Thirteen year old prince Alexander fell in love with the beautiful black stallion the first time he saw it. It had shiny black coat with a large white star on his brow. The name of the black beauty was Bucephalus. The name meaning “ox-head” was given to him because his head was as broad as that of a bull. Bucephalus was undoubtedly gorgeous. But,  the horse was terribly infamous for its wild behaviour. Nobody had ever been successful in taming it.

The horse was brought to Alexander’s father, King Phillip II of Macedonia by a horse dealer.  Macedonia in ancient times was an individual kingdom whose capital city was Babylon. Today, Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region. Now, the horse dealer wanted some money in exchange of the horse. King Phillip II was not very convinced that he should buy a wild horse.

Young Aleaxander had been observing the horse ever since its arrival. He had noticed something peculiar about the horse. He noticed that Bucephalus was shying away from his own shadow. May be the horse was scared of its shadow, Alexander thought to himself. And if that was the case he was convinced that he could tame it. Alexander took his fathers permission and approached the horse. He lovingly stroked his forehead to make first aquaintance and then gently led Bucephalus away from his shadow. Now that Bucephalus’s shadow was behind him and the horse couldn’t see it, Bucephalus calmed down. It gladly allowed Alexander to mount and ride him. Seeing this King Phillip II bought the horse for his son.

From that day on, Bucephalas was Alexander’s horse.  This little boy went on to become Alexandar the Great !!  Alexander was one of the biggest conquerors of the ancient world. He became the captain of his kingdom’s  army at the young age of 16 and went on to fight many great battles. He led his army to victories over large parts of Europe including Greece and Persia extending up till Asia. Bucephalas was Alexandar’s constant companion in all his battles.

Bucephalus, the brave stallion and Alexander’s friend, died of battle wounds in Alexander’s last battle In India. Alexander was heartbroken. Bucephalus was buried in ancient India where he had died and an entire town was named after him. Today that town is known as Phalia and is in modern Pakistan.