At the end, I'll try to present a version of Alexander that incorporates all three of these heroes, as well as his preoccupation with the god known as Zeus-Ammon. But in this article, I look at Alexander's overlooked relationships with the greatest Greek hero of all - Heracles (known as "Hercules" in Roman times) - and the mortal-turned-Olympian Dionysus.
In a previous article, I weigh the evidence for Alexander's alleged emulation of Achilles. The ancient Greek historian Arrian wrote that Alexander considered Achilles his rival ever since his youth (Campaigns of Alexander, Book 7) and Oxford historian Robin Lane Fox referred to Alexander as the "new Achilles" in his groundbreaking biography of the conqueror.īut did Alexander really view Achilles as his greatest rival? Or did other figures of Greek myth loom just as large in his mind? Of the many heroes of Greek myth, Achilles is the one most commonly paired with Alexander. In many ways, it seems like he was one himself - the only difference being that we have proof Alexander actually lived.
Heracles to Alexander the Great: Treasures from the Royal Capital of Macedon, a Hellenic Kingdom in the Age of Democracy is at the Ashmolean, Oxford, until August 2011.Alexander the Great has long been associated with the mythic heroes of ancient Greece. "We need Alexander to help us we need our pride restored again." "Our strength is our past, and our memory," Kottaridi said. The building, as proved by the dazzling silver, was the scene of royal banquets on a scale which might have made Cecil B DeMille splutter: the 16 banqueting halls had space on double couches for more than 400 diners, while the court had room for 3,500 seated guests.įuture excavation, and the plans for a major museum to display the extraodinary finds, may depend on what the future holds for the tottering Greek economy. Only a fraction of the cemetery (comprising more than 500 burial mounds) and Philip's huge palace have been excavated – enough, Lane Fox said, to suggest it made Buck House "look like a cottage". The site has only begun in the last 30 years to reveal its secrets, which include the unlooted tombs of Philip II, of a queen who may have been his grandmother buried covered from head to foot in gold, and of Alexander IV, the last of the line of kings. Most of the pieces have been brought by Angeliki Kottaridi, curator and archaeologist, straight from her stores in Vergina – a small town situated on top of Aegae, the ancient capital of Macedon. Some were excavated only in the past few years. Only a handful of the jewellery, weapons, armour, sculptures and fragments of architecture has ever been seen by the public anywhere, even in Greece. Another diadem of golden oak leaves on display had only been rediscovered in 2008 after it was deliberately hidden with the cremated remains of a teenage boy who may have been Alexander's murdered son.
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