Alexanders beauty, strength, and defiance were apparent from birth, but his boyhood honed those gifts into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their sons loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion taught him trust, while Aristotles tutoring provoked his mind and HomersIliadfueled his aspirations. Killing his first man in battle at the age of twelve, he became regent at sixteen and commander of Macedons cavalry at eighteen, so that by the time his father was murdered, Alexanders skills had grown to match his fiery ambition.