![]() ![]() Alexander had passed both those tests triumphantly by the age of 16 (in 340 BC), when his father thought him already sufficiently mature to act as regent of Macedon. This was the regular evening drinking party, at which and through which the Macedonian elite celebrated together and mutually confirmed their elevated social and political status.Īnother kind of hunting – the killing of an enemy in battle – entitled a Macedonian to wear a special kind of belt, as a visual reminder of his attainment. Only then could you recline – as opposed to sit – when participating in the daily ritual of the symposium. In Macedon, you did not become fully a man until you had passed the key manhood test of hunting and killing, without a net, one of the ferocious wild boar that roamed the heights of upper (western) Macedonia. Except that to call it a ‘pastime’ may give a misleading impression, since hunting in Macedon – as in some other ancient societies, such as Sparta – was actually an important culturally coded marker of social and political status. The fresco depicts hunting scenes, and it is natural to identify the central figure as a young Alexander engaged, with his father, in what we know to have been one of Alexander’s favourite pastimes. This monumental tomb was erected at the ancient Macedonian ceremonial capital of Aegae (modern Vergina), some time within the last third or so of the fourth century BC. One of the earliest clues to this aspect of his character is an image – thought to be probably of Alexander – painted in fresco above the front entrance to what we usually call the ‘Tomb of Philip’ (whether or not we believe it to be actually the tomb of Alexander’s father, King Philip II). Such macho feats offered him the chance to enhance his standing in the eyes of his subjects, as well as to ensure an impressive reputation into posterity. But I do lay stress on his grand passion for hunting game – human as well as animal, and the bigger and more dangerous the better. Here I hope not to err on the side of gratuitous mudslinging, in my search for clues to the mainsprings of Alexander’s character. But the recent trend has been decidedly negative, emphasising variously his conquering bloodlust, his megalomania, or alleged alcoholism.īut the recent trend has been decidedly negative, emphasising variously his conquering bloodlust, his megalomania, or alleged alcoholism. In the past there have been those who saw him as essentially reasonable and gentlemanly, or dynamic and titanic, or Homerically heroic. Second, the original narrative sources that survive for Alexander are mostly either very non-contemporary (eg Plutarch’s biography of c.100 AD, and Arrian’s narrative history of a little later in the second century AD), or very skewed by partisanship – pro or con, or both. First, and more poetically, the great leader’s achievements – both in his lifetime and posthumously (the Alexander myth or legend) – are simply staggering. There are two main reasons for this multiplicity and plasticity. ![]() It seems there have been many Alexander the Greats – as many as there have been serious students of him as man, hero and/or god. ![]() ![]() Alexander the Great: Hunting for a New Past ![]()
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