# Alexander the Great



## Alexa (Dec 2, 2004)

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			Alexander the Great's father, Philip, was the brother of King Perdiccas III of Macedon or
		
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> *Macedonia**, in northern **Greece**. In 359 B.C., King Perdiccas died. His young son Amyntas was expected to succeed him, with Philip as his regent, but Philip usurped his nephew's throne, making himself King Philip II. He proved to be a strong ruler, and in a few decades he conquered most of **Greece**.*
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> *Philip's wife was Olympias, daughter of King Neoptolemus I of **Epirus**, which was located in what is now southern **Albania** and northwest **Greece**. Their son Alexander was born in 356 B.C. Alexander had a younger sister, Cleopatra (not the famous Egyptian queen).*
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> ...


 

*Source : http://www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
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## polymorphikos (Dec 2, 2004)

nifty


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## Lacedaemonian (Dec 2, 2004)

The problem was that Alexander was not pure Macedonian.  If his father had had a child with one of his Macedonian bints then Alexander would never have reached the throne.


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## Alexa (Dec 2, 2004)

Poly, please explain your commentary. Thanks.


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## Medieval (Jun 25, 2005)

*drool*
Alexander the Great is my hero.
That being said, I think him to be one of the most fascinating (famous) people to ever walk the earth.
Yes, my friends seem to think my minor obsession a wee bit strange, especially when I start spewing out Alexander trivia.


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## Amber (Feb 22, 2006)

Tell me about it.

Same happens with me- all I have to do is say 'did you know Ale...' and everyone groans  I know far far too much about it. Though the film was an utter complete travesty


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## orionsixwings (Mar 8, 2006)

I think the Collin Farrel film was okay, because Oliver Stone did not focus on the battle scenes, instead he concentrated on presenting the character -- ALEXANDER -- who he really was, what was he probably like, and what probably caused his early death.

I think the previous film versions of Alexander, ones that focusedo on the strategist, rather than the actual person, shows a very subdued, and almost incorrect version of the conqueror.  Oliver Stone's version for me is the best, I got to meet the real Alexander -- the good, the bad, the shocking, and the ugly.


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## Lacedaemonian (Mar 8, 2006)

Not sure I agree with you.  The casting was awful and Farrell simply can not do character acting.  Also from all of my reading on Alexander it is quite plain that Alexander's sole motivation in life was to conquer and to push at the boundaries of the known world.  Yes he had a homosexual relationship, yes his mother was ambitious and barking mad, yes he was an alcoholic, yes he had violent temper..... In truth not very much depth of character.


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## Cyril (Mar 9, 2006)

In that movie, I was disappointed by the weakness of Darius who was only figurative whereas the actor was perfect in apparence and play in the role of the persian emperor. Thus, without any good opponent in the film, Alexander lost in grandeur. I don't think he could conquer the known world and became a legendary figure of the history if there was a galaxy of little kingdoms instead of a centralized empire in Asia, a multitude of kings instead of a single emperor like Darius.


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## Amber (Apr 1, 2006)

orionsixwings said:
			
		

> I think the Collin Farrel film was okay, because Oliver Stone did not focus on the battle scenes, instead he concentrated on presenting the character -- ALEXANDER -- who he really was, what was he probably like, and what probably caused his early death.
> 
> I think the previous film versions of Alexander, ones that focusedo on the strategist, rather than the actual person, shows a very subdued, and almost incorrect version of the conqueror. Oliver Stone's version for me is the best, I got to meet the real Alexander -- the good, the bad, the shocking, and the ugly.


 
Now there is the trouble. Colin Farrell looked nothing like Alexander, and he didn't even get the character right. Everything was glossed over, Roxanne got far too big a role, Hephaestion wore too much eyeliner and sulked too much, Olympias was weird. I know so much about Alexander the Great (scary amounts) that its scary to be in the same room with me as I watch it- there are so many things wrong I end up getting angry


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## Prefx (Apr 1, 2006)

> *Unfortunately for Alexander and Cleopatra, their parents hated each other. *


 
What is a rose by any other name...


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## Curt Chiarelli (Apr 1, 2006)

Amber said:
			
		

> Now there is the trouble. Colin Farrell looked nothing like Alexander, and he didn't even get the character right. Everything was glossed over, Roxanne got far too big a role, Hephaestion wore too much eyeliner and sulked too much, Olympias was weird. I know so much about Alexander the Great (scary amounts) that its scary to be in the same room with me as I watch it- there are so many things wrong I end up getting angry



I second that motion . . . . to the third power. You knew you were in bad hands from the get go when, in the opening scenes, we see an aged Ptolemy (played by Sir Anthony Hopkins) in his study with a mural map of the Mediterranean world in the background . . . . and all the place names are in Latin!


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## GOLLUM (Apr 1, 2006)

Yeh I felt that movie was a real let down, I think I preferred the earlier version with Richard Burton.


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## Tea is my copilot (Apr 2, 2006)

Didn't like that film. Insisted on the homosexuality thing, and was too dramatic at times (when he rode his horse for the first time). In the end, it didn't give a complete view of his life.


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## Tea is my copilot (Apr 2, 2006)

Not that I mind homosexuality, it just seemed like the director was either too eager to show that part of his personality like it was the whole purpose, or he just wanted to cause publicity and make it a blockbuster (in which case he succeeded).


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## direghost (Apr 2, 2006)

I know Alex gets all the credit, but really it was Phillip II who was the greatest Macedonian ruler.  Because Alex killed his dad before the latter could invade Persia, he was able to steal a lot of his credit, but really Phillip established Macedon as the Hellenic power.


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## Denie Alconn (Apr 3, 2006)

Film was quite dreadful!!! Nothing compared to Valerio Massimo Alfredi`s books and the homosexuallity thing was way too much in the film. I guess in those days they didn`t make such a fuss about it!!!


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## Syn (Apr 3, 2006)

The was so much stuff i did not know about Alexander The Great.  I have seen many films about this man, but did not find and that sat with me quite well.  I think that Peter Jackson should make one just to see the difference and if he can capture the real essence of the film.


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## murphy (Jul 17, 2006)

Has anyone here read the Mary Renault books on Alexander?  They were really great and well researched.   http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Renault/renault.html


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## Spartan27 (Nov 3, 2006)

This is Spartan27,

The movie was just a bit off, and the acting was not very good. The movie did cover some of the most important aspects of what was going on. The bottom line was nobody in greece at that time liked him cause they saw him as a king/emperor and that's a no-no to the greeks then and now...


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