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»"