Alexander The Great

Alexander the Great is, arguably, the most famous secular figure in history. His magnetism in life was rivaled only by his magnetism in death, and the story of his career has evoked vastly different interpretations in his age and ours. Young romantic hero or megalomaniac villain? Alexander III of Macedon conquered all who stood before him, but usually in order to free the lower class. He did more to spread the Hellenistic culture than anyone before or after him. My credibility comes from much studying of his lifestyle, and analysis of many contradicting biographies. With this speech, I hope to display to you most of his feats and battles, as well as the vast quantity of folklore that surrounds his life.

Alexander, was born on or around July 20, 356 BCE, in Pella. The exact date may have been created after the fact to match the date of the burning of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and Olympias, who descended from Gods according to myth.

At 13, Aristotle was hired to tutor Alexander. Under Aristotle, Alexander learned philosophy, ethics, politics, and healing. The two later became estranged, due to their difference of opinion on the status of foreginers; Aristotle saw them as barbarians, while Alexander sought to merge Macedonians and foreigners.

Tale of Bucephalus: At 14 Alexander surprised all including his father by mounting an untamable horse named Bucephalus. Alexander would later name a city after the site where his horse died in battle.

340 BC: Philip II traveled to Byzantium to battle rebels, leaving 16yr old Alexander in charge as Prince Regent. While away, the Maedi, a north Macedonia tribe, revolted. Alexander traveled there, put down the revolt, captured the city and renamed it Alexandropolis.

At the age of 19, Philip II was assassinated. Alexander was a boy king. Cities like Athens and Thebes had pledged allegiance to Philip II, but were not sure if they wanted to do the same for a 19 year old boy. On top of that, barbarians to the north threatened to invade.

Alexander drove the barbarians north of the Danube, then focused on Thebes. He marched to the city, and offered them one final chance to obey him. They refused, and he went on to march into the city and kill nearly everyone. Athens later decided to align with Alexander.

334 BC: Alexander travels to Asia Minor. He begins freeing ...

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... they took the long way home, with random stops for Alexander to either conquer or debate Indian philosophers. At one of these stops, a fierce tribe, the Malli, wounded him in the ribcage severely.

In 324 B.C.E., Alexander furthered his mission to assimilate Macedonian and Persian cultures when he arranged thousands of marriages between the Greek soldiers and Persian women in Susa. Alexander himself took a second wife, Stateira, one of Darius' daughters.

The next year, Alexander traveled with his men to Babylon despite numerous threatening omens. The omens were so frequent and ominous that Alexander feared that he had fallen out of favor with the gods. He died of a fever on June 10, 323 BC.

Though Alexander died suddenly, and at the age of 33, he left behind a tremendous legacy. Alexander spread the Hellenistic culture far and wide, providing the backbone for culture in the western hemisphere as we know it today. He paved the way for Christianity as well. From the fulfillment of the Gordian knot legend, to the dignified way he conquered countries, Alexander the Great ensured his place in history as one of, if not the greatest ruler of all time.