Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

As he was reading a letter from his mother, which contained secret slanders against Antipater, Hephaestion, as usual, was reading it with him. Alexander did not prevent Hephaestion from reading it, but, when he had finished the reading, he took off his ring, and placed the seal on Hephaestion’s lips. [*](Cf. Moralia, 332 F and 240 A, and Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, chap. xxix. (688 A).)

In the shrine of Ammon he was hailed by the prophetic priest as the son of Zeus. That is nothing surprising, said he; for Zeus is by nature the father of all, and he makes the noblest his own. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, chap. xxvii. (680 F).)