‘Gay’ storyline in Alexander the Great Netflix series based on historical context

Following the release of Netflix’s new production about Alexander the Great, posts on social media said the entertainment company fabricated a same-sex storyline for the ancient Greek ruler. But the posts are missing the context that sexual fluidity was the norm in Ancient Greece, according to historians, who say it is likely Alexander had relationships with men.

Posts on social media suggesting that the show’s storyline is baseless include a post on Facebook that says, “Netflix has come under fire for ‘turning’ Alexander the Great gay,” and a viral post on social media platform X from an account called @EndWokeness that says, “Netflix made a new documentary about Alexander the Great. Within the first 8 minutes, they turned him gay.”

Netflix has acknowledged that the documentary, which includes dramatizations, “speculates on intimate details of Alexander’s private life,” but historians – both involved in the production and unaffiliated with it – told Reuters sexuality was fluid in ancient Greece and it is very likely Alexander had relationships with men.

Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fluid sexuality

The historical consensus is that fluid sexuality was part of ancient Greek life and labels current today did not exist at the time.

Paul Cartledge, a historian and academic specialized in ancient Greece who was not involved in the show, said via email that definitions such as “bisexual” and “homosexual” are a modern phenomenon. It would be more accurate to define Alexander by standards of the time, where a “normal” Greek man had sexual encounters with both men and women.

Jeanne Reames is a historian and Director of the Ancient Mediterranean Studies program at the University of Nebraska Omaha who has written extensively about Alexander the Great and was a consultant on the Netflix show. She told Reuters that power was a more defining feature than gender in ancient Greek sexual relationships. In her words, “It’s not who you do, it’s what you do.”

“One person was always the social superior. For the Greeks, this was understood to be a free, adult citizen male. As long as he was the ‘superior’ and had the ‘active’ (penetrating) role, he could have any partners he wanted, of either sex,” she said.

Professor of Humanities at Pepperdine University Philip Freeman, who was not involved with the series but has written a biography of the ruler, said in an email, “In the ancient Greek world – and especially in Macedonia – such same-sex relationships were so normal they wouldn’t have seemed odd to anyone.”

According to Freeman, it seems very likely that Alexander had relationships with men as well as women, especially with Hephaestion, a general in his army.

Alexander’s relationships

Reames has explored Alexander’s relationship with Hephaestion in depth, saying that “it’s very possible, even likely,” that he and his general had been lovers.

In a paper published in the Ancient History Bulletin in 1999 exploring the nature of the two men’s relationship, Reames says that, despite having had three wives, “Alexander seems to have comfortably pursued either sex.”

The analysis explores different historical episodes that could be considered evidence of their closeness. Examples include a suggestive reference by philosopher Diogenes to Alexander “being ruled by Hephaistion’s thighs” and the deep grief Alexander showed after Hephaestion’s death.

Reames said that even if their relationship stopped being sexual as the two grew older, “that wouldn’t affect the love they had for each other.”

Another piece of possible evidence is a text by Athenaeus (circa AD 200). “It says, in plain Greek, that Alexander had a fondness for male partners,” Reames said.

Verdict

Missing context. Netflix’s new show about Alexander the Great speculates on details about his private life. Sexuality in ancient Greece was fluid, and historians believe Alexander likely had relationships with men as well as women. [Reuters]