Days after Alexander: The Making of a God hit Netflix on January 31, the series skyrocketed to viral fame for all the wrong reasons, with right-wingers decrying the series’ depiction of the Greek king’s complex relationship with Hephaestion, a General in his army.


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“Alexander grew up with two close companions, and one of these, Hephaestion really was not just a cherished companion, but perhaps his greatest love,” Salima Ikram, an Egyptology professor at The American University in Cairo, explained early in the series’ first installment.


Despite coming straight from the expert’s mouth, a handful of right-wingers were peeved about this historical tidbit, alleging its inclusion was proof that the streaming giant had succumbed to the pressures of the “woke mob.”


“Netflix made a new documentary about Alexander the Great. Within the first 8 minutes, they turned him gay,” lamented right-wing Twitter page @EndWokeness alongside a screenshot from the series of Alexander kissing a man.



Yet these viral laments on an otherwise “based” series crumbling at the mere sight of two dudes kissing are entirely full of s—t — just ask the experts.


While it’d be unfair to decisively classify Alexander the Great as gay in our modern terms, the king “was queer,” per Dr. Jeanne Reames, a professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies at the University of Nebraska, Omaha who served as the series’ historical consultant.



“Do I think Alexander and Hephaistion lovers? Certainly in my fiction, I've depicted them as being so. But were they historically? It's very possible, even likely, at least when they were young,” she continued, adding the caveat that the pair would likely not define themselves as lovers.


“Alexander called Hephaestion "Philalexandros" -- Alexander's (dearest) friend -- and that mattered to them most,” she continued. “For the ancient Greeks, philia was the higher love over mere eros (desire).”


But it’s not just Dr. Reames who believes there were definitely some homoerotic vibes between Alexander the Great and Haphesteon.  


‘They were boyhood friends. They'd known each other since the year dot,” Ian Worthington, professor of Ancient History at Macquarie University, and author of Alexander the Great: Man and God, told eBaum’s World of the pair’s connection. “Alexander was attracted to Hephaestion, obviously, physically, but also because of Hephaestion's moral qualities too, his spiritual qualities.”



Even with this historical basis, the strong right-wing reaction to Alexander the Great’s sexuality seemingly stems from a desire to superimpose personal beliefs onto bygone eras — whether it’s factual or not.


“I think people are attracted to that period,” Worthington said of ancient Greece. “They were attracted to a big, epic picture. And then they don't like elements of it, and so the whole thing becomes wrong.”


But it’s not just historians — or anyone who earned as much as a C- in Classics 101 — that would easily be peeved about the fake controversy. Professor Worthington offered some words of wisdom for those denouncing the show’s depiction of Alexander the Great’s queerness: Try saying it to his f—king face.


“He would probably go on a massive killing spree because that's what he did anyway,” the professor explained. “He was a volatile person. He was paranoid. He was a megalomaniac. He did think he was a God. And he couldn't handle rejection. So if anybody crossed him, they ended up dead.”


So take it from the experts — in the world of Ancient Greece, “no-homo” was a way of life.