Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Alexander the Great Revision
- Arrian
- Strengths
- Used contemporary sources
- Eyewitnesses such as Ptolemy
- Had experience in the military
- Weaknesses
- Wrote 400 years after the life of
Alexander - so his writing is not
contemporary
- Idolised Alexander (biased)
- Plutarch
- Strengths
- Uses a variety of sources
- Court journals
- Alexander's personal letters
- Eyewitness accounts
- Writes about the virtues and vices
(good and bad qualities) of Alexander
- Weaknesses
- Wrote 400 years after the life
of Alexander - so his writing
is not contemporary
- Plutarch is a biographer so focuses
more on Alexander's character
than events that took place
- Diodorus
- Wrote about Alexander's life 300
years after Alexander's life - so
his writing is not contemporary
- He does not name his sources of information
- Diodorus got some of his facts wrong
- He did not know who assassinated King Philip
- He made a mistake about
Philip's new wife
- Olympias
- Alexander's mother
- Believed that she was impregnated by Zeus
- Was often possessed by spirits
- Childhood and Youth
- he offered help to friends who were ill
- He kept a dagger under his pillow
- At 16, he was left in
charge of Macedonia
- Alexander tamed Bucephalus after
realising that the horse was afraid
of its own shadow
- Alexander wanted to conquer Persia
- Because his childhood role model Achillies
fought there
- Because he didn't want to inherit
the land his father Philip had already
conquered
- Because he had a
large loyal army
- The battle of Issus
- Alexander uses his battle
knowledge and realises that
King Darius has covered the
inexperienced infantry with
archers
- Murder of Cleitus
- Cleitus was angered
by Alexander
- So Cleitus insulted Alexander by reminding him that if he
hadn't have saved Alexander's life, then he wouldn't be so
great or wonderful
- Alexander was angered
at what Cleitus said and
so he murdered him