What does the horse of Alexander the Great, Bucephalus, have to do with this week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge? The challenge from Patti is Light and Shadow. Here is the reason it is relevant to this famous horse.
Alexander the Great managed to tame the Thessalian horse.No one else had been able to do this. But Alexander, as a teenager, saw what the problem was. The horse was afraid of its shadow! So Alexander turned his head toward the light, toward the sun, so he could not see his shadow! Bucephalus, the name means ‘ox head, was named because he had brand on his haunch that looked like an ox head. Alexander rode Bucephalus in all his battles and at one time the horse was kidnapped. Alexander when into a fury and threatened to destroy the entire region unless the horse was returned immediately. Bucephalus was brought back with haste. He died at the great age of 30 in 326 BC. Alexander buried him in a tomb and named a city in the Punjab (Bucephala) to honor him.
If Alexander had not noticed how light and shadow affected Bucephalus the course of history might have been very different.
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