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[edit] Main towns founded by Alexander
Around seventy towns or outposts are claimed to have been founded by Alexander the Great.[1] Some of the main ones are:
- Alexandria, Egypt
- Alexandria Asiana, Iran
- Alexandria in Ariana, Afghanistan
- Alexandria of the Caucasus, Afghanistan
- Alexandria on the Oxus, Afghanistan
- Alexandria of the Arachosians, Afghanistan
- Alexandria on the Indus (Alexandria Bucephalous), Pakistan
- Alexandria Eschate, "The furthest", Tajikistan
- İskenderun (Alexandretta), Turkey
- Kandahar (Alexandropolis), Afghanistan
- Iskandariya (Alexandria), Iraq
[edit] Alexander as City-Planner
- By selecting the right angle of the streets, Alexander made the city breathe with the etesian winds [the northwestern winds that blow during the summer months], so that as these blow across a great expanse of sea, they cool the air of the town, and so he provided its inhabitants with a moderate climate and good health. Alexander also laid out the walls so that they were at once exceedingly large and marvelously strong.
- —Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, volume 8.
[edit] Literature
- Alexandre le Grand, tragedy in five acts by Jean Racine, first staged 1665.
- From 1969 to 1981, Mary Renault wrote a historical fiction trilogy on the life of Alexander: Fire From Heaven (about his early life), The Persian Boy (about his conquest of Persia, his expedition to India, and his death, seen from the viewpoint of Bagoas, a Persian eunuch and Alexander's eromenos), and Funeral Games (about the events following his death). Alexander also appears briefly in Renault's novel The Mask of Apollo, and is alluded to directly in The Last of the Wine and indirectly in The Praise Singer. In addition to the fiction, Renault also wrote a non-fiction biography, The Nature of Alexander.
- French writer Roger Peyrefitte wrote a trilogy about Alexander the great which is regarded as a masterpiece of erudition : La Jeunesse d'Alexandre (1977), Les Conquêtes d'Alexandre (1979) and Alexandre le Grand (1981).
- A further trilogy of novels about Alexander was written in Italian by Valerio Massimo Manfredi and subsequently published in an English translation, entitled Child of a Dream, The Sands of Ammon and The Ends of the Earth.
- David Gemmell's Dark Prince features Alexander as the chosen vessel for a world-destroying demon king. ISBN 0-345-37910-1.
- Steven Pressfield's 2004 book The Virtues of War is told from the first-person perspective of Alexander. Pressfield's novel The Afghan Campaign is told from the point of view of a soldier in Alexander's army. Alexander makes several brief appearances in the novel.
- Rudyard Kipling's story "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888) provides some glimpses of Alexander's legacy. Made into a movie of the same title in 1975, starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
- In Alan Moore's Watchmen, one of the main characters, Ozymandias, goes into detail about how he followed in Alexander the Great's footsteps in order to achieve enlightenment.
- In the light novel authored by TYPE-MOON, Fate/zero, Alexander appears as the Servant Rider.
- In Stephen Baxter's A Time Odyssey series, Alexander plays a part in the first and third books, featuring an encounter with Genghis Khan's horde and the extension of Alexander's empire into the New World.
- In Fate/zero Alexander the Great is called the King of Conquerors. His spirit is resurrected and becomes a Rider Class servant used to fight for the prize of the Holy Grail.
[edit] Television
- Alexander the Great (1968), TV series, starring William Shatner as Alexander, directed by Phil Karlson.
- Alexander Senki (1997) Alexander Senki, Anime / TV series, starring Toshihiko Seki as Alexander, directed by Yoshinori Kanemori, and with character designs by Peter Chung (of Aeon Flux fame). It was based on the novel Alexander Senki by Hiroshi Aramata. Also known as Alexander (International: English title); Reign: The Conqueror (USA). The series (US version, Reign: The Conqueror) debuted on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block variety show in 2003.
- The 1996 miniseries Gulliver's Travels, starring Ted Danson, featured a visit from Alexander the Great.
- In the Smallville season 1 episode "Rogue", Lex Luthor shows Clark Kent the armor that Alexander the Great wore in battle. The breastplate is gold, with red and blue diamonds (the colors that represent Superman), and a snake shaped like the letter S.
- In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (1998), mini-series, hosted by Michael Wood, directed by David Wallace.
- Iskandar is briefly mentioned in the visual novel game and anime series Fate/stay night as an example of the Rider-class Servant. It was hinted that he was the most powerful of the characters, but died in a two-versus-one battle.
- In the miniseries Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters, Alexander the Great was a character in the Capsule Monster World.
- Alexander was occasionally featured on Histeria!, depicted as a somewhat egotistical man who liked to make it clear that "I'm great! Ha ha!" The first episode to feature him was "Really Really Oldies But Goodies", which featured a sketch about his habit of naming cities after himself, which leads to a scene where World's Oldest Woman gives Toast multiple directions to different cities called Alexandria. In "A Blast in the Past", Alexander consults Sigmund Freud about his past, fretting about the fact that his father always considered him "pretty good" rather than "great". Finally, in "When Time Collides!", Alexander is shown as the reigning champion on a Jeopardy! parody, because all of the correct responses to the answers are centered around him. He even finds a way to win when Charity Bazaar gives the correct response.
- Baz Luhrmann had been planning to make a very different film about Alexander, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but the release of Stone's film eventually persuaded him to abandon the project.[2]
| Date |
Title |
Artist/Group |
Notes |
Lyrics |
| 1986 |
"Alexander the Great" |
Iron Maiden |
From the heavy metal album Somewhere in Time. The song describes Alexander's life, but contains one inaccuracy: In the song it is stated that Alexander's army would not follow him into India. |
|
| 1998 |
"Alexandre" |
Caetano Veloso |
Brazilian epic song about Alexander the Great from the album Livro. |
|
| 2000 |
"Alexander the Great" |
bond |
String quartet release on the album Born. |
|
[edit] Computer games
[edit] References
- ^ Alexander the Great: his towns
- ^ "Kidman: 'Luhrmann Not Doing Alexander Film'", IMDb.com, November 1, 2004
