When Alexander was seven years old, Olympias hired a strict teacher named Leonidas to teach the young boy how to exersice his body and what he should eat. But Philip understood that he wanted to raise a king and not just a simple soldier, so he was trying to find the best instructor for his son. Alexander at the age of thirteen was very lucky because his father gave him the chance to be instructed by one of the most important philosophers of the history, Aristotle (Aristotle). This Great philosopher was born in the city of Stagira in 384 B.C.
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and he was a student of Plato’s academy. He established biology, logic and metaphysics as sciences and he made some very important studies over mathematics (Aristotle to Alexander the great of Macedon). “Aristotle, more than any other thinker, determined the orientation and the content of western intellectually history” (Aristotle). Alexander’s way of thinking was influenced in an enormous extent (Aristotle to Alexander the great of Macedon). The establishment of the Greek style of life in the years of Alexander is due to Aristotle’s teaching. The learning of grammar, natural sciences, rhetoric, politics and especially Homer’s Iliad were Alexander’s tools for success (Alexander’s childhood). Alexander and Aristotle had a “father and son” relationship and during his expedition Alexander used to send letters to his teacher expressing his admiration. “…But both my devotion to you and my confidence in your influence on cultivated Hellenic circles urge me once more to open my heart to you as my revered teacher and spiritual guide” (A Letter From Alexander To Aristotle).
The term ‘military genius’ is enough to describe the ability of Alexander in war tactics. However his success in the battles against the Persian army is due to his ability to harmoniously combine the physical strength and superiority of his army with political strategies (The Military Leader). The ultimate goal of his campaign was that “ the defeat of the army was his strategical aim; the winning over the peoples his political aim” (qtd. In The Military Leader).
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The invincible Macedonian army was actually founded by the father of Alexander, king Philip. Alexander of course made a number of adjustments in order to improve the disadvantages of the army. The most powerful Macedonian war tool was the phalanx. “The phalanx was composed of sixteen rows of men who carried fourteen foot spears for thrusting. Spears, which jutted out between each man, protected the front row” (Alexander’s armies). The phalanx was a very frightening sight for the enemies of the Macedonian army, the formation was very impressive and was creating confusion to opposing soldiers (Alexander’s armies).
Alexander was twenty-one when he became the king of Macedonia and he had only one dream, to conquer Asia (Crusade Against Persia 1). The three most important battles of Alexander against the Persian army were on the river Granicus, at Issus and at Gaugamela.
The first conflict between Macedonians and Persians was the battle of the river Granicus. We don’t have many details for this battle but we know that it was the most dangerous battle for Alexander but his friend Cletus saved his life. The battle of Granicus ended with the victory of Macedonians and it is very historical because “it is one of the earliest battles on record that was decided largely by cavalry strength” (Mixter).
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The Macedonians won in Granicus but the Persian army was still strong and powerful under the command of Darius. Alexander and his greatest general Parmenion led the Macedonian army against the Persians near the town of Issus in southern Turkey. The Macedonian king was chasing Darius in all over the battlefield and suddenly Darius panicked and left the battle with his chariot. It was easy then for Alexander to win the battle and find Darius (The Battle of Issus)
Darius was disappointed but decided that he must defend his empire. The Persian army was still numerically stronger than Macedonians and in Gugamela which is located in Iraq, was their last chance. However, the army of Persia had lost its morale and “once again Alexander led the charge on Darius himself and again Darius panicked and run away, and once again the rest of the Persian army evaporated” (The Pursuit of Darius and the End of the Persian Empire)
It is a fact that Alexander never lost a battle in his campaigns, the phalanx, the cavalry and the tactics of Alexander led the Macedonians against armies superficially stronger (The Legacy Of Alexander the Great).
A big issue concerning the life of Alexander the great is his sexuality. It is known that he had a wife and a child, that’s why many historians agree that he was a heterosexual. But this is not true because there are many sources depicting Alexander as bisexual or homosexual. We don’t have many documents
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about his sexuality because he had a small number of lovers and they had never talked about it. In order to decode Alexander’s sexuality it is important to highlight his childhood. His relationship with his mother Olympias determined his sexual behavior, it is said that Alexander had an Oedipal syndrome. His father had many lovers and he divorced Olympias, Alexander who was in the middle of this situation took his mother’s part and they were living together for a long time. Olympias’ love for Alexander was very possessive and she didn’t let other women to approach him. It is very possible that this bond with his mother affected his sexuality (Sexuality and Alexander)
In ancient Greece, bisexuality was considered normal, and love of a friend was not such an odd thing, in fact it was accounted the greatest love of all. “Furthermore, relationships between men and women in Macedonia, particularly within the upper classes, differed radically from those of today, and the polygamy of the Macedonian royal house would have been quite different even from that of a private family in the Greek south. So the fact that Alexander’s primary affective relationship might have been with another man is not only unsurprising, but perhaps predictable” (Alexander’s sexuality)
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The person who had the bigger influence on Alexander’s life was (except his mother of course) Hephaestion, his closest friend and maybe his lover. Alexander and Hephaestion were friend since they were both students of
Aristotle. Hephaestion was not a great general and he didn’t now much about war tactics so Alexander was always protecting him by not sending him to the battlefield. But Hephaestion was an excellent diplomat and he was useful to Alexander because he was always advising him on critical issues. Hephaestion died in Ecbatana in autumn 324 B.C. eight months before Alexander (Zimmerman). It is not known if Alexander and Hephaestion had physical sexual relationship and if they had it was strange because “traditional male relationship in Greece generally involved adults and boys. Alexander and Hephaestion’s relationship was unusual because they were at the same age” (Sexuality and Alexander).
Alexander always compared his relationship with Hephaestion to that of Achilles and Patroclos from Homer’s Iliad, the favorite book of Alexander. There is a tale which says that when Alexander passed from the ancient city of Troy he prayed over the grave of Achilles “while Hephaestion did the same upon Patroclos”(Sexuality and Alexander).
The personality of Alexander the great has been always a challenging issue for historians. In a biography, Arrian says that the Macedonian king had:
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Great personal beauty, invincible power of endurance, and a keen intellect; he
was brave and adventurous, strict in observance of his religious duties and
hungry for fame. Most temperate in the pleasures of the body, his passion was
only for glory and in that he was insatiable. He had an uncanny instinct for the
right course in a difficult and complex situation, and was most happy in his
deductions from observed facts… No cheat or liar even caught him off his guard,
and his bond was inviolable. Spending but little of his own pleasures, he poured
out his money without stint for the benefit of his friends (qtd. In Alexander’s Personality).
The depicting of Alexander by Arrian is very flattering but the most common characterizations that we can find in historical sources have little to do with that. The transformation of Alexander’s personality through the last seven years of his life was radical. Macedonians had a notorious reputation for being heavy drinkers. They usually drunk their wine unmixed, while the Greeks mixed their wines with water, Alexander became known for drinking excessively even by Macedonian standards. The change of Alexander’s character is an evidence of his alcoholism, he became suspicious, megalomaniac and ultimately almost completely isolated (O’Brien 44-46)
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Alexander participated in symposia and drinking unmixed wine, sometimes until he became drunk. His drunkenness on at least one occasion ended with a tragic result, which was Cletus murder. Cletus was a chief commander of the cavalry and one of Alexander’s best friends, he was also the man who saved
Alexander’s life in the battle of Granicus. One night the Macedonian army was celebrating the feast-day of Dionysus and almost everybody became very drunk. At some point Cletus started complaining in Alexander about the Persian ways of life that the king has adopted and that he had saved his life once. Alexander became furious but Cletus continued and said that Philip was better than his son. Alexander was very drunk and he couldn’t bear Cletus’ insults, he took a spear and stubbed Cletus in the heart. Alexander then started to cry and mourned Cletus for three days but that was a consequence of his passion for alcohol (Histories/Alexander the great 1-2).
Among several other psychological characteristics, megalomania was a major imperfection of Alexander the great. He was always claiming that his father was not Philip but the king of gods, Zeus himself. It seems that he have become convinced of the reality of his own divinity and to have required its acceptance by his people. He also had on several occasions compared his accomplishments with those of Hercules (Stories: Alexander the great). When Alexander was competing at the Olympic games he wanted to be announced as
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a god, a Spartan athlete named Dames then said, “since Alexander desires to be a god, let him be a god” (qtd in Alexander the Great)
However, in opposition to his megalomania one other perspective of Alexander the great is that he was motivated by the goal of uniting mankind into a common world. Of course it was also a political trick because he though that it would be better to have the various people of his empire as partners than as enemies. There is a specific example that supports this idea. When Alexander married a Persian princess he ordered the marriages of eighty of his chief officers with women from the most important families of Persia. Some has called this mass marriage a noble but also political gesture on Alexander’s plan to unite his people with Persians. Alexander also encouraged his troops to create families in the areas that they had conquered in order to establish Greek customs and verify the unity among various races under Alexander’s ruling (Worthington 1-15).
Perhaps the darkest side of Alexander the great is that he was sometimes very ruthless. Although he was a charismatic and noble person, his lust for power and his vanity led him to actions of great violence and ungratefulness (Alexander the Ruthless 1-2). One such episode was the execution of Philotas and his father general Parmenion. A few soldiers from alexander’s court had made a plot to assassinate Alexander, but one of them told Philotas to worn Alexander about it. Philotas was a very good friend of Alexander and an officer in his army, but he
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forgot to tell Alexander about the plot and somebody else told Alexander about it and about Philotas’ lack of action. Alexander brought Philotas up to charges of
treason and the Macedonian army sentenced him to death. But Alexander had to face another problem because he was sure that Philotas’ father Parmenion one of his best generals would try to take revenge on Philotas death. So Alexander ordered some of his officers to find and kill Parmenion. That was an act of brutality by Alexander’s side and it made an impact in his army (The Philotas/Parmenion Affair 1-4).
Nevertheless, Alexander was a smart and noble person who could be very kind with people, his behavior with Darius’ family and Diogenis clearly shows Alexander’s noble spirit.
After the battle of Issus, Alexander marched to Persepolis the capital of Persia as a king and went to Darius’ palace. He found there the mother, the wife and the daughters of Darius who were mourning, imagining that Darius was dead. “After a little pause, more lively affected with their affliction than with his own success, Alexander sent Leonnatus to them, to let them know Darius was not dead, and that they need not fear any harm from Alexander, who made war upon him only for dominion; they should themselves be provided with everything they had been used to receive from Darius” (Plutarch 1-3).
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Another one incident that shows Alexander’s kindness and sense of humor is his meeting with Diogenis. When the Greeks gathered in Corinth to proclaim Alexander as their leader against Persia many philosophers came to congratulate
him. Diogenis was sold as a slave to Corinth by pirates and used to live in an earthenware jar, there he was met with the Macedonian king. Alexander was impressed by the view of Diogenis “and when he kindly asked him whether he wanted anything, ‘yes’, said Diogenis, ‘I would have you stand from between me and sun’. Alexander was so struck at this answer and surprised at the greatness of the man that as he went away he told his followers, who were laughing at the moroseness of the philosopher, that if he were not Alexander, he would choose to be Diogenis” (Plutarch).
Whether or not Alexander had plans for World Empire cannot be determined. He had accomplished greater conquests than any before him, but he didn’t have time to mold the governments in the lands he had conquered. Undoubtedly, he was perhaps the greatest general of all time and one of the most powerful and controversial personalities. Alexander had accomplished nothing less than the spreading of Greek culture on the Asian world. Hellenistic Greece was an urban culture and the people from Asia adopted immediately the customs and the spirit of Greek culture. The cities founded by Alexander were centers of
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government and trade as well as culture and these were large cities by ancient standards (The Legacy of Alexander the Great).
Can the achievements of Alexander the great and the Hellenistic period be linked with the rise of Christianity? The answer is yes. “Nowhere is this more
clearly demonstrated than in the fact that the most enduring product of the Hellenistic age was the new religion of Christianity, a system of belief, symbol and ritual that still today occupies a central role in our cultural life and psychological circumstances” (From Alexander the Great to Cyberspace).