Jacob Tierney, writer and director of the Heated Rivalry series, is taking the reins of a new big project titled Alexander, a period drama about Alexander the Great and Aristotle.

Heated Rivalry is lauded as a faithful adaptation of Rachel Reid’s Game Changer books, something that rarely ever happens in the switch from page to screen. The show has also been praised for its portrayal of queer intimacy on screen.

The Netflix show Alexander will be based on the novel The Golden Mean, by Annabel Lyon. The novel was released in 2010 and became an international bestseller, reimagining Alexander the Great’s youth. With the Heated Rivalry creator at the helm, the series will show an intimate and epic power struggle between the young, volatile prince who became Alexander the Great and his mentor, Aristotle.

Alexander’s sexuality has been a topic of riotous debate in recent years, more than 2000 years after his death. Many scholars label him as gay, but the way sexual orientation is viewed in modern society appears to be quite different from how it was viewed in Ancient Greece and Rome.

Apparently, orientation was not viewed by which gender you were attracted to, but by whether you were ‘active’ or ‘passive’ in sexual acts. That’s right, it was all about tops and bottoms. Alexander was more likely to be a bisexual king by today’s definitions.

Alexander had numerous alleged lovers, including most famously his close friend, Hephaestion. However, it’s all inferred from secondary and tertiary sources.

Arrian wrote that after Hephaestion died, Alexander “flung himself on the body of his friend and lay there nearly all day long in tears, and refused to be parted from him until he was dragged away by force by his Companions.” Okay, Barry Keoghan in Saltburn.

“Jacob Tierney is one of the most exciting, in-demand creative voices working today, and we are thrilled to work with him on Alexander,” said Netflix’s Jinny Howe in a statement with Tudum.

While there is the teasing of “forbidden love”, it’s hard to say how gay Jacob Tierney’s adaptation of the story of Alexander and Aristotle will be. One thing’s for sure: there will be rivalry, and no doubt, things will get heated.