Is Alexander the Great Greek?

Alexander III was born in 356 BC in Pella, capital at the time being of the Macedonian kingdom. He was son of the Macedonian king Philip II and Olympias, princess of Molossians in Epirus.

The Macedonian Royal House

The Macedonian royal house was called “Argeads” or “Temenidae“. According to the tradition, the founder of the royal house Perdiccas - even if the name of the founder differs in reference with the ancient source used - along with his brothers, the “Temenidae” came to the place called Macedonia from the Greek city of Argos. These Temenidae were descendants of Heracles, through Temenus, thus they were called also ‘Heracleids‘.

Since the time of Alexander I, who was better known as the “Philhellene“, Macedonian kings participated in Olympic games, which as we all know only Greeks could take part. The Argive origin of the Macedonian royal house was well-attested and widely believed both from Macedonians, as well as the rest of Greeks. Rifles like the political intricasies of Demosthenes against Philip is the tenuous exception to the general rule.

Philip II, father of Alexander, was son of the Macedonian king Amyntas III and Eurydice, a Lyncestian princess. Lyncestians were incorporated earlier to Molossians, hence we could find them in ancient sources [1] as ‘Molossian Ethne’ or as Lyncestian Macedonians. A strong Illyrian influence can be recognised in the nearby Lyncestian kingdom but their royal house was widely believed in the ancient world to be descedants of the Greek Bacchiades coming from Corinth. Eurydice was daughter of a Lyncestian princess, daughter of Arrabaios, king of Lyngos and Sirras - a person shrouded in great darkness - since his ethnicity is obscure. There are conflicting theories which identify him either as Illyrian or as a native Lyncestian [2]. We can only conclude, Philip’s greek ancestry is proved beyond doubt by the traditions of the greek royal houses both in Macedon and Lyngos.

Molossian Royal House

Now we will analyze the lineage coming from the mother of Alexander, the Molossian Olympias. Her original name as a child was called Polyxena and then, at marriage, Myrtale; later in life she was also known as Olympias and Stratonice. [3] The name Olympias was given to her, according to the tradition, after her husband Philip won in Olympic games.The members of Molossian royal house , the so-called ‘Aeacidae‘ thought of themselves as descendants of Acchiles’ son, Neoptolemus and Andromache. They both took refuge in the area in the aftermath of Troy’s fall. Their son was Molossus, the founder of Molossians. Olympias herself, was daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus and most likely of an Epirotan woman, Anasatia [4]. In the early 6th century, the tyrant of Sicyon Cleisthenes wished to find a suitable husband for his daughter Agariste. He invited “the best of the Greeks” in order to decide which one would marry his daughter. Among the Greek contestants was the Molossian king Alkon. Conclusion of the above is that the members of the Molossian royal house considered themselves as Greeks and were viewed as such by the rest of Greeks.

So far we have examined the lineages of the royal houses connected with Alexander. What remains is another crucial question to our issue. What did Alexander perceived himself to be?

From all the ancient sources we are receivers of the same message. Alexander the Great never missed a chance to verify his pride for his Greek ancestry. His parents had Greek origins. Alexander considered himself as a Greek. He spoke Greek. He grew up and was educated from famous Greek teachers like Aristotle and had as his favourite book Iliad of Homer. He worshipped the same gods like the rest of Greeks. He undertook and accompliced to a military campaign based on the long-term hostility between Greeks and Persians, as leader of the Greeks. Both he and his army spread the ancient Greek language and culture to the fringes of India and therefore Alexander has justifiably been used for centuries as a symbol of Greek civilisation.

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[DubStepIsKing]

i have a masters in latin and ancient greek and have studied slavic history in great detail. never mind my travels through out Greece and other parts of the world visiting ancient historic sites

not once have i ever seen a reference or mentioning of alexander being slavic or the slavs even being in the area till about 500 AD

all historical evidence points to him being Greek

[anime0pop]

Macedonia was apart of Greece at the time. Just like how Spartans called themselves Spartans, they were still Greek just as how Macedonia was part of Greece THEN. In present times the Macedonians are Macedonians, but in the past Alexander the Great was Greek. Hense the fact he spread out Greek culture. Just because Macedonians now want this fact of history for their country doesn't change anything because he IS Greek.

[able09christina]

@pompei1968 what????where are you from?

[ACHILLES1GREEK]

@pompei1968 oh my your actually retarded you know that Greece and turkey are allies today there both willing to put the past behind so then they can move forward as countries as apposed to being enemies anyways just stop being a racist

[pompei1968]

@ACHILLES1GREEK shut up greek arab!!! greeks share the same as turks...being whipped 400 years in ottoman

[ACHILLES1GREEK]

@pompei1968 Stinky catholic pig.

[progonolatreia]

THE MACEDONIAN MONARCHY HAD RETEINED NUMERUS ARCHAIC AND HELLENISTIC OMIRIC TRAITS:

THE PRESTIGE OF THE TRIMPHUNT WARIOR

THE SUMBOLIC USE OF DIADEM

THE ROYAL ROBE AND THE SEAL RING

PERSONAL COMAND IN THE WAR

A GROUP OF PRIVILEGED MAN OF ARISTOCRATIC COMPANIONS(HETAIROI,PHILOI) IN BATTLE,AT DINNER,TO GIVE ADVICE AT ROYAL COUNCIL

THE RIGTH TO DISTRIBUTE BOOTY,CAL TO CONTROL LOOTING

THE DUTY OF WHAT HOMER CALLED "THE SHEPHERD OF THE PEOPLE" HANDING OUT GIFTS,AND CHARITABLE PATRONAGE

[MuslimIam1]

@loadedClownZ You talking about Xerxe who brought his huge army with him, whithout thinking tactics.. Historian like Herodotus presents in his writing a childish character ruling a masive empire.. As i said ealier that hubris is what let the Persian down..If you look at Aeschylus play we see Darius being discussed by the behaviour of his son.

[loadedClownZ]

@MuslimIam1 well alexander the great conquered with smaller armies, persia had armis of 200 000 men and still failed to conquer all of greece who fought with much much smaller armies, i'd rather bet all my money on an army of greek hoplites than an army of persian immortals, the immortals werent even that elite, they were crap, the persian commanded by mardonias completely failed miserably at the battle of platae, greeks just fuck persian throughout history

[MuslimIam1]

@loadedClownZ Nooo my friend it wasn't.. Plz google the map of these two empires and you will see...

[loadedClownZ]

@MuslimIam1 alexanders empire was bigger than the persian empire

[MuslimIam1]

@loadedClownZ The charateristic of Xerxe which lead him to be defeated was hubris. Therefore people like Alexander had the chance to invade east, was his empire as big as Persia............ NOP............

@pompei1968 Holocaust is not something to joke about.... Show respect to the died!