Alexander The Great - King

QUICK FACTS

• NAME

      Alexander the Great  

• OCCUPATION

          King

• BIRTH DATE

     July 20, 356 BCE

• DEATH DATE

     June 13, 323 BCE

• PLACE OF BIRTH

      Pella, Greece

• PLACE OF DEATH

       Babylon, Persia (now Iraq), Iraq    

•    AKA

      Alexander III     Alexander II of Macedon     Alexander the Great     Mégas Aléxandros     Great Alexander  

• NICKNAME

    King of Babylon    King of Asia
    King of the Four Quarters of the World

 

  Biography:

Alexander the Great was born in the Pella region of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia on July 20, 356 B.C., to parents King Philip II of Macedon and Queen Olympia, daughter of King Neoplasms. The young prince and his sister were raised in Paella's royal court. Growing up, the dark-eyed and curly-headed Alexander hardly ever saw his father, who spent most of his time engaged in military campaigns and extra-marital affairs. Although Olympia served as a powerful role model for the boy, Alexander grew to resent his father's absence and philandering.

Alexander received his earliest education under the tutelage of his relative, the stern Leonidas of Epicurus. Leonidas, who had been hired by King Phillip to teach Alexander math, horsemanship and archery, struggled to control his rebellious student. Alexander's next tutor was Lysimachus, who used role-playing to capture the restless boy's attention. Alexander particularly delighted in impersonating the warrior Achilles.

In 343 B.C., King Philip II hired the philosopher Aristotle to tutor Alexander at the Temple of the Nymphs at Maize. Over the course of three years, Aristotle taught Alexander and a handful of his friends philosophy, poetry, drama, science and politics. Seeing that Homer's Iliad inspired Alexander to dream of becoming a heroic warrior, Aristotle created an abridged version of the tome for Alexander to carry with him on military campaigns.