Alexander the

Great
356-323 B.C.E.
From the Mediterranean
to Universality
François De Polignag
 Abstract
 This article is about the myth of
Alexander the Great.
 He was an important figure in the
Mediterranean history.
 He built his own image not as hero of a
conquering civilization, but as an
universal figure mediating between
different peoples.
 Alexander the Great
Abstract / Summary
 Alexander the Great formed a huge empire.
 Spread Greek culture into Egypt and many parts of Asia.
 Opened the way for a new civilization to develop in those areas.
 Alexander the Great is arguably one of the greatest military leaders
in history.
 “There is nothing impossible to him who will try.” (quote from
Alexander the Great)
 Today we will talk about the legendary life of Alexander the Great.
 Boyhood
 He was born on July 26, 356
B.C. in Pella, Macedonia.
 Alexander was the son of King
Philip II of Macedonia.
 Philip II was a great military
leader and organizer.
 He brought most of the
city-states of mainland
Greece under Macedonian
hegemony, using both
military and diplomatic
means.
 Alexander inherited the best
qualities from his father and
family.
 Boyhood
 Alexander was
more ambitious
than his father.
 Alexander's mother
taught him that his
father was
descended from
Hercules.
 Alexander was told
by an oracle that
his true father was
Zeus, not Philip II.
 Boyhood
 As a Boy Alexander was
fearless and strong.
 He disciplined a
beautiful and spirited
horse that no one would
touch or ride and named
it Bucephalus.
 This horse later carried
him to the far reaches of
India.
 Philip was so proud of
Alexander's power over
the horse.
 Youth
 When Alexander was 13 years old,
he became the pupil of Aristotle.
 Aristotle is considered one of the
greatest minds in history.
 Alexander was eager to learn.
 Aristotle inspired in Alexander the
love for literature, sciences,
rhetoric, philosophy, and sports.
 Alexander was always interested
in foreign policy and he met with
ambassadors from different
countries that came to his father’s
court.
 Aristotle teaching
Alexander the Great.
 Rise to Power
 When Alexander became
sixteen years old, his
tutorship under Aristotle
came to an end.
 Alexander was given
command of Macedonia while
Philip II went to war against
Byzantium.
 When he was only 18, he
commanded part of Philip's
cavalry in a battle.
 Alexander also acted as his
father's ambassador to
Athens.
 After his father’s death in 336
B.C., Alexander became king
at the age of 20.
As a King
 After Alexander became king, the
surrounding territories revolted.
 The city of Thebes in Greece was
the first to start the revolt.
 Alexander’s advisors viewed that
he should give up the Greek
territories and not take action.
 Alexander decided against this
idea.
 Alexander and his army stormed
the city of Thebes and destroyed
every building except the temples
and the house of the poet Pindar.
 30,000 inhabitants were sold into
slavery.
 Seeing this, the rest of the
territories yielded and Alexander
then had control of Macedonia
and Greece.
 Conquests of Alexander

 Ionia and Anatolia 333

 Syria, Palestine, Egypt 332
 Mesopotamia 331
 Persepolis 331
 King of Persia 330
 India 327
 Returns to Susa 324
 Died (age 33) 323
Conquests
Alexander’s March
 Military Tactics
 Alexander had a great
military mind.
 He was an expert at
organizing his units for
complex battle
maneuvers.
 He was hiding his true
numbers and
managing his army
during the flow of
battle. That was the
key.
 The Death of Alexander
• It was May of 323 BC and Alexander the Great was in
Baghdad.
• The thirty-two-year-old King of Macedonia had spent the
past thirteen years conquering much of the known world.
• In the process, he created an empire that reached from
Macedonia through Greece and the Persian Empire to the
lands of India.
• He had plans to expand his holdings, but these dreams
would never be realized.
• On May 29, he attended a dinner given by a close friend.
• Alexander joined in the heavy drinking during the day-long
event.
• Complaining that he did not feel well, he went to bed.
• Alexander's health deteriorated his body. Finally, too weak
to leave his bed, the conqueror of the world died ten days
after he was ill.
 Big Mystery
 The exact cause of Alexander's
death is unknown.
 Historians have debated the issue
for centuries, attributing it to poison,
malaria, typhoid fever or other
maladies.
 What is agreed upon is that the
Macedonian king died in early June
323 BC while suffering a high fever
that had lasted ten days.
 Gold sarcophagus
 They embalmed him and placed his body in a
gold sarcophagus which was taken to
Memphis, Egypt. Later it was transported to its
final destination, Alexandria.
 Unfortunately, the tomb was not left
untouched. In 89 B.C., Ptolemy IX needed
money, so he opened the tomb and melted
down Alexander's sarcophagus to make gold
coins.
 People were so angry that Ptolemy was killed
soon after.
 Division of Empire
 After the death of Alexander the Great, his
generals, scrambling to gain power, broke out into
civil war against each other.
 All of Alexander’s relatives were secretly
murdered.
 Battles raged across the empire until finally around
305 B.C. four men emerged each gaining large
portions of the empire.
 The empire was split into four sections, Seleucus
ruling the territories of Babylon, Ptolemy ruling the
territories of Egypt, Cassander ruling the territories
of Macedon, and Lysimachus ruling the territories
of Thrace.
 Legacy
 Not only is Alexander known for conquering practically the
known civilized world, he is also known for issuing in the
Hellenistic age.
 The Hellenistic age was the age of Greek influence and the
spread of Greek culture across the world.
 Alexander was known for issuing in this age because he
brought together so many different civilizations.
 Everywhere he conquered, Alexander would build new
cities and establish schools, museums, and libraries within
these cities.
 In Alexandria, Egypt Alexander built a famous museum
where the works of art and evidence of man’s creativity
could be studied and collected.
 By doing such deeds as these, Greek culture was taught,
learned, and preserved for over a thousand years with the
help of Rome and Christianity.
Library of Alexandria
 Conclusion
 In conclusion, many historians
believe that Alexander the Great
would have conquered the entire
world had he lived to a normal old
age.
 Alexander was able to achieve
what no other man dreamed
possible.
 Not only he conquered almost the
known civilized world in 12 years,
but Alexander also brought about
a spread of Greek culture into the
vast reaches of the world.
 Alexander was destined for glory
and he achieved it.
 And we end with a quote from
Alexander the Great, "I would
rather live a short life of glory
than a long one of obscurity"….or
"It’s better to burn out than fade
away”.
 Different Tales
 He conquered all the geography around the
Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Andalusia.
 But there are different myths about him and his
conquests.
 For example, some authors wrote that he built a bridge
on the Strait of Gibraltar in order to join the two
continents and continue his conquest.
 On the other hand, an Arab author Idrisi wrote that
opened up the Strait of Gibraltar to prevent the fighting
between their people.
 Different Tales from Different Regions

There were different claims such as;

• He voyaged to the dark regions

• He discovered the source of immortality

• He lived in the depths of ocean in a glass bell

• He rose up into the atmosphere in a gondola

Alexander’s fight with Lion
 The Origin of the Myth
 It is more than a wild fabrication.
 Generally, the original author of the myth
was Alexander himself.
 He constructed his own legend through his
political design.
 He provided materials and instructions for
rewriting the myth for later generations.
 There is a fusion of the two myths, Greek and
Egyptian.
 Callisthenes
He brought a historian with him to record everything during
his voyage.
Who was Greek philosopher Callisthenes?
 But Callisthenes did not write about his divine power or

about him as “The son of Zeus”.

 As the king and army penetrated further into Asia,

Callisthenes also began to sharply criticize Alexander's

conquests and adoption of oriental customs.
 He was thrown into prison, where he died from torture or

disease
 Universal Sovereignty
 Universal Sovereignty is a fundamental driving force
behind all adaptations of legend.
 In his voyage to Libyan Oasis in early 331 after
conquering Egypt, he consults the oracle of god
Ammon.
(Ammon; eski Mısır’ın hava tanrısı, yaratıcı tanrısı,
bereket tanrısı, güneş tanrısı.)
• In many of his biographies, it is said that Alexander
was greeted as the father of the God. Many people
believed that if he does not have divine power, he
could not be able to pass deserts and conquer such a
big geography.
• Many people thought that he was sent to establish an
universal empire.
Alexander’s Coin