The Greek Geek.: Alexander the Great!

Hey all,

Firstly I would like to just say how epic Grey's Anatomy finale was. Shel and I were frantically conversing during the add breaks. It was insane. That has to be the most on edge, stressful, dramatic and tearful television I have watched! I started crying half way through it, it was just so shocking, and must be awarded for that. I also missed out on a greek quiz on tv, that was a major fail! I mean the one time it's on I miss out!!

And the Socceroos won last night, I was very proud!! Even though they didn't make it to the next round, they played incredibly well!

Anyway I have decided to dedicate this blog post to Alexander the Great and some fun facts about him and his family!

Birth: Alexander was the son of King Phillip the Second and Olympias, she was one of Phillip's many wives, the fourth one. Because Olympia was not from Macedonia but a princess of Epirus, when Phillip's other son was born Alexander was cast as a bastard for this very reason, and thus why he was not officially named heir of the throne. According to Macedonian law, this also changed the status of Olympias below that of Phillip's other wives and this caused a great deal of conflict between his parents. He was born around July 20th 356 bce.

Childhood: Alexander was educated by Aristotle and memorised the Iliad. One of his most famous achievements as a child, was Bucephalus. When Alexander was 12 he saw this horse, that no one could ride. He made a deal with his father, that if he was able to ride the horse, his father must get it for him, if he failed he would pay for it himself. Alexander realised that the horse was afraid of his own shadow. So he turned the horse, to face the sun and got on the horse. When his father, saw this he said to Alexander: "You must find a kingdom worthy of you my son. Macedon is too small for you". He named the horse Bucephalus, and was his companion through many of his battles, Alexander also named and built a city, the city of Bucephala.

King Alexander:

In 336 bce King Phillip II was killed by his guard Pausanias, thus at the age of 20 Alexander was declared king. He started off his reign, by killing many of his potential rivals, nice way to start a reign as king I must say.

Basic/Fun Facts:

Alexander named many or most of his cities Alexandria, there were more than 17 cities, today the main one is in Egypt.
His best friend and rumoured "lover" Hephaestion was with him, at all times through all his expeditions. He was also the one who alongside Alexander first landed at Troy. Their relationship is often familiarised with that of Achilles and Patroclus.
It is said that Alexander felt that he was the son of Zeus, and an oracle in Egypt also confirmed this for him. His mother also said to him that he was.
Alexander had two different coloured eyes, one blue one brown a condition that is today known as Heterochromia, which some used to think was a 'feminine quality'.
He also suffered from an inherited condition where his neck was twisted in some way, so it seemed like he was gazing upwards.
Alexander and Julius Caesar were both born in July and were both coincedentally both had epilepsy.
Alexander had never lost a single battle.
His tactical procedures and skills are still used widely today.
Alexander loved the Iliad.........awesome! And he had taken a copy on all his campaigns.
He had three wives, and had two sons: Alexander IV of Macedon and Heracles of Macedon, both were killed at a young age.
Bucephalus was one year younger than Alexander, that's really interesting!
According to one of Alexander's general, an amazonian queen brought 300 women to Alexander hoping to create a race of children to be just like him intelligent and strong, haha!
One of the legends that often come up in reference to Alexander the Great, is the Gordian knot. The story goes, that when Alexander was in Gordium Turkey, there was a knot which was rumoured to have been done by King Midas. The prophecy was that whoever untied the knot would be the ruler of Asia. Alexander undid the knot by slashing his sword through it...........haha nice ;)
Alexander died at the age of 33 in Babylon. The cause of death is not rightly known. Some say poison, some say Malaria. Guess we will
never know.