Introduction
Alexander III of Macedon was the king of Macedon. He was born in 356 BC and was a student of Aristotle, the famous philosopher. Alexander succeeded his father; Philip II of Macedon into power in 336 BC after the father was assassinated. Though he later died after ruling Macedon for thirteen years, he made a strong empire. He is remembered for his lack of defeat in politics. As a result of his success in politics, he was referred to as, Alexander the Great. His success in commanding Greece was because he took over the leadership of strong kingdom and an army that was very much experienced. This paper analyzes the history of Alexander the Great using the film directed by Oliver Stone.
Plot
The basing of the movie was done by considering the life of Alexander the great who was the King of Macedon. Alexander the Great major achievements in politics were the way he conquered several states in Asia including, Persia, Asia, Minor, parts of Ancient India and also Egypt. The movie outlines Alexander’s youthful age including the hard relationship he had with his father and also the strained feelings that he had towards his mother. The movie also outlines the way Alexander played his politics by unifying the estates in Greece and also the way he brought Macedon and Epirus together. Alexander used to distance himself from his wife even if she was pregnant since he believed that she had murdered Hephaeston but, after conquering Babylon, he agreed that he loved Haphaeston even though he died three months later at the age of 32. The major characters in the movie are: Colin Farrell (Alexander the Great), Val Kilmer (King Philip II), Olympia (Angelina Jolie) and Jared Leto (Hephaeston).
Discussion
The movie is based in a way that the main character Alexander (Colin Farrell) dies when the film starts opening. During this period, Alexander served his final moments of his dictatorship rule. This scenario is followed by a flashback of the kind of struggle that the Macedonian King had with his late father king Philip (Val Kilmer). The battle between Alexander and his mother Olympia (Angelina Jolie) always annoyed Alexander since his mother always addressed him “as a child of the gods” (fox, p. 17). Alexander is portrayed as a love maker by his relationship with his bride Rosario Dawson (Roxana) who was always ravishing. Additionally, Alexander also makes love with some of his male companions like Jared Leto (Hephaeston).
The movie starts with a flashback of Alexander the Great early life. The tutorship of Alexander by Aristotle ended when he was at the age of sixteen. It was on this time that King Philip went to start a war against Byzantium and therefore Alexander was left to take charge of Macedon by his father. Thracian Maedi, one of King Philip’s rivals took the opportunity of the king’s absence to revolt against the rule of Macedon. Alexander the Great started exercising his commanding rule by the way he responded to that action. In support of this, Fox (p. 25) noted that, “Alexander responded quickly; he crushed the Maedi insurgence, driving them from their territory, colonized it with Greeks, and founded a city named Alexandropolis”.
When King Philip returned back from Byzantium, he decided to empower Alexander so that he could start revolts in some parts of Thrace. Alexander’s political movements continued to grow further when he saved his father’s life during a campaign against Perinthus, a Greek city. While Alexander was in Thrace, his father ordered him to starting organizing the army officers for a campaign that was organized against Greece. Alexander’s wisdom in politics continued to grow by the way he decided to undertake his father’s orders. According to Mendelsohn (p. 67), “Concerned with the possibility of other Greek states intervening; Alexander made it look as if he were preparing to attack Illyria instead”. During the preparations of this attack, the Illyrians considered this opportunity as a better one to wage a war against Macedonia but this could not work since Alexander was able to counter the attack.
By the year 336 BC, Alexander was at the age of twenty years and had acquired considerable levels of wisdom in politics. It was during this time that his father, Philip was assassinated by the commander of his bodyguards whose name was Pausanias. When the assassinator tried to escape, he fell and his pursuers had a chance to murder him, among the pursuers were two of Alexander’s companions (Farrokh, p. 75). Following the death of his father, Alexander was declared to be the king by the Macedonian army and also by the noblemen of Macedon (Fox, p. 47). The movie ‘Alexander 2004’ portrayed Alexander as a wise king and a commander who was feared by most of his political rivals. Mendelsohn (p. 72) quotes how Colin Farrell was described “If you’re determined to spend three hours with Oliver Stone’s take on the personal and military struggles of ancient Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, you should know that Alexander (Colin Farrell, in blonde disarray) is not half so much fun as mom Olympias (Angelina Jolie) or his future wild bride Roxane (Rosario Dawson)”.
Alexander’s reign began with all the potential rivals to the King’s position being murdered. The first rival to be murdered was his own cousin, also murdered were two Macedonian princes who were from Lyncestis region. The beginning of Alexander’s reign in power was marked with many evils and murders. Alexander’s mother Olympias had her own daughter with the late king Philip burnt alive. This was one of the actions that made Alexander annoyed by her mother. Alexander had to ensure that he was secure in power, therefore, he arranged for the murder of Attalus, who was the Asia Minor army commander. The reason for murdering Attalus was because he had planned to defect to Athens as well as, he had on several occasions insulted Alexander. Another reason why Alexander could not spare Attalus was because his daughter and grandchildren were murdered, it was therefore not safe to leave him alive.
The news of King Philip’s death resulted in many states revolting to north of Macedon. Alexander was always fast in responding to such emergencies. According to Farrokh (p. 34) “though his advisors advised him to use diplomacy, Alexander mustered the Macedonian cavalry of 3,000 men and rode south towards Thessaly, Macedon’s neighbor to the south”. When the king and his men were on their way they found that the Thessalian army had already occupied the space between mounts Ossa and Olympus, the king ordered his men to climb mount Ossa. When the Thessalian army woke up they found that King Alexander and his men were already in front of them. Since the Thessalians were weaker, they decide to surrender and also added their cavalry to the force of King Alexander. Alexander the Great continued to conquer more states including Asia Minor and also Egypt. This battle could only be attributed to the strong army that he inherited from his father Philip.
The various authors portrayed Alexander as a courageous man who would take any action to respond to an attack from an enemy or to end the lives of his rivals. Referring to the movie ‘Alexander’ Mendelsohn notes that “Indeed, it’s the women in Alex’s life who provide the movie’s most satisfying action: Jolie, sporting some kind of Russian accent, wraps herself in snakes while hissing promises of Farrell’s destiny; Dawson disrobes and threatens to cut Farrell’s throat before stumping his brains out”. Most part of the movie involves leaden history, the movie looks like a novel by the way it showcases heroic sequence of battles and also the way it expresses Alexander’s immense love for his companion Hephaistion (Jared Leto). But the same gender romance was restricted to hugs.
Conclusion
King Alexander died on June 11 or 10, the year 323 BC in Babylon at the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II. He died at the age of 32 years after having built a large empire through conquering most of the neighboring states. He died a sudden death whose cause could not be easily explained since he had sent some times in entertainment before his death. It was assumed that he was killed by a common cold even though he was healthy before his death.
Works Cited
- Farrokh, Kaveh. The Alexander Movie: How are Iranians and Greeks Portrayed? Boston: Little Brown & Co, 2004.
- Fox, Lane. Alexander the Great. London: Penguin Books, 1973.
- Mendelsohn, Daniel. Alexander, the Movie! New York: New York Review of Books, 2005.