns on his head, from a literal interpretation of his name, which means "ox-head". Species Horse Sex Male Born c. 355 BC Died June 326 BC (aged 30) Pentapotamia, Macedonian Empire (modern-day Pakistan) Resting place Bucephala Occupation Warhorse Years active 344 BC – 326 BC Owner Alexander the Great **Bucephalus** ([/bjuː.ˈsɛ.fə.ləs/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English); [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek_language): Βουκεφᾰ́λᾱς, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Ancient_Greek): *Boukephalas*; c. 355 BC – June 326 BC) or **Bucephalas**, was the [horse](/source/Horse) of [Alexander the Great](/source/Alexander_the_Great), and one of the most famous horses of [classical antiquity](/source/Classical_antiquity).[1] According to the *[Alexander Romance](/source/Alexander_Romance)* (1.15), the name "Bucephalus" literally means "ox-headed" (from [βοῦς](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CE%BF%E1%BF%A6%CF%82#Ancient_Greek), *bûs*, '[ox](/source/Ox)' and [κεφᾰλή](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BA%CE%B5%CF%86%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%AE#Ancient_Greek), *cephălē*, 'head'), and supposedly comes from a [brand](/source/Bucephalus_(brand)) (or scar) on the thigh of the horse that looked like an ox's head.[2] Ancient historical accounts[3] state that Bucephalus's breed was that of the "best [Thessalian](/source/Thessaly) strain", and that he died in what is now [Punjab](/source/Punjab%2C_Pakistan), [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan), after the [Battle of the Hydaspes](/source/Battle_of_the_Hydaspes) in 326 BC. Alexander was so grieved at the loss of his horse that he named [one of the many cities he founded](/source/List_of_cities_founded_by_Alexander_the_Great) after him, as [Alexandria Bucephalus](/source/Alexandria_Bucephalus). ## Taming of Bucephalus A statue by [John Steell](/source/John_Steell) showing Alexander taming Bucephalus A massive creature with a massive head, Bucephalus is described as having a black coat with a large white star on his brow.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] He is also supposed to have had a "[wall eye](/source/Horse_markings#Other_identifying_features)" (blue eye),[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] and his breeding was that of the "best [Thessalian](/source/Thessaly) strain". [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch) says[4] that in 344 BC, at twelve or thirteen years of age, Alexander of [Macedonia](/source/Macedonia_(ancient_kingdom)) won the horse by making a wager with his father: a horse dealer named Philonicus the Thessalian offered Bucephalus to [King Philip II](/source/Philip_II_of_Macedon) for the remarkably high sum of 13 [talents](/source/Talent_(measurement)).[a] Because no one could tame the animal, Philip was not interested. However, Alexander was, and he offered to pay himself should he fail. Alexander was given a chance and surprised all by subduing the horse. He spoke soothingly to the horse and turned its head toward the sun so that it could no longer see its own shadow, which had been the cause of its distress. Dropping his fluttering [cloak](/source/Cloak) as well, Alexander successfully tamed the horse. Plutarch says that the incident so impressed Philip that he told the boy, "O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee."[4] Philip's speech strikes the only false note in the anecdote, according to A. R. Anderson,[5] who noted his words as the embryo of the legend fully developed in the *History of Alexander the Great* I.15, 17. The *[Alexander Romance](/source/Alexander_Romance)* presents a mythic variant of Bucephalus's origin. In this tale, the colt, whose heroic attributes surpassed even those of [Pegasus](/source/Pegasus), is bred and presented to Philip on his own [estates](/source/Estate_(land)). The mythic attributes of the animal are further reinforced in the romance by the [Delphic Oracle](/source/Delphic_Oracle) who tells Philip that the destined king of the world will be the one who rides Bucephalus, a horse with the mark of the ox's head on his haunch. ## Alexander and Bucephalus *Alexander and Bucephalus* by [Domenico Maria Canuti](/source/Domenico_Maria_Canuti), 17th century Alexander and Bucephalus in combat at the [Battle of Issus](/source/Battle_of_Issus) portrayed in the [Alexander Mosaic](/source/Alexander_Mosaic) *[Alexander the Great Taming Bucephalus](/source/Alexander_the_Great_Taming_Bucephalus)* by [Benjamin Robert Haydon](/source/Benjamin_Robert_Haydon), 1826 As one of his chargers, Bucephalus served Alexander in numerous battles. The value which Alexander placed on Bucephalus emulated his hero and supposed ancestor [Achilles](/source/Achilles), who claimed that his horses were "known to excel all others—for they are immortal. [Poseidon](/source/Poseidon) gave them to my father [Peleus](/source/Peleus), who in his turn gave them to me."[6] [Arrian](/source/Arrian) states, with [Onesicritus](/source/Onesicritus) as his source, that Bucephalus died at the age of thirty. Other sources, however, give as the cause of death not old age or weariness, but fatal injuries at the [Battle of the Hydaspes](/source/Battle_of_the_Hydaspes) (June 326 BC), in which Alexander's army defeated [King Porus](/source/King_Porus). Alexander promptly founded a city, [Bucephala](/source/Alexandria_Bucephalous), in honour of his horse. It was on the west bank of the [Hydaspes river](/source/Jhelum_River) (modern-day [Jhelum](/source/Jhelum_(City)) in [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan)).[7] The modern-day town of [Jalalpur Sharif](/source/Jalalpur_Sharif), outside Jhelum, is said to be where Bucephalus is buried.[8] The legend of Bucephalus grew in association with that of Alexander, beginning with the fiction that they were born simultaneously: some of the later versions of the *[Alexander Romance](/source/Alexander_Romance)* also synchronized the hour of their death.[9] The Bucephalus appears in almost all versions of the *[Armenian Alexander Romance](/source/Armenian_Alexander_Romance)*, and visual illustrations in the surviving manuscripts of this text sometimes represent scenes with the Bucephalus.[2] ## In popular culture Several novels use "Bucephalus" as the name of a horse, often in a symbolic manner. For example, in [Colleen McCullough](/source/Colleen_McCullough)'s novel *[Fortune's Favorites](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fortune%27s_Favorites&action=edit&redlink=1)* (third volume in the *[Masters of Rome](/source/Masters_of_Rome)* series), young [Julius Caesar](/source/Julius_Caesar) secretly owns a horse he names Bucephalus; and his mother reads through it as an indication of his future ambitions.[10] In [Franz Kafka](/source/Franz_Kafka)'s short story "[The New Advocate](/source/The_New_Advocate)", the lawyer in the story is described as resembling Bucephalus.[11] ## See also - [List of historical horses](/source/List_of_historical_horses) - [List of fictional horses](/source/List_of_fictional_horses) ## Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Loeb (1919) values one talent at £235, or $1,200; Thayer gives $15,600 (2007).[4] ## References [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) has the text of the [1911 *Encyclopædia Britannica*](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition) article "[Bucephalus](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Bucephalus)". 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Wasson, Donald (6 October 2011). ["The Bucephalus"](https://www.worldhistory.org/Bucephalus/). *World History Encyclopedia*. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_2-1) Kouymjian, Dickran (2012). "Did Byzantine Iconography Influence the Large Cycle of the Life of Alexander the Great in Armenian Manuscripts?". [*Byzantium and Renaissances. Dialogue of Cultures, Heritage of Antiquity, Tradition and Modernity*](https://www.academia.edu/3079908). University of Warsaw Press. pp. 209–216. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** The primary (actually secondary) accounts are two: [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch)'s *Life of Alexander*, 6, and [Arrian](/source/Arrian)'s *[Anabasis Alexandri](/source/Anabasis_Alexandri)* V.19. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Plut6_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Plut6_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Plut6_4-2) [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch), *[Parallel Lives](/source/Parallel_Lives)*, "Life of Alexander" 6 ([ed. Clough 1859](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Plutarch%27s_Lives_(Clough)/Life_of_Alexander#6:1); [ed. Loeb](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alexander*/3.html#6.1)). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Anderson 1930:3 and 17ff. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Homer, *The Iliad*, Book XXIII. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Rolf Winkes, "Boukephalas", *Miscellanea Mediterranea* (*Archaeologia Transatlantica XVIII*) Providence [2000](/source/2000_in_literature), pp. 101–107. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Michael Wood](/source/Michael_Wood_(historian)), "In the footsteps of Alexander the Great". 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Andrew Runni Anderson, "Bucephalas and His Legend" *The American Journal of Philology* **51**.1 (1930:1–21). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** McCullough, Colleen (1993). *Fortune's Favorites*. New York: William Morrow. pp. 212–213. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Franz Kafka (1988). ["The Complete Stories"](https://archive.org/details/completestories00fran/). ## External links - Media related to [Bucephalus (horse of Alexander)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bucephalus_(horse_of_Alexander)) at Wikimedia Commons Authority control databases International VIAF GND People DDB --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bucephalus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucephalus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucephalus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.