The medieval Bucephalus

15th century illustration from the manuscript Royal 15 E VI  f. 16v
(c) British Library

Bucephalus was the horse of Alexander the Great (356 BC – 323 BC), the famous Macedonian king who conquered an empire stretching from Greece to India. In the biography of Alexander written by the Greek historian Plutarch (46-119), Bucephalus was a beautiful, reputedly untameable horse. Alexander, who was a teenager then, realising that Bucephalus was only scared of his own shadow, managed to tame and ride him, by turning him to face the sun. The taming of Bucephalus was a key moment of Alexander’s life and of the legend built around him. They became an indissociable pair, and, after the death of his faithful companion, the conqueror built a city to honour him.

Alexander was a popular character in medieval Western Europe and the hero of several romances, such as the Romance of Alexander written by Alexandre de Paris (c. 1180). In those medieval stories, no attempt at historical accuracy was made and the descriptions were full of fantastical details. Plutarch’s biography of Alexander was already pervaded with myths and legends, such as divine interventions and oracles. But the medieval versions of Alexander’s life went even further: the hero and his army travelled to strange and wonderful lands, battling monsters, chimeras, and creatures half-human, half-beast.

This fantastical treatment was also applied to Bucephalus. In Alexandre de Paris’s Romance of Alexander, he was given to Philip, Alexander’s father, as a young foal. However, he was not a normal horse: he was one of the most savage and terrible beasts on earth, with the head of an ox (explaining the name Bucephalus, which literally means ‘head of an ox’), the eyes of a lion, the body of a horse, a tail colourful like that of a peacock... Moreover, Bucephalus was said to be an anthropophagous beast: as a result, Philip kept him in a cage and fed him criminals. In the miniatures that accompany some of the manuscripts, his monstruous appearance is represented by horns on his head, sometimes one, sometimes more, but otherwise he is depicted like a normal horse. This could show a kind of uneasiness, on the part of the artist, towards the horse’s monstruous nature. 

In the medieval story, when Alexander decided to tame Bucephalus, everyone thought he would be eaten alive by the monstrous horse. However, the moment the hero stepped into the cage, Bucephalus knelt down before him, recognising him as his true master. Alexander then stroked him, combed his mane, put a golden bit in his mouth and triumphantly rode him inside the palace, among a crowd of terrified onlookers. 

It is a very different version from the Greek one, not only because of Bucephalus’s fantastical nature but also because of the way Alexander tamed him. He did not manage to domesticate the horse because he has used his equestrian knowledge and analysed the situation to determine why the animal refused to be ridden. He managed to ride Bucephalus simply because the horse had chosen him as his master. There was no skill involved, simply predestination. The fact that Bucephalus ate humans could be interpreted as a guarantee than no one other than his chosen one could come near him. It also transforms the situation, turning the breaking-in of a horse into the subjugation of a wild and dangerous beast.

In many ways, Bucephalus’s independent choice to accept Alexandre as a rider fits in with the medieval portrayal of the ideal warhorse: this ideal horse should obey one man only and refuse to be ridden by anyone. A good warhorse should only have one master: this could be one of the reasons why Bucephalus’s taming was reinterpreted in that manner. Another is that it emphasises Alexander’s status as a hero, highlighting his courage (though maybe also his foolhardiness). Like in the Greek version, it foreshadows the great deeds he will accomplish. 

Another common point between the two stories is Alexander’s grief at the death of his horse. In the Romance of Alexander, Bucephalus is killed in battle. Like in the Greek version, Alexander builds a city in his name. His sorrow, and the tears he shed for his horse are much insisted upon, as well as the fact he never forgot his horse. This probably spoke to the medieval audience of the romance: the bond between knight and warhorse was supposed to be made of reciprocal loyalty and affection. Thus the relationship between Alexander and Bucephalus became an example of the ideal bond between a knight and his destrier, in spite of the fantastical depiction of the horse and of the world he and the hero travelled through. In that way, the story of the Macedonian king and of his horse was appropriated and reinterpreted by the authors of the romances to become more relevant for their audience. 

15th century illustration from the manuscript Royal 20 A V  f. 68v 
(c) British Library