Alexander the Great Pointers -Born to Philip of Macedon in the year 356 BCE. -His birth coincided with the destruction of the Temple of Artemis, one of the 7 wonders of the world. -His mother had a dream about the god Zeus entering her womb in the form of a lightning bolt and hence Alexander was believed to be divinely ordained. -At age of 10 Alexander gets his horse Bucephalus from a horse dealer, by managing to becoming the only person to be able to ride it. -At age 13, he is sent to study under Aristotle. -Meets his lifelong companion Hephaestion. - Philip falls in love with and marries Cleopatra Eurydice, the niece of one of his generals, Attalus. This marriage made Alexander's position as heir to the throne less secure, since if Cleopatra Eurydice bore Philip a son, there would be a fully Macedonian heir, while Alexander was only half Macedonian. During the wedding banquet, a drunken Attalus made a speech praying to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir to the Macedonian throne.
Alexander the Great Pointers
Apr 07, 2016
Notes by Sagar Kamath
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Alexander the Great Pointers-Born to Philip of Macedon in the year 356 BCE.
-His birth coincided with the destruction of the Temple of Artemis, one of the 7 wonders of the world.
-His mother had a dream about the god Zeus entering her womb in the form of a lightning bolt and hence Alexander was believed to be divinely ordained.
-At age of 10 Alexander gets his horse Bucephalus from a horse dealer, by managing to becoming the only person to be able to ride it.
-At age 13, he is sent to study under Aristotle.
-Meets his lifelong companion Hephaestion.
- Philip falls in love with and marries Cleopatra Eurydice, the niece of one of his generals, Attalus. This marriage made Alexander's position as heir to the throne less secure, since if Cleopatra Eurydice bore Philip a son, there would be a fully Macedonian heir, while Alexander was only half Macedonian. During the wedding banquet, a drunken Attalus made a speech praying to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir to the Macedonian throne.
-Alexander challenges this and has a falling out with his father.
-He and his mother Olympias are both exiled from Macedon.
-While in exile, Alexander gets news that his father has been murdered by one of his own generals and hence returns to seize power.
-Consolidates his power by launching brutal attacks against the other Greek city states and thereby forcefully gets their unity
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-Targets the great Persian Empire by crossing over into Asia through modern day Turkey.
-Captures Syria and the Levant and also captures the Persian king Darius’ daughter and mother.
-Exchanges them for a huge ransom.
-Captures Egypt where he is heralded as a liberator and given the title Amun-Zeus.
-Alexander establishes the city of Alexandria.
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-Attacks Babylon (modern day Iraq) and destroys the Persian king Xerxes’ Palace at Persipolis.
-The Persian king Darius tries escaping further towards the east to Bactria (Modern Day Afghanistan), but is murdered by one of his own generals. On his death bed he names Alexander as his successor.
-Alexander crosses the Khyber pass and enters what was then Indian territory.
-Fights the Indian King Porus on the Jhelum river.
-The Greek armies are confronted for the first time with elephants.
-After a desperate battle Alexander defeats Porus and makes him his regent.
-The greek armies get news that an even bigger army awaits them if they cross the river Beas.
-The soldiers rebel and Alexander decides to head back.
-He loses his beloved horse Bucephalus and his companion Hephaestion on the way back.
-Alexander falls ill and dies on his way back at Babylon.
-The empire is divided amongst his generals.
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