EP 54: The Gods of Alexander the Great

There’s nothing like divine intervention to ensure success. Of course, things can go badly when it ends. Follow Alexander’s 10-year military career that earned him the moniker “Alexander the Great.”

If you love this podcast, you'll also enjoy Garner's audible novel about the gods, Homo Divinitas, now available on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

Transcript

ARTEMIS, ATHENE, HERMES, POSEIDON, APOLLO, ZEUS — 

THESE WERE THE GODS THAT PROPELLED ALEXANDER, SON OF PHILLIP II OF MACEDONIA, TO GREATNESS, TO BECOMING “ALEXANDER THE GREAT.”

AS HE CONQUERED THE KNOWN WORLD AROUND 320 BC, HE FOUND HIMSELF ACCLAIMED AS A LIVING GOD. AT FIRST HIS DEIFICATION WAS ONLY WHISPERED BY THOSE IN AWE OF HIS MIGHT.

BUT IN HIS FINAL YEARS, HE WAS OPENLY CELEBRATED AS A GOD COMPARABLE TO --& EVEN GREATER THAN--THE MIGHTY ZEUS ...

AS YOU'LL HEAR SOON ENOUGH, HIS DEIFICATION MAY HAVE BEEN HIS DOWNFALL.

IN THIS EPISODE WE TAKE A UNIQUE LOOK AT ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST GLORIFIED MEN & AT THE MANY GODS HE PRAISED AS HE VANQUISHED CITY AFTER CITY, COUNTRY AFTER COUNTRY.

LIKE HERACLES, ALEXANDER WAS CALLED “THE INVINCIBLE,” AS WELL AS “THE GREAT.”

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WELCOME TO EPISODE 54 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. WE HAVE LISTENERS FROM 179 COUNTRIES ... SO WELCOME TO EVERYONE, WHEREVER YOU ARE.

I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST PATRICK GARNER. 

BEFORE WE GET INTO TODAY’S PODCAST, I’D LIKE TO REMIND YOU THAT NOT ALL STORIES ABOUT THE GREEK GODS ARE COMMONLY KNOWN. THAT’S BECAUSE I’VE RECENTLY WRITTEN NEW, COMPELLING STORIES ABOUT THEM. 

MY STORIES HAVE A TWIST, THOUGH. IN MY FOUR NOVELS, THE GODS REAPPEAR IN TODAY’S WORLD.  

AS YOU KNOW FROM THE NEWS, SCIENTISTS IN LABORATORIES WORLD-WIDE ARE ON THE VERGE OF EXTENDING LIFE FOR UNIMAGINABLE YEARS. 

IT MAY BECOME ALMOST AS THOUGH HUMANS NO LONGER HAVE TO DIE. IN MY BOOKS, THE GREEK FATES RETURN TO RESTORE THE BALANCE OF LIFE AND DEATH. 

TOGETHER MY FOUR NOVELS ARE CALLED THE NAXOS QUARTET. INDIVIDUALLY, THE BOOKS ARE TITLED, THE WINNOWING, CYCLADIC GIRLS, HOMO DIVINITAS & ALL THAT LASTS, & THEY’RE AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. 

HOMO DIVINITAS IS ALSO AN AUDIO BOOK & IS AVAILABLE THROUGH BOTH AMAZON AUDIBLE.COM. 

ONE MORE THING. I‘D LIKE TO SHARE A LITTLE BOOK WITH THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE YOUNGSTERS IN YOUR LIFE. I’M TALKING ABOUT A NEW CHILDREN'S BOOK THAT SHOULD BE ON YOUR BOOKSHELF.

IT'S CALLED READ-ALOUD STORIES FOR YOUNG LISTENERS, BY D.K. GARNER. THERE ARE NO GREEK GODS, BUT ANIMALS — ALWAYS PART OF GREEK LIFE — PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THESE CHARMING STORIES. 

THEY TALK TO A CHILD  AT THE MOMENT A LITTLE HELP IS NEEDED, EVERYONE CAN ENJOY THE STORIES OF U-TURN THE CROW, ELI THE DOG, WINKY THE HORSE, NOT-GEORGE THE BUNNY & ROOTY THE ROOSTER. THIS BOOK IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.

NEED MORE INFO? VISIT MY WEBSITE AT PATRICKGARNERBOOKS.COM, THEN LINK OVER TO AMAZON.

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WE'VE ALL HEARD OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. BUT WHO WAS HE? WHEN & WHERE DID HE LIVE? AND HOW DID HE BECOME KNOWN AS "THE GREAT"?

HE WAS a Greek, & A MACEDONIAN. THE MACEDONIAN KINGS TRACED THEIR ANCESTRY TO ZEUS. AND AS WE WILL SEE, ZEUS PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN ALEXANDER'S life.

MANY SAID PHILLIP'S SON WAS DESTINED FOR GREATNESS. AS LATER HISTORIANS NOTED, HE WAS BORN ON JULY 6, A DAY SACRED TO ARTEMIS.

His father was ASSASSINATed IN 336 BC WHEN ALEXANDER WAS 20 YEARS OLD. HE UNEXPECTEDLY BECAME king of MacedonIA. 

Phillip HAD BEEN A MASTERFUL WARRIOR, BUILDING MACEDONIA INTO A RICH & INTIMIDATING MILITARY POWER THAT DOMINATED NORTHERN GREECE.

NOW AS THE NEW KING, ALEXANDER HAD AMBITIONS THAT FAR EXCEEDED HIS FATHER'S. HE WAS NOT CONTENT TO CONQUER PERSIA ALONE, AND HIS CHARISMA HELPED HIM SUCCEED.

AND TO THE SURPRISE OF PHILLIP'S ARMY, ALEXANDER, ALTHOUGH YOUNG & INEXPERIENCED, WAS A BORN LEADER. HE WAS VALIANT, INTREPID & UTTERLY UNAFRAID.

HE spent Almost THE ENTIRETY of his ruling years conducting ONE military campaign AFTER ANOTHER throughout GREECE, Western Asia & Egypt. 

By the age of 30 — IN A MERE TEN YEARS — he created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to EGYPT TO northwestern India.

TO THE ASTONISHMENT OF HIS TROOPS, He was NEVER defeated in battle. HE PROVED TO BE An unconventional STRATEGIST WHO USED WHATEVER MEANS WERE NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE HIS GOALS.

IN BOTH THE ANCIENT WORLD & TODAY, HE is widely considered to be one of history's greatest military commanders.

AS SUCH, HE FREQUENTLY DEFEATED ARMIES FAR LARGER THAN HIS OWN. HIS DARING EXPLOITS WERE UNPARALLELED IN THE GREEK WORLD. 

ALL ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE BRAVERY OF THE SPARTANS WAS NOTHING COMPARED TO ALEXANDER'S FEARLESSNESS. HE PRIDED HIMSELF IN RIDING AT THE FRONT OF HIS TROOPS.

HOW DID HE PULL OFF VICTORIES OVER GREAT ARMIES? HE ATTRIBUTED HIS SUCCESS TO BEING FAVORED BY MULTIPLE GODS. THEIR SHIELD WAS A FORM OF DIVINE INSURANCE.

AS LONG AS THE GODS HAD HIS BACK, ALEXANDER WAS UNSTOPPABLE. 

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Until the age of 16, Alexander was tutored by THE PHILOSOPHER & SCIENTIST, Aristotle.  Aristotle TAUGHT HIM TO REVER THE GODS because, AS HE FREQUENTLY SAID, THEY ALONE WOULD BRING HIM GREAT FORTUNE.

ARISTOTLE ALSO TAUGHT ALEXANDER TO ADMIRE ACHILLES, WHO HAD BEEN GREECE'S GREATEST WARRIOR DURING THE TROJAN WAR. 

BOTH ARISTOTLE & ALEXANDER WERE IN AWE OF GREEKS FROM THAT GOLDEN ERA. THOSE ARCHAIC MEN WERE CHAMPIONS & VICTORS.

AS DESCRIBED BY HOMER IN THE ILIAD, ACHILLES EXPLOITS WERE UNEQUALLED. EVEN BETTER IN ALEXANDER'S EYES was the fact that HIS BRAVERY WAS THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT THAT LED TO THE GREEKS TO VICTORY.

ALEXANDER SLEPT WITH A COPY OF THE ILIAD BESIDE HIS HEAD, & COULD RECITE MANY OF PASSAGES FROM HOMER. HIS AMBITION WAS TO EMULATE THESE EARLY WARRIORS. 

BY HIS MID TEENS HE BEGAN TO RIDE WITH HIS FATHER'S TROOPS, EARNING A REPUTATION FOR AUDACITY & VALOR. 

THEN AT A GRAND FESTIVAL ATTENDED BY GREEKS FROM AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN, HIS FATHER WAS KNIFED TO DEATH BY A DISGRUNTLED GUARD.

THE DELPHIC ORACLE WAS SAID TO HAVE PREDICTED THE MURDER. BUT PHILLIP, LIKE SO MANY WHO SOUGHT THE ORACLE'S PROPHESY, MISINTERPRETED HER VOICE.

HE HAD GONE TO SEE HER BECAUSE HE PLANNED TO INVADE PERSIA & TOPPLE THE PERSIAN KING. WHEN HE ASKED THE ORACLE IF HE WOULD SUCCEED, SHE SAID,

"DECORATED IS THE BULL; THE END IS NEAR; THE SACRIFICER IS AT HAND." THE KING ASSUMED THAT THE BULL WAS THE PERSIAN KING & THAT HE WOULD BE THE SACRIFICER.

THE ORACLE'S VERSE SEEMED TO CONFIRM HIS AMBITION. HE WOULD BRING DOWN THE MIGHTY KING.

BUT APOLLO'S ORACLE MEANT NOTHING OF THE SORT. INSTEAD SHE MEANT THAT PHILLIP WAS THE BULL & THAT THE SACRIFICER WAS HIS ASSASSIN.

YET, LIKE MANY WHO MISUNDERSTOOD THE ORACLE, HE WAS BLINDED BY PRIDE & REJOICED AT HER WORDS.

PHILLIP'S MISFORTUNE BECAME ALEXANDER'S opportunity.

IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF THE MURDER, ALEXANDER STEPPED INTO HIS FATHER'S SHOES, VOWING REVENGE & SWEARING HE WOULD INVADE PERSIA. 

BUT FIRST, THE 20-YEAR OLD Alexander used his NEW authority to launch WHAT HE CALLED the pan-Hellenic project. no longer would the various greek city-states battle each other.

THIS HAD BEEN envisIONED by his father. THE GOAL WAS TO BIND ALL OF GREECE TOGETHER. NO ONE HAD BELIEVED SUCH A THING WAS POSSIBLE. 

YET HE DID SO ALMOST WITHOUT OPPOSITION, assuming leadership THROUGHOUT GreeCE ... BEFORE & AFTER HIS SUCCESS, HE OFFERED HONORS & PRAISE TO THE GODDESS ATHENE.

IT WAS HARDLY THE ONLY TIME THE GODDESS WOULD BE EXALTED BY THE NEW KING. ALEXANDER BEGAN TO REGULARLY ACCLAIM ATHENE, POSEIDON & ZEUS AS HIS CHAMPIONS.

THE GREEKS MUTTERED ABOUT HIS AUDACIOUSNESS, BUT QUIETLY ACQUIESCED.

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BEFORE HE TURNED HIS FOCUS TO PERSIA, ALEXANDER, LIKE HIS FATHER, VISITED THE DELPHIC ORACLE. HIS QUESTION WAS IDENTICAL TO HIS FATHER'S: WILL I SUCCEED?

APOLLO'S ORACLE WAS NOT OPEN FOR BUSINESS WHEN HE ARRIVED. ALEXANDER DEMANDED THAT SHE SEE HIM & THE ORACLE REFUSED. WHO WAS THIS UPSTART KING?

FURIOUS, ALEXANDER MANHANDLED HER, DRAGGING HER TO HER SACRED THRONE & ORDERING HER TO DIVINE HIS FUTURE.

CORNERED BY ALEXANDER, THROWING UP HER HANDS, SHE CRIED OUT, "YOU WILL BE THE ONE CALLED VICTORIOUS!"

THE DESIGNATION WAS EXACTLY WHAT ALEXANDER NEEDED TO RALLY HIS ARMY. HE COULD CLAIM BEFORE ANY BATTLE, "THE ORACLE PREDICTS OUR VICTORY, MEN!"

and INDEED, HER CHARACTERIZATION WOULD BE USED BY HIS TROOPS & ALL WHO ENCOUNTERED HIM AS FRIEND OR FOE. HE WAS THE VICTORIOUS.

NOW AT LAST THE TIME HAD COME. HE WAS READY. KNOWING HE WAS BLESSED BY APOLLO & SANCTIFIED BY THE ORACLE. he invaded the Persian Empire In 334 BC.

FROM THAT DATE HE began a series of campaigns that lasted WITHOUT PAUSE for A DECADE ...

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TO ENTER THE LANDS CONTROLLED BY THE PERSIAN KING, HE HAD TO CROSS A WIDE WATERWAY CALLED THE BOSPORUS. 

USING A BRIDGE OF BOATS & PRAYING TO POSEIDON TO PROTECT HIS TROOPS, ALEXANDER CROSSED. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WATERWAY LAY THE RUINS OF TROY. 

HIS FIRST ACTION WAS TO BOW BEFORE THE TOMB OF ACHILLES. THEN PRIESTS OF ATHENE PRESENTED HIM WITH THE THOUSAND YEAR OLD ARMOR & SWORD OF ACHILLES.

ALEXANDER HELD FESTIVITIES FOR HIS MEN, & HONORED ATHENE WITH SEEMINGLY ENDLESS SACRIFICES. IN THE END HE FELT THAT NOTHING COULD PREVENT HIS SUCCESS. HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO ACHILLES & HEARD THE ROAR OF APPROVAL OF HIS ARMY.

WITH THESE AUSPICIOUS SIGNS & WEARING ACHILLES' BRIGHT ARMOR, HE BEGAN TO EXECUTE HIS FATHER'S PLAN TO DEFEAT GREECE'S MOST FEARED ENEMIES.

HE RAPIDLY conqueRED Asia Minor, WHICH TODAY CONSTITUTES MOST OF MODERN TURKEY. Alexander THEN PUSHED SOUTH INTO Persia, THE LAND WE CALL IRAN. 

HE PURSUED PERSIA'S KING Darius III, WHO FOR MONTHS HAD ELUDED ALEXANDER. RELENTLESS, in a series of decisive battles, HE VANQUISHED ROYAL ARMY AFTER ARMY. 

WITHIN A SHORT TIME, he CORNERED Darius & conquered the PERSIAN Empire in its entirety. NO GREEK HAD EVER DOMINATED HIS ENEMIES SO EASILY.

BEFORE EVERY BATTLE, ALEXANDER WOULD SACRIFICE TO APOLLO, ATHENE & ZEUS. HE WAS, PERHAPS, THE MOST DEVOUT GREEK WARRIOR OF ANY TIME.

IF SIGNS WERE NOT PROMISING, HE WOULD PAUSE. TWO TO THREE SOOTHSAYERS AND SEERS WOULD ACCOMPANY HIS ARMY FROM PLACE TO PLACE.

LIKE MANY GREEKS OF HIS TIME, HE WAS HIGHLY SUPERSTITIOUS & BELIEVED HIMSELF GUIDED BY THE GODS. ONLY WHEN THE SIGNS WERE FAVORABLE WOULD HE ATTACK.

ALWAYS THE FIRST MAN TO CHARGE, ALEXANDER SEEMED PROTECTED BY THE DIVINITIES HE CALLED UPON SO FREQUENTLY. 

INSPIRED BY HIS EXAMPLE, HIS MEN FOLLOWED WITHOUT QUESTION, KNOWING THAT THEY WERE LED BY A MAN WHO MUST, IT APPEARED, BE A GOD HIMSELF.

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After the fall of Persia, ALEXANDER'S Macedonian Empire held a vast swath of territory between the Adriatic Sea & the Indus River.

CALLING AGAIN UPON ZEUS & ZEUS' BROTHER POSEIDON, ALEXANDER MADE A QUICK FORAY INTO EGYPT, WHERE THE ANCIENT EMPIRE CRUMBLED UPON HIS ASSAULT.

HE WAS DECLARED PHARAOH, & WHILE THERE, HE HONORED MANY OF THE OLD EGYPTIAN GODS. HE BECAME ESPECIALLY ENAMORED OF A GOD CALLED ZEUS-AMMON.

THIS GOD HAD A FAMOUS ORACLE IN THE LIBYAN DESERT. INSPIRED, ALEXANDER MADE A PILGRIMAGE TO THE DESERT OASIS OF SIWA TO VISIT THE PRIEST OF ZEUS-AMMON.

THE PILGRIMAGE WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS & REQUIRED A MARCH THROUGH A VAST DESERT OF SAND DUNES & SUN. 

HIS GUIDES GOT LOST & IN THE END, ALEXANDER WAS LED TO THE OASIS BY THE DIVINE INTERVENTION OF SNAKES & CROWS.

THERE, THE HIGH PRIEST DECLARED HIM TO BE GREATER THAN ZEUS. THE PRIEST ALSO DIVINED THAT ALEXANDER WAS THE SON OF ZEUS-AMMON, NOT OF PHILLIP.

THAT DECLARATION CEMENTED HIS CLAIM TO BE OF DIVINE BLOOD. BEFORE HE LEFT THE OASIS, ALEXANDER WAS TOLD BY THE PRIEST THAT HE WOULD NEVER BE DEFEATED.

HIS VISIT TO SIWA LEFT HIM MORE CERTAIN THAN EVER THAT HE WAS TRULY INVINCIBLE.

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NOW CONFIRMED AS A GOD, HE KNEW NOTHING COULD STOP HIM. DOUBLING DOWN, HE RENEWED HIS MILITARY CAMPAIGN. 

LEAVING EGYPT Alexander endeavored to reach WHAT HE CALLED "the ends of the world & the Great Outer Sea."

TURNING EASTWARD HE invaded India in 326 BC, achieving an important victory over Porus, aN Indian king of present-day Punjab. 

HE CONTINUED PROBING INTO INDIA, AMAZED AT THE COUNTRY'S STRANGE CUSTOMS & EVEN STRANGER GODS. YET his INCREASINGLY homesick troops GREW RESTLESS.

THERE WERE WHISPERS OF REVOLT. WHEN WOULD ALEXANDER STOP? THEY HAD BEEN AT WAR FOR TEN YEARS. 

FEARING REBELLION, he eventually turned AWAY, ASSURING HIS TROOPS THEY HAD ACHIEVED THEIR GOALS. 

HE SAID THAT — WITH THE PROTECTION OF ATHENE, POSEIDON & ZEUS-AMMON — THEY HAD CONQUERED THE KNOWN WORLD.

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TROOPS MARCHED BACK TO PERSIA. HE LED HIS ARMY TO Babylon, the FABLED city of Mesopotamia.

ALEXANDER planned to establish Babylon AS his empire's capital. BUT THERE, IN HIS FIRST STROKE OF BAD FORTUNE, HIS GODS ABANDONED HIM.

HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN. SIGNS WERE EVERYWHERE, BUT ALEXANDER IGNORED THEM. THE WALLS OF THE PALACE HE OCCUPIED GROANED WITH STRANGE NOISES. 

SCREAMS ECHOED THROUGH THE ELABORATE GARDENS. HIS GUARDS REPORTED HEARING CLANKING CHAINS. THE WATER IN A CENTRAL FOUNTAIN TURNED RED.

THEN IN MYSTERIOUS & CONTROVERSIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, HE SUDDENLY FELL ILL. THE  NIGHT BEFORE HE'D ATTENDED A LONG DRINKING FEST WITH OLD FRIENDS.

WAS HE POISONED? HAD HE DRUNK POLLUTED WATER AS ONE OF HIS HISTORIANS SPECULATED? TO THIS DAY NO ONE KNOWS.  

REGARDLESS, AS A 30-YEAR OLD IN HIS PRIME, WITHIN WEEKS HE HAD WASTED AWAY ... HIS MANY OFFICERS VISITED A LAST TIME, THEN HE DIED IN THE ARMS OF HIS WIFE, ROXANE. 

HIS OLD PROTECTORS — ATHENE, POSEIDON, APOLLO & ZEUS — HAD GONE MISSING. WHY? HAD HE GONE TOO FAR? 

AT THE FINAL BANQUET HE'D DRESSED AS A LIVING GOD, WEARING THE HORNS OF ZEUS-AMMON, THE WINGS OF HERMES & THE LION-SKIN OF HERACLES.

HIS ROBE WAS A COPY OF THAT WORN BY ARTEMIS. OF THE MANY GODS, THERE WERE SO MANY HE MIGHT HAVE OFFENDED.

THE ORACLES & SEERS WHO HAD FOLLOWED HIM FOR SO LONG, ALL QUICK WITH OPINIONS, HAD NOT FORESEEN HIS END OR SAID A WORD IN WARNING.  

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PERHAPS A DECADE OF VICTORY FOR "ALEXANDER THE VICTORIOUS" WAS ENOUGH. NO MAN HAD SO RAPIDLY WON SO MUCH.

WITH THE GODS' BLESSING HE GAINED FABULOUS RICHES & A LAND MASS GREATER THAN ANY MAN BEFORE HIM.

HE WAGED BATTLES & INVENTED STRATEGIES THAT MILITARY SCHOLARS STUDY TO THIS DAY.

THE GODS GRANTED HIM IMMORTALITY, AT LEAST THE KIND THAT WOULD MAKE HIS NAME KNOWN FOREVER WORLDWIDE.

YET IN THE END THE GODS WALKED AWAY. WHY? HE HAD ACCOMPLISHED MORE THAN ANY MAN. BUT PERHAPS, DAMNINGLY, HE HAD BEGUN TO LOOK AT HIMSELF AS A GOD.

THE REAL GODS NEVER LOOKED FAVORABLY ON MEN & WOMEN THAT REACHED TOO FAR, OR THOUGHT TOO HIGHLY OF THEMSELVES.

OVERLY AMBITIOUS HUMANS WERE CUT DOWN, ONE BY ONE, TIME & AGAIN.

ALEXANDER HAD GROWN TO THINK OF HIMSELF AS THE SON OF ZEUS, AS THE SON OF ZEUS-AMMON. HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO HERACLES, THE LEGITIMATE SON OF ZEUS. 

HE CALLED HIMSELF A REINCARNATION OF ACHILLES, A WARRIOR BELOVED OF ATHENE ... THE GODS MAY HAVE WONDERED WHAT HE WOULD CLAIM NEXT.

I SUSPECT THAT AT SOME POINT, ATHENE LOOKED AT ZEUS & SAID, "IT'S ALL TOO MUCH. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH," & THAT ZEUS AGREED.

WHEN THE DIVINE PROTECTION WAS YANKED AWAY, HIS FALL WAS ALMOST INSTANTANEOUS.

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JOIN ME ... FOR A FUTURE EPISODE OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY.

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AND AS I ALWAYS SAY, THANKS FOR LISTENING ... 

THIS IS YOUR HOST, PATRICK GARNER.