Aristonous of Pella

For other people named Aristonous, seeAristonous (disambiguation).

Aristonous ofPella(Ancient Greek:Ἀριστόνους), son of Peisaeus (Πεισαῖος), who was one of thesomatophylakesbodyguardsofAlexander the Great,distinguished himself greatly on one occasion in India. On the death of Alexander, he was one of the first to propose that the supreme power should be entrusted toPerdiccas.He was subsequentlyOlympias' general in the war withCassander;and when Olympias was taken prisoner in 316 BC, he was put to death by order of Cassander.

Aristonous is described as of bothPellaeanandEordaeanin origin,which would mean that he was from Eordaea but raised at the court in Pella. According to Plutarch, a certain somatophylax, Aristophanes, took away Alexander's sword when he was quarrelling withCleitus the Black,but this reference seems to be confused with Aristonous.

References

• Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Greatby Waldemar HeckelISBN978-1-4051-1210-9

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Smith, William,ed. (1870). "Aristonous".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.