11/20/2011. L25. The Myth of Alexander. Sources for Knowing Alex

Transcription

1 L25. The Myth of Alexander HIST 225 FALL 2011 Sources for Knowing Alex Lost Historians Callisthenes of Olynthus (nephew of Aristotle) BCE Nearchus (served on campaign) BCE Cleitarchus (official campaign historian) wrote for Ptolemy I (Soter) Extant Historians Diodorus Siculus, Book 17 (c. 50 BCE) Q. Curtius Rufus (c. 50 CE) Plutarch (c. 100 CE) Arrian of Nicomedia (c. 140 CE) 1

2 Alexander the Great ( BCE) Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας or Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος son of Philip II and Olympias King (basileus) of Macedon at BCE He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle. By the time of his death, he had conquered most of the world as known to the ancient Greeks A Prince steeped in Heroic Kingship Macedonia a hereditary kingdom form of rule long abandoned by poleis parallels to Homeric kingship wielded power over a coalition of lesser barons making war only by their consent and with their participation Agamemnon steeped in the Homeric classics Palace at Pella Royal Macedonian Palace at Pella 2

3 Passion for Homeric Lore Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of Homer, and in particular the Iliad Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander would later to take on his campaigns slept with it under his pillow (Plutarch) 3

4 The Alexander Enigma Numerous Tales of Alexander provide a binary image of the man A. Brash, Gutsy Warrior Z. Calm, calculating statesman On the Day of His Birth On the day that Alexander was born Philip was preparing himself for a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice That same day: Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies his horses had won at the Olympic Games Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the burnt down According to Plutarch it happened because Artemis was away, attending the birth of Alexander Hegesias of Magnesia Alexander tames Bucephalus Alexander on Bucephalus? Fresco on the "Tomb of Philip", Vergina 4

5 Alexander meets the Persian Ambassador Alexander s Education Alexander taught by Aristotle on the condition that Philip rebuild the city of Stagiera that had been destroyed in battle School called Meiza, at the Temple of the Muses Introduced several important sciences: physics, meteorology, geography, theology dedicated On the cosmos, to Alexander to the best of princes Form of Education Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles: Ptolemy Hephaistion Cassander would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the Companions Aristotle taught Alexander and his Aristotle's school in Mieza companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. Aristotle (Politics 1.4) taught that slavery was a normal, natural institution and that there were people who were slaves by nature example, he mentioned the barbarians, which also meant: the Persians 5

6 Aristotle teaches Alexander Jan Lievens, 1631 Prince Charles Louis with His Tutor, as the Young Alexander Instructed by Aristotle Alexander after Chaeronea Myth of Alexander in his Lifetime Questions of invincibility divination spiritual power foresightedness philosopher-king Easy for modern audiences to perceive such claims as public relations stunts to access power and authority Not that simple 6

7 Tragic Hero dying at the height of his fame and most longed for by mankind (Arrian 7.16) joins ranks of other beardless youths who heroically died early Gilgamesh Achilles Adonis Perseus Dionysius Revered/Reviles by those he conquered Persians celebrated in a national epic (Shah Nemah) as one of its own wise kings Hebrew turned into a humble penitent who learns happiness form a Jewish priest Armenians Egyptians Arabic literature = sprouts horns to become the Dhul- Quarnian India elaborate dialogues of Alexander and the Naked Sages while in Taxila Alexander becomes king After the assassination of Philip, Alexander ascends to the Macedonian throne Kills political enemies as scapegoats Needs to publically show that the young king has what it takes to succeed Starts off with an invasion of Northern and Western tribes 7

8 Modern Aspirants Julius Ceasar wept when he sees the statue of Alexander in Spain Napoleon modeled much of his tactical and strategic planning on Alexander-like techniques Hitler bizarre fascination with Alexander as a world conqueror; seen in Nazi scholarship of Macedonia in the 1930s and 1940s 1/macedonia-puts-giant-statuealexander-great Macedonia challenges Greece's claim to Alexander the Great with giant statue, on Tuesday began assembling a controversial 72-foot-high bronze statue of Alexander the Great, a monument seen as a towering challenge to neighbouring Greece's claim on the ancient hero. Although the statue is officially named "Warrior on a Horse," the face closely resembles ancient depictions of Alexander, the warrior king born in Pella, northern Greece, who carved out an empire that reached the Himalayas before his death at age 32 in 323BC 8

9 Submitted by DimitriFromAthens on Tue, 21/06/ :59. It's a pity that the authorities of Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.) have chosen this way of provocation and challenging the Greek people. By forging history and transforming their (mainly) Slavic character of their past into "antic Macedonian" they are not going to convince anybody that they come from Ancient Macedonians. Everybody knows that Alexander the Great and the Macedonians were Greeks. All these huge statues bring back in mind previous dark periods of history where methods like this one huge statues etc were used in Nazi and Communist regimes to brainwash people. It's really sad that they use totalitarian propaganda and forge of history to give basis on their territorial claims against neighbouring countries like Greece. Greece and the Greeks are justified now regarding the objections we have about the name of this country. It's a shame that they try to usurp the Greek name and history of Macedonia. 9