Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, accomplished much in his lifetime. He added many new lands to his vast empire including Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Sogdiana, and part of India. He became the conqueror of the world he knew.
Alexander the Great was the son of Princess Olympias of Epirus (Cinderella) and King Philip II of Macedonia (Popovic).
His parents hated each other and had an unstable marriage (Cinderella).
Philip’s relationship with Alexander was also poor. He once told his son that he should be embarrassed by his high-pitched voice (Cinderella).
After Alexander had become a general in his father’s army, Philip was wounded in battle and played dead (Cinderella).
Alexander protected him and saved his life, but Philip refused to even acknowledge this (Cinderella).
During the wedding feast celebrating Philip’s marriage to his final wife, the bride’s uncle, Attalus, made a toast hoping that the couple will have a legitimate heir for Philip (Cinderella).
Alexander became infuriated that he had been so easily dismissed as an heir, and throws his goblet at Attalus who in turn throws his goblet back, creating a brawl during which Philip and Alexander converse (Cinderella).
It remains unknown what they said to each other, but it apparently angered Philip for he lunged at Alexander with his sword and, having been drunk, fell to the floor (Cinderella).
To this Alexander commented, “Look, men, he’s about to cross from Europe to Asia, and he falls crossing from couch to couch” (Cinderella).
The Essay on Alexander the Great 2
Alexander III, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, was one of the greatest military leaders in world history. He was born in Pella, Macedonia, then a Greek nation. The exact date of his birth is uncertain, but was probably either July 20 or 26, 356 B.C. Alexander was considered a child from his birth until 341 B.C. His princehood lasted from 340 to 336 B.C. In 336 B.C. Philip II, his ...
After this incident Alexander and Olympias left to go to Epirus, but they later returned (Popovic).
On another occasion, Philip arranged a marriage between Alexander’s retarded half brother, Arridaeus, and the daughter of a Persian satrap (Cinderella).
Alexander, fearing that Philip was planning to make Arridaeus his successor instead of himself, secretly plotted to marry her first (Cinderella).
Philip discovered his plans too soon, and put Alexander under house arrest (Cinderella).
He went even further to banish all of his friends from the kingdom except for Hephaestion, and decided to divorce Olympias for her involvement (Cinderella).
To prevent Olympias’ brother, king of Epirus, from becoming angered over the divorce, Philip gave him his and Olympias’ daughter, Cleopatra, as a bride (Cinderella).
Philip was stabbed by one of his bodyguards, Pausanias, while entering the theater that the opening marriage ceremony was held at (Cinderella).
Pausanias tried to escape, but tripped on a vine in the vineyard behind the theater giving three of Philip’s other bodyguards enough time to catch up with him and kill him (Cinderella).
Olympias and Alexander were both suspected of being involved in the plot (Cinderella).
In response to Philip’s assassination Alexander and Olympias took actions to rid themselves of enemies. Alexander executed rivals to the throne including his cousin, Amyntas (Cinderella).
However, he spared the life of Arridaeus (Cinderella).
Rather than straight out killing Attalus, Alexander sent soldiers after him under the accusation of treason (Popovic).
He instructed the soldiers that they if they could not bring him back alive, they were to kill him (Popovic).
It is said that Olympias had the newborn child of Philip killed in front of his last wife, before forcing her to hang herself (Cinderella).
Hephaestion and Alexander were best friends as children. Both were taught by Aristotle and shared the same favorite book, the Iliad (Spears).
It is said that Alexander always slept with a copy under his pillow as a child (Popovic).
He later fell in love with Hephaestion. Robin Lane Fox said that “Hephaestion was the man Alexander loved, and for the rest of their lives their relationship remained as intimate as it is now irrecoverable: Alexander was only defeated once, the Cynic Philosophers said long after his death, and that was by Hephaestion’s thighs” (Spears).
The Research paper on Alexander The Great Army Darius Persian
Alexander's Conquests The ConquestsAlexander's Conquests Essay, Research Paper The Conquests of Alexander the Great by Michael Janus a Mark D. Kiss Western Civilization Class Rm 16 April 10, 1999 Alexander was the son of King Philip II of Macedonia born approximately on July 20 th in 356 BC. His mother was Olympias, a young princess from Epirus. Alexander was a remarkable person who loved to ...
After Philip’s death, all of Greece did not immediately accept him as their leader, especially not Athens or Thebes (Dersin 132).
In an attempt to convince them to acknowledge his leadership, he took an army south to intimidate them (132).
This was enough to sway the minds of Athenians, however Thebes continued to challenge him (132).
Alexander destroyed the city of Thebes and enslaved its people (132).
He then began his conquests in Pella (132) to punish the Persians for Xerxes’ invasion of Greece (Boardman 310).
Alexander first entered Asia Minor in 334 BC (Hackney).
The first major battle was that of the Granicus. The Persians tried to tempt Alexander to cross the river so they could kill him, and they almost succeeded, but the Persian line broke, allowing him to win the battle (Popovic).
Sardis, the headquarters of Persian government, surrendered to the Macedonian forces without a struggle (Popovic).
In Miletus, they would not open their gates, encouraged by the closeness of the Persian fleet (Popovic).
Alexander had to take over the coastal cities in order to defeat the fleet (Popovic).
Halicarnassus was a difficulty for Alexander, because the resistance was strengthened by Greek Mercenaries (Cook 154).
He eventually broke through the eastern side of the city’s wall only to find that another brick wall had already been constructed inside (154).
The people of Halicarnassus abandoned the town and garrisoned their troops is Salmacis (155).
Alexander left 3,000 men there for one year to fight the garrison (155).
In Gordium, it was prophesized that whoever could loose the knot of a yoke that was tied to a chariot, would rule over Asia (Boardman 310).
Alexander cut through the knot easily, although it was supposed to be untied (311).
After completing his conquests through Asia Minor, Alexander entered Syria. At the battle of Issus, he defeated the Persian king, Darius, and sent him fleeing back to the east. Alexander did not follow him even though he could have easily caught Darius if he had. Continuing on his way south, he took the cities of Byblos and Sidon. He was held up at Tyre, a small island with protective walls reaching the water’s edge, for seven months (Welles 28).
The Term Paper on Alexander the Great: a Hero
Was Alexander the great a hero or a villain? In my eyes I believe he was a hero. I feel that his amazing battle skills make up for all the horrible acts of cruelty. Alexander brought a fresh approach after the intrigues of his father Philip II. Alexander was not quite twenty when he succeeded to the throne in 336 BCE. His tutor had been Aristotle, a man to whom is credited great knowledge and ...
In order to attack it, Alexander had to build a half-mile mole from the mainland (28).
The lives of those who had hidden in temples were spared, but 2,000 soldiers were crucified and 13,000 women and children were sold into slavery (29).
The city of Gaza also resisted its capture, occupying two months of Alexander’s time, during which his shoulder was seriously wounded (Popovic).
After taking Gaza it was turned into a military base (Welles 29).
Proceeding south, Alexander was welcomed upon arriving in Egypt. In Memphis, the Persian satrap surrendered without resisting, and Alexander was crowned pharaoh (Popovic).
He named the city of Alexandria after himself and had the architect Deinocrates design it (Popovic).
It is said that Deinocrates offered to carve the 6,600-foot tall mountain of Athos into an image of Alexander (Cook 158).
Alexander traveled even further into the desert to visit the oracle of Zeus Ammon and was greeted as the son of Zeus (Boardman 311).
Alexander then turned around and went north into Mesopotamia. He accepted Darius’ battle-pitch at Guagamela where he made the wings of his cavalry long enough to drive Darius off of the field and defeat him (Cook 158).
Susa was next to be captured, becoming the first Persian capital to be occupied (Welles 35).
In Darius’ tent, Alexander found 3,000 talents of gold (the equivalent of approximately $1.2 billion) as well as Darius’ mother and wife whom he kept as prisoners (Popovic).
In Persia, Alexander attacked the city of Persepolis. The attack was suggested at a drunken party (Cinderella).
Darius fled the city with Alexander in pursuit of him (Cinderella).
Darius pleaded to Bessus for help, but he killed Darius instead (Cinderella).
Alexander then gave Darius a grand funeral at the ruins of Persepolis; he had Bessus publicly flogged and executed for murder (Cinderella).
Alexander went as far as the Jaxartes River in Sogdiana (Cook 159).
The Term Paper on Alexander The Great Greek City Asia
ALEXANDER THE GREAT ALEXANDROS PHILIP POU MAKEDONON (356-323 BC). More than any other world conqueror, Alexander III of Macedon, or ancient Macedonia, deserves to be called the Great. Although he died before the age of 33, he conquered almost all the then known world and gave a new direction to history. Alexander was born in 356 BC at Pella, the capital of Macedon, a kingdom north of Hellas ( ...
There he founded the city of Alexandria Eschate, or Alexandria the Furthest (159).
He married Roxane, the princess of a rebel group in the mountains of Sogdiana (Cinderella).
Due to his constant campaigns, they did not have a child for four years (Cinderella).
Alexander pressed his conquests further into India. When his horse, Bucephala, died he named a city after him (Popovic).
Alexander had tamed Bucephala when he was twelve years old and no one else could tame him (Popovic).
The king of Taxila, Ambhi, joined Alexander’s forces to defeat his enemy Porus, the king of Punjab (Agrawal).
Porus was defeated at the river Hydaspes (Dersin 132).
Following the battle, Alexander’s men refused to go any further into India (132).
Forced to turn back, Alexander returned to Persia the winter of 325-324 BC (Cinderella).
Governors who had abused their power while he was away were executed (Cinderella).
Alexander tried to promote harmony between his people and the Persians by ordering 80 of his important men to marry highborn Persian women (Cinderella).
He himself married Darius’ daughter, Barsine, and Hephaestion married her sister, Drypetis (Cinderella) so that his and Alexander’s children could be cousins (Spears).
To further encourage peace, Alexander promoted many Persians to high positions in the army (Cinderella).
In 324 Hephaestion died of typhus while in Persia (Spears).
Eight months later, in 323 BC, Alexander died of either malaria or typhoid fever while in Babylon; he was 32 years old (Cinderella).
At the time of his death, Roxane was pregnant (Spears).
She sent a letter to Barsine and Drypetis in Alexander’s name asking them to come to Babylon (Cinderella).
Once they arrived, Roxane had them murdered and their bodies thrown into a well (Cinderella).
Alexander the Great was truly considered great by many. Others frown upon him for being a homosexual, drunk, or mass murderer. Whatever is thought of him, the fact remains that he built an empire of great magnitude.
Works Cited
Agrawal, Dinesh. “Alexander, The Ordinary.” 10 pars. 30 Nov 2002. http://www.itihaas.com/ancient/1.html
Boardman, John, Jasper Griffin, and Oswyn Murray. The Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World. 1986. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
The Term Paper on Alexander the Great’s Policy of Fusion
From his conception, Alexander was destined for greatness. Born to Olympias, Princess of Epirus and Phillip II, King of Macedon, passion and purpose were the driving forces of his young life. As a young boy, in Philips absence, he entertained Persian envoys and much to the surprise of the guests instead of asking about the Persian hanging gardens, he asked about the state of the Persian army and ...
Cinderella. “Alexander The Great.” 1998. 21 pars. 30 Nov 2002. http://www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
Cook, John Manuel. The Greeks in Ionia and the East. New York, NY: Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, 1962.
Dersin, Denise. What Life Was Like at the Dawn of Democracy. Alexandria, VA: Time Life Inc., 1997.
Hackney, Adam. “Alexander the Great.” 15 Mar 1997. 14 Dec 2002. http://www.hackneys.com/alex_web/alexfram.htm
Popovic, John J. “Alexander the Great.” 1996. 41 pars. 30 Nov 2002. http://www.1stmuse.com/frames/index.html
Spears, Jay. “Alexander the Great.” 18 Sep 2002. 7 pars. 30 Nov 2002. http://www.gayheroes.com/alex.htm
Welles, C. Bradford. Alexander and the Hellenistic World. Toronto: A.M. Hakkart Ltd., 1970.