UNUSUAL FACTS ABOUT ALEXANDER THE GREAT
Added on: 11th Aug 2016
ALEXANDER III OF MACEDON, BETTER KNOWN AS
ALEXANDER THE GREAT, WAS A KING OF THE
ANCIENT GREEK KINGDOM OF MACEDON AND A
MEMBER OF THE ARGEAD DYNASTY, AN ANCIENT
GREEK ROYAL HOUSE FROM PELOPONNESE
HIS NAME COMES FROM THE GREEK ALEXO, “DEFEND,”
AND ANDR, “MAN,” THUS HIS NAME MEANS
“PROTECTOR OF MEN.”
ALEXANDER’S FATHER, PHILIP II OF MACEDON, HIRED
ARISTOTLE, ONE OF HISTORY’S GREATEST
PHILOSOPHERS ALONGSIDE SOCRATES AND PLATO,
TO EDUCATE THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD ALEXANDER. HE
TUTORED ALEXANDER FOR THREE YEARS UNTIL AGE
SIXTEEN, WHEN ALEXANDER TOOK THE THRONE
OF MACEDONIA
ALEXANDER’S MOTHER, OLYMPIAS, WAS THE
DAUGHTER OF NEOPTOLEMUS I, KING OF THE
MOLOSSIANS, AN ANCIENT GREEK TRIBE IN EPIRUS.
ANGELINA JOLIE PORTRAYED HER SUCCESSFULLY
IN OLIVER STONE’S 2004 FILM ALEXANDER
THERE IS SOME CONTROVERSY CONCERNING
ALEXANDER THE GREAT'S SEXUALITY. HOWEVER,
ALEXANDER THE GREAT HAD THREE WIVES:
ROXANE, STATIERA, AND PARYSATIS.
IT IS BELIEVED THAT ALEXANDER HAD TWO CHILDREN:
HERAKLES, A SON WITH HIS MISTRESS BARSINE
AND ALEXANDER IV, HIS SON BY ROXANE.
UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER HIS DEATH BOTH CHILDREN
WERE MURDERED BEFORE THEY COULD REACH
ADULTHOOD
ALEXANDER FOUNDED MORE THAN SEVENTY CITIES AND
NAMED AT LEAST TWENTY AFTER HIMSELF, WITH
THE MOST POPULAR BEING ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT.
ADDITIONALLY, NEAR THE SITE OF THE BATTLE OF
THE RIVER HYDASPES (NOW KNOWN AS JHELUM
RIVER IN INDIA), ALEXANDER FOUNDED THE CITY OF
BUCEPHALA, NAMED AFTER HIS HORSE, WHICH WAS
MORTALLY WOUNDED IN THE BATTLE
HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST ADMIRED FOREIGN
HISTORICAL FIGURES IN ROME, EVEN MANY YEARS
AFTER HIS DEATH. MAYBE THAT’S WHY JULIUS CAESAR,
MARK ANTONY, AND AUGUSTUS MADE PILGRIMAGES
TO ALEXANDER’S TOMB IN ALEXANDRIA
CAN YOU GUESS WHAT ALEXANDER, GENGHIS KHAN
AND NAPOLEON HAVE IN COMMON? YOU’RE PROBABLY
THINKING WORLD DOMINATION BUT THAT’S NOT
THE CASE. THEY ARE ALL REPUTED TO HAVE
SUFFERED FROM AILUROPHOBIA—THE FEAR OF CATS
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