Biography on Alexander the Great

Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great was a very confident young man and the son of Phillip II. He was born in Pella, the capital city of Macedonia in the year 356 BC. Although the life he led was quite brief, he accomplished numerous feats and was a military genius. His endeavors have earned him not only the respect of his army, and his people, but countless others throughout the centuries. The existence of Alexander the Great significantly impacted history and spread knowledge throughout the ancient civilizations as he conquered more and more territory. The Hellenistic people are a direct result of his influence. If not for his mother, Olympias, Alexander may have never become king. She was considered angry and spiteful, but to her son she was nothing but uplifting. Her constant ego boosts, telling Alexander he was descended from the Gods and so on, had him convinced that he was better than everyone. In fact historians regard him as narcissistic.

As a young boy Alexander was described as polite, intelligent, and brave. Aristotle tutored him at Temple of the Nymphs at Meiza until the age of sixteen. Aristotle’s text book was the Homeric poem “The Iliad,” which the young Macedonian had memorized. Everyone seemed to notice that Alexander was bound for greatness; indeed the ambassadors spurned his title by stating that he was “great” while the king was only “rich.” The would be conqueror did not see his father all that often as he spent most of his time on the battlefield but Alexander demonstrated his boldness and cunning to his father by showing that his feisty new horse was actually tame. He observed that the animal was simply afraid of its new surroundings and even more so of its own shadow. Impressed by his actio...

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...ry from a long life of battles so Alexander ended his conquests and everyone was released from fighting and able to go home.

Ironically, even though Alexander was a strong man in the prime of his life and was undeniably respected and feared by many, he met an untimely death. He was struck down by an illness that was quite common in those days, now known as malaria or swamp fever, back then only known as yellow fever. There is no known cure for the fatal disease, and the King, not being divine as he believed was not an exception to the consequences. He passed away at the tender age of thirty-three after twelve days of suffering. His legacy lives on in the history books of the modern day. He is regarded as brilliant, courageous, and ambitious among other things. His name will endure and echo on in future history courses and like him or hate him, you must respect him.