Personal relationships of Alexander the Great the shrines of the two heroes Achilles and Patroclus; Alexander honoring Achilles, and Hephaestion honoring Patroclus. Alexander and Hephaestion were possible lovers,and their tutor,Aristotle, described their relationship as "one soul abiding two bodies," After Hephaestion's death, Alexander mourned him greatly and did not eat for days. Alexander held an elaborate funeral for Hephaestion at Babylon, and sent a note to the shrine of Ammon, which had previously acknowledged Alexander as a god, asking them to grant Hephaestion divine honours. The priests declined, but did offer him the status of divine hero. Alexander died soon after receiving this letter; Mary Renault
Kalanos Kalanos Kalanos, also spelled Calanus ( – 323 BCE) was a gymnosophist (literally "naked philosopher"), a philosopher from Taxila who accompanied Alexander the Great to Persis and later committed suicide by self-immolation. It was from Kalanos that Alexander came to know of Dandamis, the leader of their group, whom Alexander later went to meet in the forest. Plutarch indicates his real name was Sphínēs and that he was from Taxila, but since he greeted people with the word "Kalē!" - perhaps "kallāṇa (mitta)" "Greetings (friend)" - the Greeks called him Kalanos. Kalanos lived at Taxila and led an austere life.