Alexander of Hollywood

• “Alexander” starring Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopkins, et al. (2004). Dir. Oliver Stone.

• “Alexander the Great” starring Leonardo di Caprio and Nicole Kidman (200?)

Alexander the Great & the Hellenistic World

Alexander & Hellenistic World

I. Alexander of Macedon

II. Hellenistic World: political, social, cultural

III. Hellenic vs. Hellenistic

Alexander of Macedon

• Born 356 BC to King Philip of Macedon

• Tutored by Aristotle• Cavalry chieftain at age

18• King at age 20• Rules 336-323 BC• Dies 323 BC, age 33

• Myth vs. Reality?

Alexander’s birth and boyhood(15th C. illuminated mss.)

Alexandrian Legends:

-Birth

-Bucephalus

- Gordian Knot

15th c. illum. Mss. in Budapest;

Legend of Alexander by Curtius Ruffilus (1st c. AD Roman writer)

More Legends of Alexander

16th c. military treatise shows Alexander handing a sword to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden

Alexander’s route

Battle of Issus (vs. Persians)

Why was Alexander so successful?

• Disciplined troops• Well-paid, year-round

• Innovative strategy• Sarissa & heavy infantry

• Companions (cavalry) & flanking maneuvers

• Light infantry w/ archers, slingers, pikemen; = hinge

• Ballistae & catapaults

• Battlefield adaptation

• Fusion & alliances instead of domination

More details at http://www.nrotc.net/310/3.ppt#302,1,Alexander and the Macedonian System

Macedonian Phalanx w/ Sarissas

Battle of Issus, 334 BC

• Asynchronous Troop numbers:• 250,000 Persians vs. 40,000 Macedonians

• Yet Alexander’s strategy forces Darius to flee, and causes 50,000 Persian deaths vs. 500 Macedonians.

Similar results at Gaugamela (332) and Arbela (331), thus crushing the Persian Empire forever.

Alexander the Great

• “He had great personal beauty, invincible power of endurance, and a keen intellect; he was brave and adventurous, hungry for fame…Noble indeed was his power of inspiring his men….”

• Arrian, Campaigns of Alexander, 2nd c. AD

• See Noble, p. 110 for full text

Significance of Alexander

• Hellenistic “fusion” b/w E. & W.

• E.g., Rosetta Stone, Plenis (p. 113, 118), Koine

• Lavish, centralized monarchies; courtly societies > public

• Urbanization• Military developments

and strategy; extent of conquest

• Legend of kingship in later centuries

Alexander in the Modern World?• Perhaps the greatest military strategist, tactician,

and ruler in history, Alexander the Great has been an enduring influence on world business and military leaders for thousands of years. Ted Turner keeps a bust of him in his office. General Norman Schwarzkopf credits his brilliant tactical strategies as the inspiration for his troops' approach to Desert Storm, including the "Hail Mary" flanking move that inflicted the final defeat on Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army.

His innovative strategies and winning philosophies (Aristotle was his mentor) are as relevant today as they were in 330 B.C. Learn how he, and you, can:

•o Build a successful organizationo Establish visionary leadershipo Create a winning philosophyo Motivate others o Overcome seemingly impossible oddso Become an expert in the element of surpriseo Prepare for the unexpected

Hellenistic World

• Political• Federalism, decline of

democracy

• Economic• Expansion, trade,

inflation, slavery

• Social

• Cultural• medicine

Hellenistic “fusion” in art

Evolution of Architecturehttp://www.urtonart.com/history/ancient/greece.htm

Doric column

Ionic styleCorinthian style (Hellenistic)

Evolution of sculpture

Archaic

Hellenistic

Classical (Aphrodite)

Late Classical (Amazon)

Hellenistic sculpture

• Lack of idealism• Restlessness &

tension• Innovative groupings• More emotion (pain,

anger, jealousy)• More realism, and

exaggeration

Laocoon

Hellenic● male statues, homoerotic sculpture

● farmer/citizen warrior (male)● Greece = center

● poleis w/ republics; national/regional● Greeks and barbaros, ostracism

● public life (agora, acropolis); rhetoric● balance, golden mean

● idealismQuestion: Which tradition will Rome adopt?

Hellenistic● females depicted, strong queens

● any subject loyal to monarch● Anatolia / Egypt = center

● kingdoms and empires w/ monarchs; int’l● fusion of East and West, migration

● private life (palace); prayer/meditation● tension, restlessness

Question: Which tradition dominates W. C.?