Bucephalus

Bucephalus or Bucephalas (/bjuːˈsɛfələs/; Ancient Greek: Βουκέφαλος or Βουκεφάλας, from βούς bous, "ox" and κεφαλή kephalē, "head" meaning "ox-head") (c. 355 BC – June 326 BC) was the horse of Alexander the Great, and one of the most famous actual horses of antiquity. Ancient accounts state that Bucephalus died after the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC, in what is now modern Pakistan, and is buried in Jalalpur Sharif outside of Jhelum, Pakistan. Another account states that Bucephalus is buried in Phalia, a town in Pakistan's Mandi Bahauddin District, which is named after him. Αccording to the dictionary of Hesychius ( Ησύχιου ), the Bucephalus (Βουκεφάλας )was not just a name, but a category of Thessalian horses brought a bucrania (ox + skull), ie: an ox head, as a hallmark of Thessaly studs, stamped with red-hot iron on the croup. Therefore this famous horse he owed his name to a croup and not his head. See: on Hesychius Dictionary ( Λεξικόν Ησύχιου, p. 313 ed. Library of Greeks anastatiki edition of 1975, Βιβλιοθήκη των Ελλήνων, αναστατική έκδοση 1975 ): "Bucephalus: horse having a bucrania ( ox skull ) on the croup ~ «Βουκέφαλος: ίππος εγκεχαραγμένον έχων τοις ισχίοις βούκρανον»"

Bucephalus (racehorse)

Bucephalus (foaled 1764) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the Subscription Purse at York in 1768, but it best known for racing against the undefeated Eclipse in a match race in 1770.

Background

Bucephalus was a chestnut colt foaled in 1764 and bred by H. B. Osbaldeston. He was a son of the undefeated and multiple times Champion sire Regulus and a Partner mare. Bucephalus was a full brother to Sultan and Sultana, and a half-brother to Constantine.

Racing career

Bucephalus made his racecourse debut at Beverley in May 1768 in the Ladies' Plate of £50, where he beat Conjuror to win. He was then purchased by Peregrine Wentworth and started as the 1/2 favourite for the Subscription Purse of £361 10s at York. Ridden by Leonard Jewison, he won easily; beating Leith, Rambler and Baber. A few days later he easily beat All-fours over four miles to win 500 guineas. At Newmarket in April 1770 Bucephalus was beaten for the first time, losing a match race to the undefeated Eclipse. It was said that the race was Eclipse's hardest race, but the effort left Bucephalus unfit to run for the rest of the year. After the defeat he was sold to the 1st Earl of Farnham. He ran several more times at Newmarket for the Earl of Farnham, but didn't win any races and was sold back to H. B. Osbaldeston in March 1773. Bucephalus won the four-mile Annual Prize, before being retired from racing.

Bucephalus (brand)

Bucephalus (Gr "ox-headed", from βους, "ox", and κεφαλή, "head") was a type of branding mark anciently used on horses. It was one of the three most common, besides Ϻ, San, and Ϙ, Koppa. Those horses marked with a San were called Σαμφόραι, Samphorai; those with a Koppa, Κοππατίαι, Koppatiai; and those with an ox's head, Βουκέφαλοι, Bucephali.

This mark was stamped on the horse's buttocks, and his harnesses, as appears from the scholiast on Aristophanes's The Clouds, Hesychius, etc.

Alexander's horse was named Bucephalus after this brand on its haunch

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "^{article name needed}". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (first ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.