Alexander The Great Divine Descent
What evidence is there that Alexander may have believed that he was of divine descent? And how convincing would this evidence have appeared to one of his followers?
From studying the sources of the ancient world that talk about Alexander The Great, it is clear that many of them present Alexander as being some type of heroic figure or Demi-god. However you could question whether Alexander believed this himself. Only by studying his actions and the actions of those around him can we draw any type of conclusion on this matter. This can be done through the use of sources that exist from the time of and around his death. Most of these sources have been lost or are incomplete however, so I feel that it would be best to mainly consult the sources …show more content…
The primary example of this would appear to be his visit to the shrine of Ammon. While in Egypt, Alexander had an urge to visit the temple since he wanted to consult the oracle there, which had a reputation for infallibility'. Arrian also states that both Perseus and Heracles had consulted it at some point. And since it is clear from Arrian's account that Alexander longed to duplicate, if not surpass, the feats of both Perseus and Heracles, so surely he must consult this oracle too. Arrian (book 3) claims that the blood of both flowed' within Alexander, which suggests that Arrian was of the opinion that Alexander did have some divine heritage since Heracles was supposedly the son of Zeus. In any case, Arrian also states that Alexander also visited the temple because he himself felt that he might be descended from Ammon in some way. If this is true then it would certainly seem that Alexander did in some way believe that he was of divine descent. However according to Arrian Ptolemy says that after being enthroned as Pharaoh at Thebes Alexander, like every Pharaoh, automatically became a son of Ammon. So this may be why he visited the temple, not out of any personal belief that he was descended from Ammon, but instead, out of a sense of duty or to appear to be taking the fact that he was made Pharaoh by the …show more content…
This is present throughout his campaigns; whenever he could he would try to get blessings from the gods by offering sacrifices to them and praying at their temples. Even when he was near to death he would get up to offer sacrifice to the gods. This would seem to suggest that he felt inferior to the gods, since he needed to ask them for help. It is not likely that, if he truly believed that he was of divine birth, he would have looked to other gods for help, apart from Ammon, his father as some thought. However it could be said that he did this to show honour to the gods that he believed he descended from, and to encourage his subjects to do the same. And also when it came to the time that he was near death, it could be the case that he was simply asking his father Ammon for help since he knew that he was dying and he did not want to. This idea that he constantly sacrificed to the gods shows how faithful Alexander was to them. When you see this you can argue for his belief in his own divine descent by saying that he himself would not have wanted some of the things he did if he did not see himself on a par with, or equal to the gods, since he would be dishonouring them if he did not. For example he would not have tried to out do the feats of Heracles, who he claimed was his ancestor, or of Dionysus, an actual god if he did not believe this because his piety would have stopped him. And he states this desire to surpass
From studying the sources of the ancient world that talk about Alexander The Great, it is clear that many of them present Alexander as being some type of heroic figure or Demi-god. However you could question whether Alexander believed this himself. Only by studying his actions and the actions of those around him can we draw any type of conclusion on this matter. This can be done through the use of sources that exist from the time of and around his death. Most of these sources have been lost or are incomplete however, so I feel that it would be best to mainly consult the sources …show more content…
The primary example of this would appear to be his visit to the shrine of Ammon. While in Egypt, Alexander had an urge to visit the temple since he wanted to consult the oracle there, which had a reputation for infallibility'. Arrian also states that both Perseus and Heracles had consulted it at some point. And since it is clear from Arrian's account that Alexander longed to duplicate, if not surpass, the feats of both Perseus and Heracles, so surely he must consult this oracle too. Arrian (book 3) claims that the blood of both flowed' within Alexander, which suggests that Arrian was of the opinion that Alexander did have some divine heritage since Heracles was supposedly the son of Zeus. In any case, Arrian also states that Alexander also visited the temple because he himself felt that he might be descended from Ammon in some way. If this is true then it would certainly seem that Alexander did in some way believe that he was of divine descent. However according to Arrian Ptolemy says that after being enthroned as Pharaoh at Thebes Alexander, like every Pharaoh, automatically became a son of Ammon. So this may be why he visited the temple, not out of any personal belief that he was descended from Ammon, but instead, out of a sense of duty or to appear to be taking the fact that he was made Pharaoh by the …show more content…
This is present throughout his campaigns; whenever he could he would try to get blessings from the gods by offering sacrifices to them and praying at their temples. Even when he was near to death he would get up to offer sacrifice to the gods. This would seem to suggest that he felt inferior to the gods, since he needed to ask them for help. It is not likely that, if he truly believed that he was of divine birth, he would have looked to other gods for help, apart from Ammon, his father as some thought. However it could be said that he did this to show honour to the gods that he believed he descended from, and to encourage his subjects to do the same. And also when it came to the time that he was near death, it could be the case that he was simply asking his father Ammon for help since he knew that he was dying and he did not want to. This idea that he constantly sacrificed to the gods shows how faithful Alexander was to them. When you see this you can argue for his belief in his own divine descent by saying that he himself would not have wanted some of the things he did if he did not see himself on a par with, or equal to the gods, since he would be dishonouring them if he did not. For example he would not have tried to out do the feats of Heracles, who he claimed was his ancestor, or of Dionysus, an actual god if he did not believe this because his piety would have stopped him. And he states this desire to surpass