Monday, November 12, 2007

People around Alexander the Great

Some of you maybe never heard of Alexander the Great (what a probability!), some of you maybe ever heard of that name, and some of you maybe his fan. Well, that's who I am: a fan of Alexander the Great.
But today, I'm not going to talk about him. Instead, I will only make list of people who lived around Alexander the Great. I hope it'll be useful, for some of you, somehow. So here it is, categorized based on closer relationship and listed based on alphabets.

Family
Alexander Aegus : Alexander first-born son with Roxane, the actual true heir of Macedonia. But was murder along with his mother when he was 13.
Alexander of Epirus (or Alexander Molossus) : Olympias' brother, Alexander's uncle plus brother-in-law as he married Alexander's sister, Cleopatra.
Attalus : Macedonia important courtier.
Cleopatra Eurydice : Philip's fifth wife, niece of Attalus.
Cleopatra of Macedon : Alexander's full-sister (daughter of Philip and Olympias), married to Alexander of Epirus.
Cynane : Alexander half-sister, daughter of Philip and Audata.
Olympias : Real name was Myrtale of Epirote, a Princess of Epirus. Mother of Alexander the Great. She changed her name to Olympias (or Olympia) when she became Philip's fourth wife.
Philip II : King of Macedonia in 382-336 BC, father of Alexander the Great.
Philip III : Alexander half-brother, son of Philip and Philinna of Larissa. Named Arrhidaeus at birth. He was the crown prince of Macedonia Empire before Olympias poisoned him, thus he became retarded.
Roxane (or Roxana) of Sogdia : Alexander's first wife i.e. his queen and the mother of Alexander Argus.
Thessalonike (or Thessalonica of Macedon) : Alexander half-sister, daughter of Philip and Nikasipolis. Wife of Cassander.


Close friends
Bucephalus : means "ox-head" in Latin. It was a horse Alexander tamed when Alexander was only 10 years old. Bucephalus accompanied Alexander for more than two decades, from the time Alexander tamed him until he died in 325 BC. Rumors had it that he let noone ride him except Alexander.
Hephaistion : aka Hephaestion Amyntoros. Held the position of second-in-command of Alexander's forces. No doubt that he was Alexander's life-long best friend, rumored to be "Alexander's lover" (whatever that means!) by certain people. The only person Alexander trusted the most.

Generals (or something, I don't really know what they called)
Antipater : General in Philip's reign, then became regent when Alexander went on his conguest in Asia.
Cassander : Eldest son of Antipater, husband of Thessalonike. King of Macedon in 350-297 BC.
Cleitus : a.k.a Black Cleitus, perhaps because of his black hair (which was uncommon in Greek at that time). Served Philip II before he served Alexander.
Crateros (or Craterus): Alexander's General of the Phalanx. Crateros was a probable heir chosen by Alexander himself.
Nearchus : One of Alexander's boyhood friends, fellow 'classmate' when Alexander was taught by Aristotle.
Parmenion : Father of Philotas; he was also a general in Philip's reign.
Perdiccas : Soon after Alexander's death, he took over the position as guardian and regent of all Alexander's empire. We can say he also became sort of protector to Roxana and Alexander Aegus.
Philotas : Oldest son of Parmenion; most experienced and talented general of Alexander's.
Ptolemy (
or Ptolemy I Soter) : Rumored to be Alexander's half-brother. Took over Alexadria (Egypt) after Alexander's death, he was the founder of Ptolemy Dynasty in Egypt, forefather of Cleopatra VII.

House of Persia
Cyrus the Great : Founder of Persian Empire, great-grandfather of Darius III. It is widely known that Alexander admired him and visited his grave when Alexander invaded Persia.
Darius III : Alexander's enemy, and engaged in three major wars with Alexander.
Sisygambis : Mother of Darisu III, grandmother of Statira and Drypteis. She was the one who famous from mistaking Hephaistion for Alexander.
Statira (or Stateira II): Alexander's second wife.
Drypteis : Sister of Statira, also married to Hephaition.
Vizier Bagoas : He was the one who made Darius III king. Alexander accused him as the one who behind Philip's death.

Others
Aristander : A clairvoyant who predicted Alexander's birth. He was still in duty when Alexander reign and was also Alexander's favorite seer.
Aristotle : Yes, I'm talking about the famous Aristotle. He was the teacher of Alexander when Alexander was 12-16.
Bagoas : A eunuch in Persia, said to be Alexander's lover. Not to be confused with Vizier Bagoas.
Diogenes : A philosopher who lived like a beggar but won Alexander's respect.
Lanice (or Lanike) : Black Cleitus' older sister, nursed Alexander when he was a toddler.
Leonidas : A relative of Olympias. Also Alexander's military trainer, was not very liked by Alexander, and didn't really like Alexander either.

Historians who wrote about Alexander
Arrian (86-146 AD)
Callisthenes (360-328 BC): It's a long lineage, but to put it simple, he was Aristotle's great nephew. He met Alexander when Alexander was tutored by Aristotle (which make him Alexander's boyhood friend, also). He was later appointed to attend Alexander the Great's Asiatic expedition as a professional historian.
Curtius (41-5 4 AD)
Diodorus (90–27 BC)
Justin (uncertain, around year 390 AD)
Onesicritus (360-290 BC) : Accompanied Alexander himself on Alexander's campaigns in Asia, wrote a history of Alexander.
Plutarch 46-120 AD)

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