Bucephalus
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Bucephalus or Bucephalas (c. 355 BC – June 326 BC) was Alexander the Great's horse and one of the most famous actual horses of antiquity.
In art and literature
Bucephalus in his eponymous sense is referenced in art and literature. The horse himself and Alexander is interpreted by some to be the subject of the ancient statue group The Horse Tamers in the Piazza del Quirinale in Rome. In the 2004 film Alexander, Bucephalus is portrayed by a Friesian, though unlikely to have been precisely of that type, as the northern European light draught breed did not develop until the 13th century AD. Bucephalus was the name of the horse of Baron Münchhausen in several of his tall tales.
The French cellist and composer Paul Tortelier based his Sonata Breve "Bucéphale" on the story of Bucephalus. In Franz Kafka's story "The New Lawyer" (1916), Bucephalus is a bar approved lawyer who immerses himself "in law books...far from the tumult of Alexander's battles." A giant statue of Alexander and Bucephalus was recently erected in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia.
