heracles of macedon (ca. 327 bc â 309 bc) was a reputed illegitimate son of alexander the great of macedon by barsine, daughter of satrap artabazus of phrygia. heracles was named after the greek mythological hero of the same name, from whom the argeads claimed descent. it cannot be established definitively whether heracles was alexanderâs son or not. of the ancient sources, both plutarch and justin mention barsine and heracles but arrian in the anabasis alexandri mentions neither. plutarch recounts that alexander took barsine as his mistress, but on the arguably spurious grounds that she was recommended to him by parmenion (despite the many disagreements between him and alexander, and alexander's apparent contempt for his judgement).renault, mary. the nature of alexander. p100, 2001 ed. of barsine, mary renault states that:  if heracles were alexanderâs illegitimate child, then it also raises the pointed question as to why he, as alexanderâs only living son at the time of his death, was not immediately drawn into the succession disputes, and why he was passed over in favour of philip arrhidaeus - himself illegitimate - who was only a son of alexanderâs father philip, and thus a more distant claimant than heracles. renault concludes that the romance with barsine was invented retrospectively to validate heracles' parentage.renault, mary. the nature of alexander. p100-101, 2001 ed. either way, heracles lived in obscurity until alexander iv's murder by cassander in 310 bc or 309 bc. at that point polyperchon, a regent of macedon who had been replaced by cassander and had all but disappeared for the previous six years, began championing heracles as alexander's true heir, and polyperchon began forming an army. instead of fighting, cassander negotiated with poly
309_BC_deaths 4th-century_BC_Macedonians Alexander_the_Great Ancient_Macedonian_individuals Murdered_royalty_of_Macedon People_who_died_under_the_regency_of_Cassander