Alexander the Great's Divinity

[Morgan]

Could Alexander the Great have believed he was divine? if so what evidence is there to support his claim?

[marcus]

Well, he *could* have believed he was divine, but (a) it is unlikely that he did, and (b) there is really no evidence to say that he did - or that he even requested/demanded divine honours from the Greeks.All the bestMarcus

[beausefaless]

I agree with Marcus, judge for yourself
http://www.pothos.org/alexander.asp?ParaID=94

[aen]

Morgan,I think it highly unlikely Alexander saw himself as divine in the sense we moderns understand it, despite the fact that later successors were happy to depict him on their coinage with emblems immediately assosciative of Ammon etc.Post Siwah, when he was bloodily injured (I think by an arrow in the shin or ankle) a nearby soldier reeled off a Homeric line to the tune of 'behold the flow of divine ichor' or somesuch. Alexander wasn't having any of that, and responded that it was just plain old blood.It's worth remembering that in Egypt it would have been impossible for Alexander to lay claim to the status of Pharaonic kingship without also claiming some sort of divine paternity. Mortals could not rule Egyptians. (The entire pai dios/paidion slip outside the temple of Ammon may have been very conveniently orchestrated). For reasons of political expedience then, but probably no others, he had to let a personal cult of divinity develop in that region at least.Why did his cult take root in the Hellenic world then? Probably because Greeks half a world away misinterpreted the real-politick necessity of his Egyptian status and sought to flatter and win favour by adopting it themselves. For understandable reasons of ego, he certainly wouldn't have stopped them.As to his personally held view of himself; I've always been satisfied with the quote atrributed to him that runs as follows . . . 'All men are the sons of God, but the noblest and the best are especially his.'In fact, I often wondered if this might have been one of enigmatic answers he received from the oracle at Siwah; who knows.We should perhaps pay more attention to the status of the 'Hero' in the Ancient world when looking at this question. It was possible for a man to rise credibly to a quasi-divine status in the mould of a Hero, if he believed the legends. I am inclined to think that this is probably how Alexander saw himself when the dawn was breaking and he and a few others were still boozing hard - not a Divinity or God, but a Hero, the noblest, the best, an especial son of God.And who would blame him? He managed to put Achilles in the shade.Laters. Aengus.

[alejandro]

Hi AengusThat was an excellent reflection. I fully agree with what you said.
I never linked the famous phrase and the oracle, but they do really "beg" for each other. Very cool insight.
Best wishes.Alejandro

[THE LIGHT 7000]

Dear friends,... to talk about DIVINITY, one must be divine ....... So talking about this topic, one must have reasonable knowlwdge from quantum physics/mechanics i.e. quantum electrodinamics... I do not think that you are "so divine" to talk about true Alexander's personality- DIVINITY, so let's talk about SIMPSONs
for change and do not touch such a noble issue...... To be honest I am positive that you do not have simple understunding about this topic and what is comming next... wait and see... until than go to some other topics or have a sight on MARS...
... With regards The light 7000

[jan]

Dear Dr. Vasko,I believe that if Alexander had truly traveled all the way to Siwa to prove his mother's assertion of his Divine status correct, any and all can appreciate the answer that the oracles seemed to have given to him. Acting upon his own belief in his divinity, he embarked upon an adventure that only the gods could assist. I believe that his faith in himself, his mission, and his sacrificial duties enabled him to achieve extraordinary feats. A true and honest study of Alexander having the assistance of the gods makes his life not only Divine but Eternal. As I believe his fame is only a residual result of his divine calling.To my mind, Alexander ranks along with Moses, Mohammed, Abraham, Buddha, and Jesus Christ in the hall of religious leaders.

[jan]

Oh, did I omit King David too?

[karen]

Hi all:This question can't be answered without a definition of "believing himself divine."If you are asking, did Alexander think himself an entirely immaterial being, and thus not subject to physical death, the answer is surely no. That would be insanity, and if he'd ever shown symptoms, the Vulgate authors (Curtius, Diodorus and Justin) would have seized on it.What many people don't understand, which leads to all sorts of misunderstandings on this question, is that his culture did not make nearly so strict a separation between divine and human beings as we do today. (Robin Lane Fox provides an excellent discussion of this in his _ATG_.) It was fairly standard for royal families to claim descent from Gods, as both Philip's and Olympias' families did; the "Hero" or demi-god was recognized as someone who was somewhere in between a person and a God, and could be accorded divine honours after death (even though death was something that did not happen to Gods). Heroes were often said to be sons of deities (e.g. Herakles, Achilles). Thus Alexander's comment re the noblest and best sons of God was quite acceptable and not particularly original. Any extraordinary ability could be taken as evidence that a person was closer to Gods and thus more divinely inspired or favoured than most, and Alexander's record proved his abilities and his luck -- which was also taken as evidence of divine favour -- very extraordinary indeed. I think that at least some of the motivation of those who granted him divine honours while he was still alive was that, within their belief system, an especially close relationship to the Gods was the only plausible explanation for his success...so they should not risk *offending* the Gods by leaving him out of their devotions. Anaxagoras' argument in favour of such honours centred on Alexander's having outdone many long-worshipped heroes, and thus carried plausibility (even if the real purpose was only to get the Makedonians and Greeks doing *proskynesis* so as to placate the Persians -- and not to say Kallisthenes' counter-argument didn't carry plausibility also). ...continued...

[karen]

Since Alexander had been raised in this belief system -- and the particularly Homeric version of it the Makedonians held -- why would he not have thought it himself? And yet he would not have been overwhelmed or bewildered by it -- because his culture allowed for the possibility, and he'd been raised to feel himself divinely-descended (whether through his royal ancestry or his mother telling him Zeus was his father). I actually think that he would have considered crediting himself only for his success -- suggesting Gods had had no hand in it -- as hubris. At the same time, being the noblest and the best was something that Greek culture urged all its members to aspire to, and thus the degree of one's divinity was held to be, to some degree, a matter of *choice*. The recognition that we might each have something of the divine in us was expressed in the Greek word 'enthousiasmos' which means the presence of God within a person (and is the root of the English "enthusiasm.") Those people who lived up to their own divine potential the most, who chose to let their divine rather than profane side rule their actions, would be held dearest by the Gods. I think Alexander thought this also, and was very enthusiastic, so to speak, to choose that way himself. (It should be noted that in ancient Greek culture, unlike ours, prowess in warfare was considered a divine virtue -- another source of many misunderstandings, I'm sure.) Did he *feel* a sense of divinity about him? Without asking him, we can't know, of course. But of this I am certain: the feeling of inspiration -- the word 'inspiration' being derived from Latin words, meaning 'drawing in the breath of God' -- that we have when a brilliant idea flashes into our minds, or we create a masterwork, or we see a plan of ours come to fruition in a total victory, of whatever sort... he must have felt, a *lot*. I'm also sure he frequently had hunches, and/or heard a voice inside that seemed not his own giving him good advice in crucial moments, as people often testify that they do; these days people credit angels or 'guides' for this, but he would have attributed it to the Gods he worshipped. Love & peace,
Karen

[Nicator]

Let's just save a step, stop mincing words, and declare the obvious...Alexander was a God.Have a nice day!Nicator

[THE LIGHT 7000]

Dear friends.../ NICATOR,... this world is not siply black and white... So if somone telling logical things like Karen and Jan, one should pay attention and if - make some comments re:same just to pave path to further exploearation of topic/s... So this is not just "that", is more than life, is life itself...What I want to say, Karen nad Jan has right with the fact in theirs relys. The core of this argument is not if he was... how he was... if he knew..., but how he spouse to be proclaimed such and be on the top for centuries. Lets make paralel with Jesus and the others like Mohhamed, Buddha... In all cases they were not what they are today in that particular time of their "mission"! After their life time/earthly they become "famous" becouse of their noble deeds and messages for better world!... Also was with Alexexander, however the big question in this argument is WHAT WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THEM TO FEEL AND LIVE LIFE IN THAT WAY REGARDLESS OF FEELING THAT LIFE COULD BE IN DANGER! So one must feel something to do such things, one must have inspiration but also SENSE of what is his path... So again life is not just simple black & white... What I am saying, today people are loosing themselfs in the "fast life style/careers..." etc., and their inner self are distant, their feelings, emotions which is the real language of the universe as a quantum electromagnetic interactions... Our verbal expressions are very rough compared with this kind of feeling ... So there are some other forces behind every action and what was mistery yesterday today is more & more reality so all this paraphenomena are very explainable from quantum physics,... Today more & more scientists belive that Universe could be one big thought... with maybe 10 dimensions of our existence, and that is fact!... So talking about it one must look in some other posibilities and open mind for connecting all
cont...

[THE LIGHT 7000]

part II..cont... So if we are talking about Alexander being devine we should seek something else what is rated as PARA/para normal in his life... Most of gifted people had something in common in that way, so what about Alexander... Probably he had too... Lets have glimpse on Constantine The Great, Emperor of Bysant, who in 4 c.ad. whent to Rome to Liberate and he was strong becouse he had vission of big Cross... After his sucsses Chritianity was founded as a official religion of Byzant... Same is with Mohhamed... So what about Alexander, is there is simular things... YES, ... In Babilon/ Babilion scroll was found as you probably know, written day before he died. The text was full of prophetic messages, precognition, predictions... He was telling about his empire- divided, and among many other things he was talking about man on cross, thorns, blood... yes- he predicted- anounced comming of Jesus... Even before that in the book about him, I am still no certain about title-..., he was predicting and talking about things that could be seen from space only- Siberia, Ghingis Khaan... So all this & much more is telling us that there was something else/more about noble being with name Alexander from Makedonia- The Great. Also his vission/message and actions in building Universal Brotherhood of Man is telling us same, becouse as Karen is saying... only if we can ask him than we would probably know best, and that is true. Becouse MOST of us can not ask him, so we are analysing his actions, and everything else in that sense, and analysing that- we can be almost certain that he was not just ordinary man, not just oneother new kid in town, but something special was with/in him that made difference and is making progress today shaping the world what spuse to be Universdal Brotherhood of Man in real terms of meaning, and is comming... There is no such power on Haeven and Earth to stop it mainly becouse of all of you and peoples like you, full of curiosity, hunger for truth... better life for all without double standards... Yes....MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH FOREVER
WITH ALL MY LOVE TRUTH AND LIGHT- THE LIGHT 7000

[karen]

I can imagine Alexander, if he could speak today, saying, "Get a grip, people... it's STILL not ichor, it's STILL just plain old blood..."Love & peace,
Karen

[THE LIGHT 7000]

Karen -I-
... Pure truth, is sad so sad...very sad...
However that dosn't mean that one will give up fullfilling GOD'S WILL & the noble goal for better future- UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD OF MAN, no way.... ...What is time... There is a place where time/ space has no meaning at all, where everything is so simple- just pure truth and light full of love -IN THE WORLD & KINGDOM OF LIGHT... WELLCOME...!... In his prophecy before his finial hours, Alexander's words were, in each and every paragrahp, in each and every thought- like recived bioholographic messages translate with ordinary words "... what is thousands of years, is like day before today, nothing more...." , so what is thousands of years, is like moment that already passed away, like spark of light- photon, quant, carrying milions of info./messages in 3D... in time and space, creating one reality out of hundreds posibility's with direct insight of ONE as observer!WITH ALL MY LOVE TRUTH & LIGHT
MAY PEACE PRAVAIL ON EARTH FOR EVER
THE LIGHT 7000