The film Alexander by Oliver Stone, is based on the life of Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, one of the greatest military leaders in the history of warfare. The story begins around 283 BC, with Ptolemy, who narrates throughout the film. The film offers a disclaimer at the end of the credits signifying that the film is “inspired by certain historical events,” and that some of those events have been moved around a bit. Alexander was not made to be a historical or archaeological documentary. Alexander is the son of King Philip of Macedonia and Queen Olympias. We see Alexander's daily life and the strained relationship between his parents. Alexander grows up with his mother Olympias and his tutor Aristotle, where he finds interest in love, honor, music, exploration, poetry, and military combat. Young Alexander impresses his father by taming an intractable horse, but both mother and son are banished from the kingdom, Olympias advising her son to seize the throne before Philip has him murdered. As things work out, Philip is murdered, and Alexander rules Macedonia. (BBC) Ptolemy briefly mentions how Alexander destroys Thebes and burns Persepolis, then gives an overview of Alexander's journey through west-Persia, including his declaration as the son of Zeus by the Oracle of Amun at Siwa Oasis. He also points out his great battle against the Persian Emperor Darius III in the Battle of Gaugamela and his eight-year campaign across Asia. The movie focuses a lot on Alexander's private relationships with his childhood friend Hephaestion and later his wife Roxana. Hephaestion compares Alexander to Achilles, to which Alexander replies that, if he is Achilles, Hephaestion must be his Patroclus, who is Achilles' best friend and his lover. Th... ... middle of paper ... ... wife Roxane was not as passionate as the film portrayed her. Historically she seems to have been a devoted wife and mother, whose main role was to producing children for the king. Both Gaugamela and Babylon are identified as being in Persia, rather than in Assyria and Babylonia. While both places were part of the Persian Empire, it doesn’t make sense to identify them as being Persian. And one of Aristotle’s maps shows “Greece” as spread across the southern Balkans incorporating what today would include Greece, but also Albania, Bulgaria, and sections of former Yugoslavia. These regions had never been considered as part of “Greece” in ancient times. In the end it is not as important to include everything because then the movie would be too long for a viewer. What is important is to insure that what is included is historically accurate within the bounds of reason.
Alexander began his military campaign and his rule much where his father left off. Whether or not it was his aim, this created a sense of normality for the men that was part of his father’s regime. Alexander’s position as a warrior-king who stood side-by-side among his men also served to create respect among his peers. Gradually, as Alexander conquered more Persian land, he began to adopt the policies of Persian rulers. Alexander’s change in policy extended beyond just political roles, he gave consideration to the local gods in many of the lands that he conquered. Eventually, Alexander brought people in from the conquered nations to serve under him.
I enjoyed reading Freeman's book and I think that I would use a similar method if I were to write a book about Alexander. He wrote the book as a story describing what the figures may have been thinking and feeling giving the reader a look into the mind of a Macedonian far from home on campaign in asia. Describing battle scenes he make the reader feel the battle describing pain, fear, anger, and more. Rather than a dry and clinical text book approach to the history of Alexander he gives a more visceral approach similar to a fantasy novel. He also avoids using esoteric and foreign language making the book easy, as well as enjoyable, to read while still accurately conveying the facts and possibilities of Alexander's campaign across Asia.
Life of Alexander the Great of Macedonia is one of the most remarkable Ancient Greece stories that prevail even in this present era. The ancient Greek sources clearly identify the life of Alexander as the one which broaden our understanding about the heroes of the Ancient times. Plutarch parallel lives are one of the sources that equip classical study and any other studies with necessary details of how Alexander manifested his life as an Ancient Greek hero. However the invention of motion pictures (cinema) had created another dimension in analysing Life of Alexander. Firstly Robert Rossen released a life of Alexander a nearly half century ago, which did not make much effort addition to what literature has far reached, and it was argued that his film consist some inaccuracies. Oliver Stone, a screenwriter also wrote a Life of Alexander (2004-2005) and it reached its hype as a cinematic presentation and it also depicts nearly accurate historical information about the life of Alexander the great. Oliver Stone’s Life of Alexander remains the controversial presentation when studying the Life of Alexander. This short essay will critically investigate how Stone went about constructing his ‘biopic’ of Alexander, including a consideration of which episodes were included as well as those which were excluded.
Alexander was a smart man and there was one main person to thank for that, his father. Philip II, knowing that someday his son would be a powerful figure arranged for none other than Aristotle to be Alexander’s tutor. Alexander grew to love his tutor almost as much as his father. Alexander’s favorite book was the Iliad by Homer, it was a story about some of the things he hoped to do when he got older, such as fight in wars. As a youth Alexander also enjoyed hunting and martial arts. Alexander feared that by the time he became king there would be nothing left for him to conquer.
Alexander the Great was only 20 years when his father Philip of Macedon died. Even though he was a young man, he had an unusual talent for politics and military tactics. After his father’s death, Alexander moved to continue Philip’s invasion of Persia. In the ten years of his war campaigns, Alexander conquered a large portion of the then-known world. (Judge & Langdon, 2012.)
Alexander the Great Arriving in Persepolis I am Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, ruler of Greece. I have been king of Macedonia since my father's assassination five years ago. Since his death, I have conquered much of the world. I am ruthless, and should anyone attempt to defeat me in battle, they are sure to die.
Even though Alexander III of Macedonia, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, only lived to be 32 years old, his accomplishments were so vast it would be impossible to capture them all in a 3-hour Hollywood film. The well-known director, Oliver Stone, spent years studying Alexander and dreaming of making an epic film about his life. Stone's 2004 film, Alexander, was met with reviews that made it sound as if it was mediocre or disappointing, but the problem with it is that in the era of exciting action-driven Hollywood films, Alexander asks viewers to go deeper than they are accustomed. The length of the film was considered too long, but the history of Alexander is so huge that it is actually too short. Since Alexander lived more than 2300 years ago, and much of the information on Alexander's life has been lost over time, it seems to me that Alexander accurately depicts the historical era, Alexander's relationships, battle scenes and the different cultures involved in Alexander's conquests.
The Greek’s success made it clear that there was a wide gap between their culture and the culture of those who are not Greeks. Herodotus, a Greek historian who was the first to write an account of the Persian Wars, thought that the Greeks won and excelled because they were free men, while the Persians were subjects of an autocracy. (Frankforter & Spellman, 92). After the war, Athens went through a Golden Age. Athenian culture is significant to our history, they had a great impact on our world. We get a lot from Athens’ culture, from architecture, philosophy, literature, science, Olympic Games, to even the word music its self. These Greeks founded a culture we still identify with. They also introduced use to democracy, along with our first dedicated history and vocabulary for politics. (“Ancient Greek…”) However, we would not have experienced the effects of the Greek culture, if the Greeks lost the Persian
Alexander was brought up admiring Homeric heroes, and was inspired by their emotional impulses. Alexander wanted to be seen as braver than brave, the mostly kingly of kings, and the greatest of all generals. Alexander wanted to identify with mythical and divine conquerors, such as Dionysus. Anaxarchus, a Greek philosopher whom accompanied Alexander at the school of Democritus, said that Alexander had better claims to be a god than Dionysus and Heracles, due to Alexander’s grand accomplishments. Alexander was inspired by Homer’s hero Achilles, and his aspiration for greatness – he even saw himself as a reincarnation of this Homeric hero. Alexander’s desire to explore west Egypt hailed from his mystical belief in his destiny, whereas others argue that it was an attempt to strengthen his position with his new subjects. Callisthenes – the official historian – said that it was due to Alexander’s “thirst for glory because he heard Hercules and Peruses had gone there before him” and he wanted to emulate these Homeric heroes. He was motivated by Homeric ideals such as personal achievement and glory, accomplished largely in warfare. Alexander’s siege of Aornus was carried out because Hercules had failed a similar attempt, and Arrian wrote that Alexander crossed the Gedrosian Desert because “no one else with an army had done so successfully” (Anab.
As mentioned earlier Greece is a very geographically complex country. Greece is surrounded by Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey and the republic of Macedonia. These are all North of Greece’s Mainland to varying degrees. With Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the straight north and Turkey to the northeast. The Rhodope and Pindus mountains cause Greece to form natural barriers with its neighbors. To the west it borders the Ionian sea, to the east the Aegean sea.Greece is also located at the Southern end of the balkan Peninsula , which causes the southern portion of the country to stick out in...
The son of Philip II, Alexander the Great, will become the conqueror of the western world. Alexander received the Macedonian empire when his father passed, he was only twenty at the time. As soon as he had the power of the Macedonian army, several lightning fast campaigns led them into the west and north. Next, he compelled the city-states that rebelled against the League of Corinth. This action demonstrated how Alexander punished disloyalty [Martin 244]. Alexander was able to keep his rule on the territories he conquered by rewarded the cities who recognized his powers and punished the individuals that betrayed his trust or ambitions. The power he possessed depended on his superior force and his unwillingly desire to use it [Martin 245]. The
Alexander the Not so Great:history through Persian eyes by Prof Ali Ansari Paragraph 1 Page
Alexander the Great is hailed, by most historians, as “The Great Conqueror” of the world in the days of ancient Mesopotamia. “Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BCE. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Philip was assassinated in 336 BCE and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire” (Web, BBC History). It is important to note, which will maybe explain his brutal actions, that Alexander was only twenty years old when he became the king of Macedonia. “When he was 13, Philip hired the Greek philosopher Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. During the next three years Aristotle gave Alexander training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance in Alexander’s later life” (Web, Project of History of Macedonia). “In, 340, when Philip assembled a large Macedonian army and invaded Thrace, he left his 16 years old son with the power to rule Macedonia in his absence as regent, but as the Macedonian army advanced deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia rebelled and posed a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and with swift action defeated the Maedi, captured their stronghold, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropolis. Two years later in 338 BC, Philip gave his son a commanding post among the senior gener...
"The Flow of History." FC25: Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Era (336 BCE-31 BCE). n.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014.
"Alexander the Great - National Geographic." YouTube. YouTube, 08 Apr. 2012. Web. 05 Feb. 2014.