Alexander the Great

7 Pages 1701 Words

Alexander the Great
By: Robin Fox Lane
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, conqueror of the Persian Empire and one of the greatest military geniuses of all times, had many books written about his life and deeds. The book that was read for this term paper was a biography called, “Alexander the Great.” Robin Lane Fox wrote this biography in 1974. The book goes into great detail about Alexander’s early life, to his intense and magnificent battles, to his sensitive and generous personality. In this paper, I will describe how Alexander came to be king of Macedonia, his conquests to unite Asia, and his mental weakness that drove him to die a lonesome death.
In an amazing eleven-year journey of conquest, Alexander the Great, of Macedonia, conquered all the way from Egypt to India. Following his reign came Greek institutions and the Greek language, which became the standard way of the ancient world. On the day that Alexander was born, the temple of Diana at Ephesus burned to the ground. People thought that this was an omen, or a sign that the force that would eventually destroy Asia had entered the world. That force was young Alexander.
Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia. He was the son of Philip II, the king of Macedonia, and of Olympias, a princess of Epirius. Philip and Olympias had noticed that their son had matured very early and had potential for greatness. They quickly started to plan his education. His first teacher, Leonidas, was a relative to the family and was very harsh on Alexander. He taught him how to survive off very simple living, which would later help him in his journey to conquer Asia. His next teacher was Lysimachus, who taught Alexander about music, poetry, and drama. This was not enough for Alexander, and Philip and Olympias wanted only the best for their son, so when he was thirteen, they hired Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. Under Aristotle, Alex...