Plutarch’s Alexander Never Alexander “the Great” Never Alexander “the Greek” Rarely “The King”

1. Plutarch’s Alexander Never Alexander “the Great” Never Alexander “the Greek” Rarely “The King” Always addressed as “Alexander” Kind –Generous-Brave- Handsome kalo\j ka)gaqo/j (kalos k[ai] agathos) sofo/j Motivated by vengeance and timh/ not by greed. Without long term goals Without empire Muderer of his philoiand and hetairoi Most comparable to Homer’s Achilles and [?]

2. Plutarch’s Alexander Cast of Characters Fathers Mothers Slaves Sisters Wives hetairoi hetarai philoi sophistai logographoi sykophantai poietai

3. Toward understanding Alexander • The most significant victor in the history of the Ancient Mediterranean. • Responsible for the dissolution into anarchy of one of the more important and tolerant political systems in the Ancient Near-East. • The catalyst for the largest migration of Greek speaking males before the twentieth century. • Responsible for the most important release of coinable bullion in the history of the Ancient World. • Deliberately failed to design a coherent political system. • Deliberately refused to designate a credible successor.