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The Death of Alexander the Great: One of History's Great Unsolved Mysteries

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Re: The Death of Alexander the Great: One of History's Great Unsolved Mysteries

#3
According to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_campaign_of_Alexander_t...

"Alexander's march east put him in confrontation with the Nanda Empire of Magadha and the Gangaridai of Bengal. According to the Greek sources, the Nanda army was supposedly five times larger than the Macedonian army.[5] His army, exhausted, homesick, and anxious by the prospects of having to further face large Indian armies throughout the Indo-Gangetic Plain, mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas River) and refused to march further east. Alexander, after a meeting with his officer, Coenus, and after hearing about the lament of his soldiers,[6] eventually relented,[7] being convinced that it was better to return. This caused Alexander to turn south, advancing through southern Punjab and Sindh, along the way conquering more tribes along the lower Indus River, before finally turning westward.[8]

Alexander died in Babylon on 10 or 11 June 323 BC. In c. 322 BC, one year after Alexander's death, Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha founded the Maurya Empire in India. "

Re: The Death of Alexander the Great: One of History's Great Unsolved Mysteries

#4
post #2

It seems a little irrelevant as to how he died exactly IMO. We already know there were people who wanted to kill him. What I'm more curious about is why Oliver Stone thought that an overly effeminate Alexander was the best depiction of him.

Different cultures throughout time saw what being a "man" and what being a "woman" differently that 2019 America.

Re: The Death of Alexander the Great: One of History's Great Unsolved Mysteries

#6
I found [1] "The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind" to be an incredible source of inspiration. Oh, what it must have been like to be privately tutored by Aristotle.

What surprised me the most about the article is the fact that it doesn't mention his best friend and most trusted companion -- Ptolemy. It was Ptolemy that would oversee the founding of the Great city of Alexandria. It was Ptolemy that would rewrite the history of the Pharos (or was it Ptolemy II?) and begin the Ptolemaic dynasty that lasted 275 years. Well done Ptolemy.

By the way, both Ptolemy and Alexander were privately tutored by Aristotle. Well, Alexander definitely was, but maybe Ptolemy was just taught at the school of Aristotle [2]. Either way, they were both incredibly educated, which was my main source of inspiration. How I long for the intellectual mastery that they are said to have achieved so early in life.

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/400064.The_Rise_and_Fall...

[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great#Educatio...

Re: The Death of Alexander the Great: One of History's Great Unsolved Mysteries

#7
post #2

It seems a little irrelevant as to how he died exactly IMO. We already know there were people who wanted to kill him. What I'm more curious about is why Oliver Stone thought that an overly effeminate Alexander was the best depiction of him.

Different cultures throughout time saw what being a "man" and what being a "woman" differently that 2019 America.

He wasn't actually that way though. They mistook notions of brotherly love which are not homosexual to something homosexual. There are no ancient sources that even allude to that. Just modern scholars projecting their own fantasies as usual.

Re: The Death of Alexander the Great: One of History's Great Unsolved Mysteries

#8

According to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_campaign_of_Alexander_t... "Alexander's march east put him in confrontation with the Nanda Empire of Magadha and the Gangaridai of Bengal. According to the Greek sources, the Nanda army was supposedly five times larger than the Macedonian army.[5] His army, exhausted, homesick, and anxious by the prospects of having to further face large Indian armies throu…

There are large number of other texts/journals that tells his story differently. He was defeated so badly at the entrance of Indian peninsula that he had retreat and finally succumbed to his injuries.

Re: The Death of Alexander the Great: One of History's Great Unsolved Mysteries

#10
When I read Arrian, I remember thinking that if I was one of Alexander's generals I probably would have killed him. After 10 years of war you might want to kick back and enjoy being an Emperor. But apparently all Alexander thought about was what to conquer next.
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