Alexander The Great Essay, Research Paper
The great king s life!
July 356b.c., Alexandros III Philippou Makedonon was born in Pella, Macedonia. His father was king Philip II and his mother was Olympias.
When Alexander was about five or six,he met Persian envoys when Philip was doing something else and he impressed them more than what Philip would have . Olympia and Philip started Alexander s education. His first teacher was Leonides. He instilled Alexander in his self-denying nature which became famous.
Leonides was replaced with Lysimachus who taught Alexander how to play the lyre and fine arts, music, poetry and drama.
At 12 he showed his talents to his father in a bet where he would have to tame Bucephalus. If he could, his father would have to pay for the horse. After mounting the horse Alexander showed his skills once again while winning the bet. Later on he rode it to India and after the horses death, he named a city in India in memory of Bucephalus the horse.
When Alexander turned 13, Aristotle taught him philosophy, ethics, politics and healing. Aristotle s teachings became very important in Alexanders everyday life. He studied with Aristotle until he was 16.
At 16, Alexander reduced the Maedi rebels until they obeyed him. After driving them north, He made a city there named Alexandropolis .
At 18, Alexander broke the Thebans sacred tribe, eeven though the were more Athenians and Thebans, King Philip s Macedonian troops moved forward. After this, Philip was proud to hear people call Alexander their new king .
In 337b.c. Philip divorced Olympias. A few months later they got back together but little did Philip know his life was in danger.
In 336b.c., Olympias sent Pausanias at Ege to kill Philip.
Although only 20 years old, He was the Supreme Commander of all Greeks for the invasion of Persia. He won many wars including the Battle of Granicus, the Battle of Issus, the Conquest of Syria, Phoenicia and Egypt. His greatest war, however, was against Porus at the Hydaspes river in July 326b.c. He then traveled to mouth of the Indus and then turned and headed back home.
At the age of 33, Alexander the great passed away. What was rare was that out of the blue he would just die that way. No one has ever been able to piece together what really happened.
Explorations and wars
Alexander the great not only traveled from Macedonia to the Ganges river, he also traveled to the Persian Empire, Europe and Asia. When he was in Asia, Alexander crossed the Hellespont with his army and declared the whole of Asia would be one by war. Later on at the River of Granicus, he fought, hand-to-hand against the Persians and defeated them. He then marched on passing Iona and freed the Greek s from Persia s rule. Then he marched on to Gordion, where he untied the Gordian knot by simply slashing it with his sword and untying it.
Later Alex defeated Darius again at the mountain pass at Issus. After the battle, he captured Darius family and war chest. A year later he went down the Phoenician coast and watched all the cities surrender to him except for Tyre. Seven months later, The Tyrians eventually surrender to him. Then he kept walking south to Egypt and he secured the Aegean coast.
After that he conquered lands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and found the Persian s at Guagamela where he once again defeated Darius. He missed him because Parmenio, the Macedonian General on the left wing, messed up the strategy. After his win, Alexander was named King of Asia so he sent letters to everyone saying he had gotten rid of tyranny in Asia.
Those around him
People always thought of Alexander as one of the greatest men to walk this earth. His great accomplishments were very outstanding and people were appreciative for the relief and security that he gave them.
Another good question that everyone asked was Is it true that Alexander was gay? The answer is no. He was married and had children and mistresses but no one ever spoke about him. If he was attracted to his same sex he would have been Bi-sexual.
His best and closest friend was Hephaestion. Hephaestion was thought to be Alexander s lover because of the response he gave when Alex s mother wrote him a note saying to keep his distance from Alex. His exact response was: Stop quarreling with me; not that in any case I should care. You know Alexander means more to me than anyone. If this was a sexual relationship, it wasn t documented. This was very rare because they were both the same age and in Greece Bi s were usually between an adult and young man.
Well Bi or not Alexander was still the greatest king alive because, even if the odds were 10 to 1, he would still fight his best and win.
His army contained 35,000 men and although they fought Darius army of 500,000, they still won. And although they fought against the mercenaries from Egypt that contained 40,000 men, they still always won. Long live Alexander s great army much like himself, The King!!!
How s America?
Well back then America wasn t discovered but it did make a difference because if he hadn t done what he did then we might not be here today. Many men had to die in those wars so that we could live here peacefully. What if he hadn t moved a finger to help our ancestors? We wouldn t have the rights we have today!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Paying my respects
Well I have never done a report on Alexander the great. Now that I have done one I notice all the great things he did for people and I see why he is so great. Now I understand the meaning of his name. He not only fought for the people but he risked his life so they could live in peace. I know that if I could meet him, I would be honored so much that I would bow and clean his feet out of respect for him and I would be proud to say that was my king. Bibliography
E-mail sources:
www.comptons.com
www.jjpopovic.com
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Books:
Compton s Encyclopedia
copyright 1986
Encyclopedia Britannica
copyright 1982