Nectanebo:Was he Alexander's real father?

[jan]

Hello, I am reading Nikos Kazantankis's book for children Alexander the Great, and in it he mentions that he is greeted in Egypt by the priests who believe him to be the reincarnation of Nectanebo; however, I have learned that the real belief is that he could have been the son of Nectanebo, as Nectanebo is supposed to have visited Olympias and impregnated her as the person of Zeus Ammon.Can anyone enlighten me on this matter? Thanks,Jan

[nick]

Hi Jan -The story belongs to the Alexander Romance, Pseudo-Callisthenes, and was heavily used in Medieval 'fiction'. Everything is already there on the site when you check the "Legends" button in the menu.Of course, there is a political trick here: assuming that Nectanebo (in Middle Ages also known as Naptanabus) was Alexander's father, connected Alexander (and with that the Ptolemaic dynasty) much closer to Egypt. The real Nectanabo died before Alexander was born, however.Just check the legends button, it is all there.Regards -
Nick

[nickw]

Sorry, Jan. It's the other way round. Nectanabo still ruled Egypt when Alexander was born. The Romance has him being driven out of Egypt by the Persians, then going to Macedonia to sleep with Olympias. But in reality, Nectanabo was only defeated by the Persians in 342 BC. Sorry for the confusion.Nick

[gb]

About the father/reincarnation thing - not that I'm as au fait with Egyptian religion as I should like:As far as I can remember pharaoh must always be the reincarnation of Horus and son of Ra (Re). That means Alexander wouldn't be greeted as Nectanebo's reincarnation, but instead they were both seen as reincarnations of the same God.

[ruthaki]

There's a book that I was loaned by a classical scholar friend of mine from Norway to research cult things from that had a lot about Nectenabo and Olympias in it. I'll try to dig up the title for you. It's certainly a titillating theory and I understand there was some gossip about it in those days as Nectenabo spent a bit of time in the Macedonian court around the time Alexander was conceived. I saw N's sarchophagus (at least one allegedly his) in the British Museum. Ruthaki

[Nax]

Too bad they didn't know as much about genetics- Philip would never have worried. I mean, that forehead and nose?!? Obviously, Philip was the dad, Olympia the mom Ha Ha Ha

[ruthaki]

I have a very interesting magazine article from a Greek magazine a few years back, it is about Olympias and calls her "the Greek Madonna" as in Virgin Mary. Evidently those 'virgin birth' visitations by gods stories were popular in those times and Olympias' claim that the golden snake of Ammon visited her (which I always figured could have been 'attached' to Nektenabo..hahaha...) was another of those 'stories'. Wish I could get it translated as the person who gave it to me did translate it at the time but I've forgotten exactly word-for-word what it said. Interesting though.

[Nax]

Point is, she had her detractors- it's one thing you CAN throw at a woman in her position- but physically, between her and Philip, their stamp is on the son.

[S]

Greetings,That is called the "Argead brow" with an "aquiline nose" (laughing)... sounds a bit better, somehow than how I once heard it described: " low-slung forehead with big nose" Regards,
Sikander

[marcus]

Hi Ruth,It's definitely N's sarcophagus in the BM - apparently it was found being used as a bath in a mosque in Alexandria.I've always doubted the story that N spent any time in Macedonia, before or after Alexander's birth. As he was the focal point of a rebellion against the Persians, and was king of Egypt (at least in name), it's highly unlikely he had any time for an 18-30 holiday in Greece. It's definitely a story, and one that I suspect didn't even start until after Alexander was dead and gone.All the bestMarcus