pothos.org

Hello,

I was just this morning watching Hercules, the cartoon with my four year old son (I think that I was enjoying it more than he was) and of course I couldn't help thinking about Alexander and how he apparently could trace his lineage back to this mythical ancestor. It is often said that Alexander tried in every which way he could he emulate his ancestor Achilles but then I think that perhaps the emulation of Hercules could have been a more powerful "stimulant".

Recently we were talking about how it may have been possible that Alexander took some kind of drug to produce such unbelieavablly heroic and brave behaviour on the battlefield and yet I was wondering if the idea of doing the same as Hercules hadn't crossed his mind- of becoming a god and was perhaps much more powerful a stimulant than any drug.

Certainly remembering the siege of Aornos it makes you wonder.

Best regards,
Dean

I'm sure Alexander, and many others at the time, used Heracles to stir up bravery in themselves. As we know, Alexander was very religious and took his semi-divine heritage seriously. With this in mind, it's easy to think of the Macedonians using their deities are sources of inspiration.