Alaksandu

Alaksandu was a king of Wilusa who sealed a treaty with Muwatalli II ca. 1280 BC. This treaty implies that Alaksandu had previously secured a treaty with Muwatalli's father, Mursili II, as well.

Alaksandu was a successor of one Kukkunni, although it is not known if he was his immediate successor. Muwatalli recalls the friendship of Kukkunni with his own grandfather, Suppiluliuma I, and further evokes over three centuries of friendship between the Hittites and Wilusa dating back to the reign of Hattusili I.

Muwatalli in his letter downplays the importance of royal ancestry, suggesting that Alaksandu had come to power by other means than regular succession, so that Alaksandu is not necessarily a blood-relation of Kukkunni's. This has been taken as a hint that he may have been an early Greek ruler called Alexander, and he has been associated with Homer's Alexandros of Ilion, who is better known by his nickname Paris, of Troy. However, the Hittite empire had already collapsed before the Trojan War, which explains their absence in the Homeric account, so this letter must refer to an earlier time. Paris' father Priam ruled up until the fall of Troy, and Homer's Paris was never king, so this must be an earlier ruler named Alexandros, perhaps Priam's grandfather.

One of three gods guaranteeing the terms of the treaty on the side of Alaksandu is Apaliunas, from whom Apollon apparently derived. The god Apollo is portrayed in the Iliad as the foremost champion of the Trojans and the one who helped Paris kill the otherwise invulnerable Achilles.

This chronology is consistent with the archaeology of Troy, which shows that Troy VI was destroyed by an earthquake, around 1300 BCE, after over 300 years of occupation, and then rebuilt. And, according to Greek legend, this rebuilding was completed by Poseidon, Apollo and Aeacus.

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