Plutarch on the Perfume
of Alexander’s Skin
“Aristoxenus in his Memoirs tells us that a most agreeable odour exhaled from his skin, and that his breath and body all over was so fragrant as to perfume the clothes which he wore next him”
http://makedonia-alexandros.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/alexanders-pleasant-body-odor.html
King Alexander’s underarms smelled sweet.
When he was young they smelled of Pinus peuce,
The fir his mountains grew. The summer heat
There made their scent like pomegranate juice
Combined with honey and with citrus peel.
Once crowned as King of Macedon he gave
Off fragrances of sea salt and the feel
Of spices to the nose, but then most grave
Of all his sweaty odors swelled when he
Came fresh from Persia’s battlefield for then
The perspiration in his armpits, free
From cowardice, reeked utterly of men.
He smelled of deathless fame. He had the spur
Of immortality spiked through his myrrh.