Alexander the Great: God-King or Mere Mortal?

The meaning of the name Alexander is: "man's defender, warrior". Such a name seems suitable for a notable historical figure that conquered and ruled the greater part of the known world before his death at the age of 33 (thirty-three).  Most people know this person as "Alexander III the Great, the King of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all times". (1)

Alexander the Great was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, to Philip II, king of Macedonia, and Olympia, a princess of Epirus. He was a fearless Macedonian, educated by Aristotle, purveyor of Hellenistic culture, conqueror of everything from Greece and Egypt to the Indus River, and a brilliant strategist and military leader. He wanted to rule the world (as did so many of his predecessors; a pointless ambition but nevertheless he tried because, according to his philosophy "There is nothing impossible to him who will try." )  Though he succeeded in conquering the known world of his day and time, he never lived to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Let us examine Alexander's plan for world domination and its outcome.

It all began with Philip, Alexander's father, who was held hostage in Thebes (368 - 365 BC). During this period, though a captive, he received a military and diplomatic education. He studied Greek culture and the organization of the Theban military; in particular, the hoplite phalanx. In 364 BC, Philip returned to Macedonia and in 359 BC, the deaths of both of his older brothers allowed him to become king. When Philip ascended to the throne, he formed an army consisting of 10,000 soldiers. The army was divided into two different groups: the cavalry (which consisted of landowners and nobles), and the infantry that was organized into the phalanxes (comprised of hunters and peasants).

Equipped with the knowledge of Greek military and cultural activities which he had acquired while being held hostage in Thebes, Philip unified his kingdom and went after Greece. Demosthenes, a well-known Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens, had warned the citizens of Athens about Philip's intentions. Nevertheless, Greek traitors betrayed their city-states and aligned themselves with Philip because they had been given an "incentive". Philip not only established a formidable army, but also discovered that there were gold mines in his kingdom. The gold was the incentive and proved to be far more useful than his army. History notes that Philip was in the habit of saying "a fortress can always be taken if only a mule laden with gold can be got inside".

Ultimately, Philip became the master of Greece when he defeated Thebes and Athens in 338 BC, at the battle of Chaeronea .

Henryk Siemiradzki "Alexander the Great and Physician Philip of Arcarnania" 1870 - Flickr.com

The Final Step? - That of being acknowledged and revered as a god-king - was the most important step because his future decisions to continue the expansion of his empire would go (or rather should have gone) unchallenged. His subjects or servants would simply obey the great god-king and yield to his ambitious goals, desires and wishes.

Only ... that did not happen!

*This is what happened.

After crushing Greek rebellions and declaring himself to be master of Greece, he traveled through and conquered most of Asia Minor, on his way to Syria and Egypt. Following those conquests he set out for Mesopotamia and Persia. When all of those areas had been conquered he pushed on and overran the Punjab, determined to conquer all the lands with the aim of dominating India.

As was mentioned earlier, he engaged in a violent battle, at the river Hydaspes in July 326 BC, against the forces of Porus, an Indian leader. But the Indians were defeated.

After this battle, according to one historical account:

"Alexander's next goal was to reach the Ganges River, which was actually 250 miles away, because he thought that it flowed into the outer Ocean. His troops, however, had heard tales of the powerful Indian tribes that lived on the Ganges and remembered the difficulty of the battle with Porus, so they refused to go any farther east. Alexander was extremely disappointed, but he accepted their decision ... During this trip, Alexander sought out the Indian philosophers, the Brahmins, who were famous for their wisdom, and debated them on philosophical issues. He became legendary for centuries in India for being both a wise philosopher and a fearless conqueror." (3)

**So that's what happened.

When Alexander and his army reached the mouth of the Indus River, before he could cross into India, his army got fed up with him and refused to advance any further.

Can you imagine? Rebelling against a god-king? Challenging his authority? REFUSING TO FIGHT FOR HIM?

One would think the penalty or punishment for daring not to submit to the commandments of a god-king would be brutal. Nope! Alexander actually argued with his men for 3 days and then he turned back. He reluctantly turned back. But he did turn back.

Some god-king, eh? Why didn't he zap a few lightning bolts on a few of them and put the other ones in check? The reason why (I think), in his own words: "Sex and sleep alone make me conscious that I am mortal."

• Per bionity.com, "Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest." Why did Alexander concede and submit to the (reasonable) demands of his army? Alexander had burnout. That's my non-medical conclusive diagnosis.

His army turned back and Alexander withdrew to Babylon where one night he fell ill. He suffered horribly for about eleven days and then on the 10th of June, 332 BC, he breathed his last breath. Some sources say he died of malaria or a fever, while others state that the cause of his illness was unknown.

I say you can't have a god-king die from a common disease or illness. His death has to be a mystery, unless it's an obvious assassination/murder, like his father.

On his deathbed when asked who would be his successor, it is reported that his response was: "The kingdom shall go to the strongest."

So several years following the death of Alexander the Great, you know who else had to go? That's right. His wife, the beloved Roxana, and his son, young Alexander, were poisoned.

His general fought over his empire until 301 BC, when finally three generals (Honored as guess what? God-kings.) divided it into three kingdoms. Antigonus I took Macedonia and Greece. Ptolemy I ruled over the kingdom of Egypt. Anatolia, Syria and Parthia along with the rest of the Alexander's empire in Asia were ruled by Seleucus I.

The course of history continues, but this HUB stops here because it's about Alexander the Great and not about what happened after he died, especially considering the fact that his bloodline was snuffed out when they killed his only son.

So the remaining commentary will be devoted to the legacy of Alexander the Great, i.e. what civilization inherited upon his untimely demise.

Because of Alexander's commitment to the spread of Hellenistic culture, a major change swept cross both the Western and Eastern worlds. Hellenistic philosophy and science influenced Western thought for centuries to come. With regard to economy, most cities were placed on trade routes to increase the flow of goods between East and West, thus trade became the most profitable of activities. The cities of Alexandria were the cultural centers Alexander had envisioned. The cities had market centers, theaters, schools and gymnasiums. The famed city of Alexandria in Egypt even had a museum and a library, which were later destroyed. As this library was deemed the ancient world's single greatest archive of knowledge, its destruction has been lamented for ages. Seriously!

I remember the scene in the movie "Cleopatra" where Elizabeth Taylor came charging into the room bellowing about that library being burned.

Cleopatra: "How DARE you and the rest of your barbarians set fire to my library? Play conqueror all you want, Mighty Caesar! Rape, murder, pillage thousands, even millions of human beings! But neither you nor any other barbarian has the right to destroy one human thought!" (4)

That one scene in the movie really made an impression on my young mind. I was born in 1955. "Cleopatra" came out in 1963; I was a devoted fan of Elizabeth Taylor and watched all of her movies.

But I digress.

The legacy of Alexander the Great has been aptly summarized as follows:

"This, then, was the legacy of Alexander the Great: to bring the West and the East together in a brotherhood of mankind, peoples of many descents making up one people, speaking a common language, trading a multitude of goods with a common currency as a means of exchange, sharing knowledge of math, science, and medicine--enjoying the world view of a young man from Macedon who didn't live to see his dream come true." (5)

(1) Alexander the Great (Alexander of Macedon) Biography History of Macedonia Blog

(2) Ancient History Sourcebook: Diodorus Siculus (1st Cent BCE]: The Battle Of Chaeronea, 338 BCE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY Ancient History Sourcebook

(3) Alexander in India
Copyright © 1996 by Jed Untereker, James Kossuth, Bill Kelsey

(4) Cleopatra (1963) - Memorable quotes Cleopatra Quotes on IMDb: Movies, TV, Celebs, and more...

(5) The Legacy of Alexander the Great Part 2: Alexander the Bringer of Culture  Alexander the Great changed the world in several significant ways. ...

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