Sources
The Greek writer Plutarch, who wrote his "Life of Alexander" around 100 A.D., is practically our only source concerning the birth of Alexander the Great and its circumstances. As this is only one piece of information, its value tends to be relative. Knowledge starts when you have the same piece of information from different, independent sources. So one has to bear in mind that whatever Plutarch says could be only legend and might not be backed up by other sources.
Temple of Artemis
The British scholar Nicholas Hammond made a thorough analysis of the probable dating of Alexander's birth in his "Sources for Alexander the Great" (Cambridge, 1993). Hammond shows that Plutarch probably got his date of 6th of the Attic month Hecatombaeon 356 B.C. for Alexander's birthday from a contemporary writer, Timaeus, who was also born in 356 B.C. Plutarch says Alexander was born on the same day that the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (near Izmir in modern Turkey) was destroyed by fire. Artemis was, amongst her other attributes, the goddess of childbirth. Legend had it that this destruction by fire of this shrine (which eventually became one of the famous Seven Wonders of the ancient world) spelled doom for the peoples of Asia. There is a possibility that the dating of Alexander's birth has been manipulated by our ancient sources to coincide with this disaster. See also: Seven Wonders.
20th of July?
So, author Robin Lane Fox cites three possibilities for Alexander's birthday: July 20th 356 B.C. or thereabouts, July the 6th 356 B.C. or October 356 B.C. Basically, Cicero gives essentially the same story about Alexander's birth and the temple of Ephesus burning down as Plutarch does, and he too attributes it to Timaeus. It follows that the date of 6th of Hecatombaeon is well-sourced. Unfortunately, it is difficult to match this date exactly with the Julian Calendar (which we tend to use for ancient events). Hammond says there is general agreement for the second half of July. So, after all, 20th of July is a good guess.
Legends
Of course, Alexander's birth became surrounded by other legends as well. Stories circulated around the Macedonian court that his mother Olympias had conceived from a snake. Olympias had startling dreams too --- about a circle of fire extending to the outer reaches of the earth. And also there is a dream of King Philip II about Olympias' womb being sealed by a lion. For some pretty Medieval folk tales about Alexander's birth, see: Legends (Birth).
Extract from Plutarch
This short article includes contributions from Forum members Jona Lendering, Andrew Chugg and Dean.2 And we are told that Philip, after being initiated into the mysteries of Samothrace at the same time with Olympias, he himself being still a youth and she an orphan child, fell in love with her and betrothed himself to her at once with the consent of her brother, Arymbas. 3 Well, then, the night before that on which the marriage was consummated, the bride dreamed that there was a peal of thunder and that a thunder-bolt fell upon her womb, and that thereby much fire was kindled, which broke into flames that travelled all about, and then was extinguished. 4 At a later time, too, after the marriage, Philip dreamed that he was putting a seal upon his wife's womb; and the device of the seal, as he thought, was the figure of a lion. 5 The other seers, now, were led by the vision to suspect that Philip needed to put a closer watch upon his marriage relations; but Aristander of Telmessus said that the woman was pregnant, since no seal was put upon what was empty, and pregnant of a son whose nature would be bold and lion-like. 6 Moreover, a serpent was once seen lying stretched out by the side of Olympias as she slept, and we are told that this, more than anything else, dulled the ardour of Philip's attentions to his wife, so that he no longer came often to sleep by her side, either because he feared that some spells and enchantments might be practised upon him by her, or because he shrank for her embraces in the conviction that she was the partner of a superior being.
7 But concerning these matters there is another story to this effect: all the women of these parts were addicted to the Orphic rites and the orgies of Dionysus from very ancient times (being called Klodones and Mimallones)1 and imitated in many ways the practices of the Edonian women and the Thracian women about Mount Haemus, 8 from whom, as it would seem, the word "threskeuein" came to be applied to the celebration of extravagant and superstitious ceremonies. 9 Now Olympias, who affected these divine possessions more zealously than other women, and carried out these divine inspirations in wilder fashion, used to provide the revelling companies with great tame serpents, which would often lift their heads from out the ivy and the mystic winnowing-baskets,3 or coil themselves about the wands and garlands of the women, thus terrifying the men.
3. 1 However, after his vision, as we are told, Philip sent Chaeron of Megalopolis to Delphi, by whom an oracle was brought to him from Apollo, who bade him sacrifice to Ammon and hold that god in greatest reverence, 2 but told him he was to lose that one of his eyes which he had applied to the chink in the door when he espied the god, in the form of a serpent, sharing the couch of his wife. 3 Moreover, Olympias, as Eratosthenes says, when she sent Alexander forth upon his great expedition, told him, and him alone, the secret of his begetting, and bade him have purposes worthy of his birth. 4 Others, on the contrary, say that she repudiated the idea, and said: "Alexander must cease slandering me to Hera."
5 Be that as it may, Alexander was born early in the month Hecatombaeon,5 the Macedonian name for p231 which is Loüs, on the sixth day of the month, and on this day the temple of Ephesian Artemis was burnt. 6 It was apropos of this that Hegesias the Magnesian made an utterance frigid enough to have extinguished that great conflagration. He said, namely, it was no wonder that the temple of Artemis was burned down, since the goddess was busy bringing Alexander into the world. 6667 But all the Magi who were then at Ephesus, looking upon the temple's disaster as a sign of further disaster, ran about beating their faces and crying aloud that woe and great calamity for Asia had that day been born. 8 To Philip, however, who had just taken Potidaea, there came three messages at the same time: the first that Parmenio had conquered the Illyrians in a great battle, the second that his race-horse had won a victory at the Olympic games, while a third announced the birth of Alexander. 9 These things delighted him, of course, and the seers raised his hopes still higher by declaring that the son whose birth coincided with three victories would be always victorious.
Written by nick