Alexander’s Claim to Divinity

Running head: ALEXANDERS CLAIM TO DIVINITY
Alexander’s Claim to Divinity
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ALEXANDERS CLAIM TO DIVINITY
Question 5
Alexander III of Macedon is referred to as Alexander the Great and he was king of
ancient Greek kingdom of the Macedon. He was member of Argead dynasty who had birth
within Pella in the 356 BC. He succeeded Philip II in the early age of 20 and he spent a great
deal of the ruling years on the military campaigns in the region of Asia along with the north east
Africa. He has great achievements in his name and he was responsible for creating largest empire
within the ancient world. His empire stretched from the region of Greece to that of north-western
India and he is considered to be a great military commander of the world. Alexander is
considered to be a descendent of the great Achilles and he believed that the victory that he had
over King Darius was his ultimate dynasty (Heckel and Yardley 2004). His father was of
Macedonian origin but his mother was Olympias who had royal blood from that of province of
the Epirus. The ancestors of Olympias were descended from that of Molasses who was
responsible for slaying King Priam of the Troy at that of Altar of the Zeus Herkeios
(Worthington 2014). Alexander by dint of his noble birth used to think of himself as having
divine origin that set himself apart from the other rulers. His superhuman achievements along
with approbation of father Zeus made him conceive of himself as having descended from the
divinity. This essay throws light on the birth and the achievements of the great Alexander that
made him lay the claim to divinity.
There are various kinds of versions pertaining to unexplained events that surround the
birth of the young king. On the basis of one legend on day of that of Alexander’s birth, Greek
goddess of hunting Artemis was attending his birth when he temple was being razed to the
ground. The one singular story that bolstered his belief is the story that was recounted to him by
his mother before he was leaving Macedonia for that of Asia (Fredricksmeyer 2003). The mother

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ALEXANDERS CLAIM TO DIVINITY
of Alexander told him series of the events that occurred in night before the wedding that made
him believe in his divine birth. His mother recounted that she was asleep in the bedchamber
when there was clap of the thunder that awakened her. There was bolt of lighting that was
supposedly from King Zeus that came into her room and which struck her in the womb. It did not
harm her and it was followed by flash of the lighting. Plutarch wrote in the Greek’s lives that
Olympias told him the story before he embarked on the eastern campaign that made him believe
in the divine origin. It urged Alexander to involve himself in worthy projects that can help in
justifying his noble heritage.
King Philip thought of himself to be the descendent of the son of Zeus called Herculus
who had revelation in regard to his son. It has been stated by Plutarch that after the marriage of
King Philip he had a dream that he was pressing a seal on the womb of his wife and emblem of
that of seal was figure of lion. There are many people who dismisses the dream of Philip but it
had been interpreted by the Aristander of the Telmessus that Olympias was already carrying the
child who would emerge to be a lion-like figure (Carney and Ogden 2010). Temple priests in the
region of Siwa confirmed the suspicion about the divine parentage of Alexander and that Zeus
was the real father of Alexander.
Alexander had beliefs along with the traditions that made him deeply believe in his divine
character. He was a religious individual and he felt that Zeus was father of that of all the
mankind. Alexander believed in the fact that the gods of the Olympus were present in all the
areas and the wishes of the Gods were revealed to the people with the help of the oracles along
with the omens (Heckel and Tritle 2011). This is evident in the respect that Alexander had
relating to oracles at the Delphi along with the Siwa. Alexander used to respect rich history of
Greeks and he used to sleep with copy of Iliad that was under the pillow. He had a firm belief in