Description

Boukefalas was the horse of Alexander the Great and one of the most famous horses in world history. It is often described as dark in color, tall and very strong, like most Thessalian horses of that time. According to Plutarch, Philonikos of Thessaly, a horse trader, suggested to Philip of Macedonia to buy Bucephalus for thirty talents. The verdict of the Macedonians present was that it was a wild and unruly horse, which no one could tame. Philip was ready to reject the offer if his son Alexander did not intervene. The then young Alexander, observing the behavior of the horse, found that he was afraid of his shadow. So, approaching him, he grabbed his reins and turned it towards the sun. Since the horse could not see its shadow, it calmed down and so Alexander managed to ride it. The attendees cheered for the young Alexander and his father Philip, they say from his great joy, he kissed him and said: “Macedonia is a small kingdom to fit you.” Alexander is said to have named his horse Bucephalus, most likely from the width of his forehead. However, according to the dictionary of Isichios, Voukefalas was not just a name, but a class of Thessalian horses that bore a bucranon (bus + skull), ie an ox head, as a trademark of the Thessalian stallions, stamped with hot iron their cocks. So the name probably comes from the horse’s claws and not its head.