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Alexander the Great

by Adysti from Jakarta


Alexander was born in late July 356 BC in Pella, Macedonia. He was the son of King Philip II and Olympia, the daughter of King Neoptolemus. Alexander was also known as the son of Zeus. His mother Olympia worshiped Dionysus. As a only child, Alexander was forced to be the best, to win all the games, to be loyal to his king, his father. Olympia loved Alexander so much, and she hated Phillip so much.

Alexander became king when he was just about 20 years old. Philip was killed by his own officer, Pusanias. Many speculation had came out that Olympia had ordered somebody to kill Philip, so Alexander could be the king. Olympia forced Alexander to execute Phillip’s second wife her uncle. Alexander was so depressed, but he finally did that to prove that he had the power. Many people had doubt about Alexander, but then they started to trust him.

Alexander loved "The Illiad" so much. It was an epic that Homer wrote. Alexander slept with a copy of it under his pillow every night. Alexander admired Achilles. Achilles was Alexander’s hero. Alexander's life was inspired by Achilles. Like Achilles, he always did his best in battle, and feared nothing, but cared about his closest, dearest friend, Hephaestion. Alexander learned to feel, suffer, hunger and hurt like Hercules, his other hero, did. And like Dionysus, he traveled the same journey. Alexander’s life was full of journeys, battles, wars, and many victories. Alexander's dream was to conquer Asia, and then the world. Alexander finally beat Darius, the king of Persia, and he ruled Persia/Babylonia then.

All the things and wars Alexander did showed that he adored glory and victory. He did not want to be beaten by anyone. His only dream was to conquer the world and prove to the world that he could do it. He was Alexander the Great, and he was different from Phillip, his father. Alexander followed Phillip’s dream; he tried to make his father's dreams come true. He did. He even achieved more than that. What Alexander achieved was way more than anything Phillip could ever have imagined and he achieved it with a magnificent glory. When he was still a kid, his mother was overprotective of him, and his father showed a little hate towards him, because an oracle from Delphi once said that Alexander would become more than Phillip. Alexander loved his mother so much, and on the other hand, Phillip hated Olympia so much. Phillip doubted Alexander, and Alexander always tried to show him the best. But Phillip still hated him. Alexander never gave up. He promised himself that he would be more than his father. And he did. It made Alexander grow as a boy who always tried to win his father's heart, looking for his father's attention. Basically, he did not have enough love from his father.

Alexander only loved 1 person in his life, and that is Hephaestion, his most loyal friend. Only Hepahestion was honest with Alexander. He told all things Alexander, even the things that people who hated him said.

For me, Alexander is such a great role model. He always tried to do the best, no matter how hard it was, how much suffering he would go through. He never gave up. Alexander was really interested in everything Achilles did. Even though it was just a work offiction, it inspired him. From this, Alexander has inspired me to do the best, to never give up. I want to be like Alexander. He had his glory at his young age, and I am trying to learn the way Alexander did it.

Aside from his sexual orietation (Alexander was a bisexual), I saw something really great about Alexander’s feelings to Hephaestion. For years, Alexander and Hephaestion had grown together and loved each other. They never doubted each other’s love. They trust each other. Alexander was loyal, and he stood up against anyone who hated Hephaestion. He had his heart only for Hephaestion. This is what made him so different from any other man. I, myself, sometimes am not loyal to my own best friend, and I really want to learn how to be loyal, how to trust somebody faithfully , and to be trusted too.

Another thing about Alexander is his childhood. Alexander did not have a great childhood. Even though he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, his childhood was almost a nightmare. Phillip hated Olympia, which made him hate Alexander, too. Olympia was very protective of Alexander, but Alexander also wanted his father to give some attention to him. Alexander was pushed by everyone, and this made him want something more than what he had ever imagined before.

Alexander’s life has inspired my day, my life. I learned how to win, how not to give up, how to achieve my dreams. There are a lots of great men, but the greatest of them all is the one who followed his dreams, and he is Megas Alessandros, or we called him nowdays, The Greatest Alexander of all.

Page created on 2/23/2008 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 2/23/2008 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

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