Meleager

Who was Meleager?

Meleager was a Macedonian officer of distinction in the service of Alexander the Great.

Meleager, son of Neoptolemus, is first mentioned in the war against the Getae. At the Granicus in the following year, he commanded one of the divisions of the phalanx, a post which he afterward held apparently throughout the campaigns in Asia. He was appointed, together with Coenus and Ptolemy the son of Seleucus, to command the newly married troops which were sent home from Caria to spend the winter in Macedon, and rejoined Alexander at Gordium in the following summer.

He was present at the battles of Issus and Gaugamela, associated with Craterus in the task of dislodging the enemy who guarded the passes into Persia. He bore a part in the passage of the Hydaspes and in various other operations in India.

Despite a long series of services, Alexander did not promote him to any higher or more confidential situation, nor does Meleager take part in any separate command of importance.