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Alexander & Megalomania

<html><p xmlns:dct=“http://purl.org/dc/terms/”><a rel=“license” href=“http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/”><img src=“http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png” style=“border-style: none;” alt=“Public Domain Mark” /></a><br />This work (by <a href=“https://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki” rel=“dct:creator”>https://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki</a>), identified by <a href=“http://meninpublishing.org” rel=“dct:publisher”><span property=“dct:title”>Frank Redmond</span></a>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</p></html>

Authored by Frank Redmond, 2012

I knew all the time that you, Philip, son of Amyntas, were my father. I only accepted the statement of the oracle because I thought it was good policy.

I have a hard time believing this statement coming from Alexander in the Dialogues of the Dead.

I've just finished reading the Alexander chapter of the great overview book Egypt, Greece, and Rome. I can't help but think that once Alexander tasted unlimited power, he couldn't help but become a complete megalomanical tyrant. Some of the stories of forced hardship for his troops and over-the-top drinking parties makes him seem incredibly self-absorbed. People were dying left and right due to his instability. He makes other tyrants like Xerxes I seem much more controlled and mild.

That's why this quote from Lucian seems so incredible to me. There is no way Alexander believed it was “good policy” to be considered a god. He relished the idea of being a god. Just like the oriental despots he deposed.