# Was Alexander the Great really gay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016 "2004-07-01T05:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![saluki\_fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@saluki\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saluki_fan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/1 "2004-07-01T05:13:58Z")
I’ve researched and found websites that say both he was and wasn’t. Well do any of you straight dopers have any comment on the matter? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/2 "2004-07-01T05:18:07Z")
Was he _gay?i_ Why, he was _overjoyed!_ ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/3 "2004-07-01T07:04:54Z")
> [@saluki\_fan](#): > > Well do any of you **straight** dopers have any comment on the matter? Thanks [bolding mine] The irony is somewhat tasty. ---
**Author:** ![citrus\_x\_paradisi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@citrus\_x\_paradisi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/citrus_x_paradisi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/4 "2004-07-01T07:26:46Z")
Well, I think your question might be worded better as thus: Did Alexander the Great have male lovers? As I take it, there was a lot of promiscuity among the nobles, so he could easily have been bisexual, also. [Gayheroes dot com has a page on him](http://www.gayheroes.com/alex.htm), and they even cite their sources! Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/5 "2004-07-01T08:03:25Z")
Part of the problem with labeling any historical figure is that “homosexual” as a social construct hasn’t existed for very long. The word itself wasn’t coined until the 1860s. Add to that the fluidity of sexual behaviour and factor in self-identification and the question becomes fairly difficult. But yeah, A.T. Great was a big ol’ 'mo. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/6 "2004-07-01T10:18:39Z")
Agree, He was not so sexually notable that any note was made at the time of his sexuality. We may presume that he was as gay (or as straight) as everyone around him. He seems to have been unremarkable sexually, Not that there is anything wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/7 "2004-07-01T10:46:32Z")
Everything indicates he was bisexual… like many of his fellow nobles… not exactly “gay” by the standards of today. Gay heroes ? Wow… they have sites for everything now. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/8 "2004-07-01T16:53:08Z")
The greatest love of his life certainly appears to have been his friend ( and eventually senior officer ) Hephaestion. That said Alexander also definitely pursued at least one affair with an older mistress that was not a necessity of state. This being Barsine, widow of Memnon of Rhodes ( which eventually resulted in an illegitimate son, Heracles ). While his marriages and his posthumous legitimate heir Alexander IV don’t really say much about his orientation, since they were political and cultural necessities for a monarch, that one affair at least suggests that Alexander was rather flexible when it came to such matters :). - Taamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Satyagrahi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Satyagrahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satyagrahi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/9 "2004-07-01T16:58:20Z")
Just to give a bit of texture to this question, let me add this syllogism: 1. Alexander is considered a major national hero, a founder of the Greek world, in modern Greece. 2. Modern Greece is virulently homophobic, depising this aspect of the classical world. Therefore, 3. Mention in converstion on the streets of Athens that Alexander was gay and you’re likely to be roughed up by a crowd of strangers. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/10 "2004-07-01T17:32:03Z")
Well, Greeks today, proud though they are of their history, are of a quite different religion than their pre-Christian ancestors. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/11 "2004-07-01T20:10:55Z")
For anyone who’s interested, Colin Farrell will be playing Alexander in an upcoming movie (directed by Oliver Stone), which gives all of us another shot at seeing his [humongous wang](http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2004-06-23#celeb2). ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/12 "2004-07-02T00:11:45Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > For anyone who’s interested, Colin Farrell will be playing Alexander in an upcoming movie (directed by Oliver Stone), which gives all of us another shot at seeing his [humongous wang](http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2004-06-23#celeb2). Hmmm…Well, I think he might be more believable than DiCaprio, the other Alexander heading our way. If they’re striving for a more historical ‘warts and all’ view of the man, anyway. We’ll see. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-alexander-the-great-really-gay/253016/13 "2004-07-02T06:53:15Z")
He’s got warts on his **humongous wang?** :eek: Well, now, that’s a lingering image for you.