Battle of gaugamela alexander movie

Pictures. Historian Robin Lane Fox was Stone's historical advisor for this film, and some of it is based on Fox's own 1973 book Alexander the Great. Stone's film is a visual interpretation of various moments and events in Alexander's life from his childhood, his conquests, and his death in 323 BCE. Stone focuses mostly on the persona of Alexander in terms of his dreams, aspirations, and relationships he had with some of the most important people in his life. Two historical themes that encompass the history of Alexander's campaign of conquest are Power of Personality and Power and Greed. In this analysis, I will use both of these themes to discuss the impact of Alexander the Great, his motivations for his actions, and his life that is being portrayed in this film.

In the film, Collin Farrell plays the character of Alexander and Angelina Jolie plays his mother Olympias. The beginning of the film is dedicated to the childhood of Alexander. In this part Alexander is shown training with other boys, where he meets Hephaestion. He is also tutored by Aristotle. Alexander learns about Greek history and has an interest in becoming a warrior like the famous hero Achilles. Then, as a young man, Alexander's succession to the throne is put to question during his father's, King Philip II, wedding. Attalus says that the new Macedonian wife can now have a legitimate successor to the throne. This results in an altercation between Alexander and his father. The incident is actually recounted in Plutarch's Biography of Alexander. Plutarch describes how Alexander got enraged and when his father took his sword and fell down from his drunkenness Alexander said to the guests, "Look now, men! Here is one who was preparing to cross from Europe into Asia; and he is upset in trying to cross from couch to couch" (Plutarch, "The Life of Alexander," The Loeb Classical Library). Everything plays in favor of Alexander when King Philip is killed by a bodyguard as Olympias looks-on suspiciously, suggesting that she might have ordered his death in order to ensure that Alexander would be king. This is something that has been speculated but not proven. What is known from the record of sources is that, "Pausanias killed Philip in Aegae at the celebration of the wedding of Philip’s daughter Cleopatra to her uncle Alexander of Epirus" (Antela-Bernãrdez). Pausanias was King Philip's lover and the motive for his assassination is not very clear. From the 1st century BCE account of Greek historian Diodorus, Bibliotheca historica, we learn that Pausanias was raped at a banquet by Attalus's servants. "When Pausanias informed Philip about being raped, the king was angry with Attalus. However, because of the king’s relationship with Attalus, the issue was avoided" (Antela-Bernãrdez). So, Pausanias killed him in revenge. The reason why many people believed Olympias might have encouraged Pausanias to kill the king was because it was well known that she wanted Alexander to be king and immediately after that happened Philip's new wife and child were killed. Once Alexander is declared the king, by Hephaestion in the movie, the film jumps to the battle of Gaugamela against King Darius III. Then, Alexander goes into the city of Babylon. The rest of the film depicts Alexander's conflicting relationships with his wife Roxana and his companion-lover Hephaestion, as well as his disputes with his generals.

Many people were critical of the sexuality or homosexuality of Alexander, portrayed in the film. Stone did a great a job in taking into account the ancient Greek sexual practices, but at the same time he did not really present an accurate picture of Alexander's relationship with Hephaestion. From the beginning of the film, Alexander declares his love to Hephaestion but in a very ambiguous way, and their relationship remains confusing and unclear throughout the film. Alexander is portrayed as having Bagoas, an eunuch, as a male lover. This is accurate and it would be a common thing at the time. However, his marriage with Roxanna complicates things. The character of Ptolemy, who is narrating the story, says that it was one of his most mysterious decisions. Alexander's generals fight him to take a Macedonian wife instead, but Alexander refuses to listen. In actuality, it can be inferred that Alexander only took a wife to have successor and as a way to make peace with the people of that place. However, the film does a terrible job in portraying this. There is a scene right after the wedding where Hephaestion goes into Alexander's bedroom and gives him a ring, they are about to have an intimate moment when Roxanna interrupts. "Hephaestion leaves the room, and when Roxanna asks her husband if he loves him, the camera focuses on the ring. But Alexander is unable to admit what the scene has been implying so far. All he says is: “He is Hephaestion! There are many different ways to love, Roxana. Come'"' (Nikoloutsos). So, Alexander's motives for marrying Roxanna and his feelings for her or Hephaestion are never defined.

In the end of the film, Alexander convinces his tired men to fight one last battle in which Hephaestion is injured and then finally decides to go back home. Once in Babylon, after the death of Hephaestion, Alexander is drinking with his men and dies apparently of poisoning. In actuality, the death of Alexander has been a subject of much debate. The rumor that Alexander was poisoned arose immediately after his death and the political crisis that came about because of it. Though it was immediately countered back then, it still remains to this day, even when most historians agree that he died of a fever."Possible explanations for his death have included alcoholic liver disease and strychnine poisoning, but little data support either condition as the cause of his death. Alexander most likely died from malaria or typhoid fever, which were rampant in ancient Babylon. The description of his final illness from the royal diaries is consistent with typhoid fever or malaria but is most characteristic of typhoid fever" (Cunha). In the film, Ptolemy, who supposedly is dictating the story, tells his scribe to rewrite the story, suggesting that in real life his men may have lied about the cause of Alexander's death.

The themes of Power of Personality and Power and Greed are helpful to understand the character of Alexander. The accomplishments of Alexander in such a short period of time are probably what led people to have a fascination for him back then and to this day. "In the stupendously short time of just 11 years, he had turned the mighty Persian empire into a Macedonian-Greek one" (Sivers 206). Alexander was often portrayed as a liberator and was well received, as in the case of Egypt. "He ended the ten years so much detested of Persian domination and introduced himself as the new Pharaoh, performing the ritual required for the transmission power as a son or the nominal son of his deceased predecessor and equally legitimate"(Cicarma). Alexander respected the Egyptians and the different people he conquered, but he spread Greek culture and this was truly his biggest legacy. His time in Egypt is not shown in the film but it is mentioned. What is shown, is his continuous conflicts with his men because they see all non-Greeks as "barbarians," while he shows acceptance to all the different people and even suggests to Hephaestion that he will help them. While in the end, the empire Alexander built was the foundation for the Hellenistic Era, this is where the second theme of Power and Greed needs to be discussed.

Alexander's actions were probably not humble nor for the good of the people only. In the film, Olympias is constantly calling Alexander the son of Zeus and telling him how great he is. This is actually very accurate and all of the titles he kept receiving surely affected him. "In a world where the gods were perceived as living entities and considered part of everyday life, Alexander probably now began to believe in his divinity as a fact rather than a mere propaganda exercise" (Cicarma). Alexander's conquest of Persia began as a revenge for the previous invasion of Greece, but it became much more than that. Alexander did not stop his campaign once he had successfully conquered Persia and defeated King Darious III. He kept moving East and had big plans to build Cities of Alexandria everywhere to create a powerful, united Kingdom. Many times Alexander actually left the native rulers in place because it was strategically better to have good relationships in order to keep benefitting from the countries and their resources. In the film, Alexander is portrayed as having the dream to reach the end of the world. However, his generals are not willing to continue fighting with him nor do they enjoy mixing with the other people. So, they basically pressure Alexander to go back home. If it wasn't for the lack of support from his men, Alexander would have probably continued his conquests. This definitively shows an insatiable greed for power.

Though it may not have been very well appreciated at its time, the film Alexander actually gave a very good portrayal of Alexander. The primary sources on the life of Alexander the Great that were written by people who actually knew him are lost, and the main sources that are used today were written three centuries after his death. Many details about Alexander's life and motivations for various actions are not clear and are debatable for historians who are still examining and trying to understand them. However, Stone did a great job in portraying a character that is consistent with the few sources that exist and with the culture and traditions of that time period. He did a very good job in depicting the emotions, feelings, and wants behind the person who conquered most of the known world at the time. He made Alexander into a heroic film about a little boy who wants to be Achilles and conquer the world, and then grows up and actually does it. There are only two battle scenes in this film but they really show how fierce Alexander was. He led his army from the front in every battle and never lost a single encounter with the enemy. His advancement of warfare technology is legendary, but most of the film focuses at what happens in the privacy of Alexander's chambers and the luxurious life he had, which is much harder to document. By the end of the film, the viewer does some sense of knowing the personality of Alexander, or at least Stone's interpretation of it.

On the other hand, Alexander's big accomplishments were his conquests, and if the viewer does not already know about the history then one cannot get a very good understanding of Alexander's military campaigns from the film. Alexander's conquest of Egypt is completely cut out of the film and his war with the Persians is reduced to a single battle. In addition, because Stone chose to give less emphasis to the battles and more screen time to Alexander's life outside the battlefield, there are many things that are portrayed in the film that cannot be historically verified and are merely Stone's interpretation justified by his artistic license. Some of these things that were already discussed include the possible poisoning, his relationship with Hephaestion, the probable complicity of Olympias in his father's murder, and his motivations for marrying Roxana. Stone's decision to include these things were probably just to give this film a little more drama and to leave it up to the viewer to decide what they believe really happened.

In conclusion, the portrayal of the personality of Alexander the Great in the film Alexander is actually very good in terms of interpreting his personal ambitions. The audience can count on viewing a generally accurate portrayal of the Greek life at the time of the great conqueror Alexander the Great. Through the themes of Power of Personality and Power and Greed, it can be better understood how the great ambitions of a single Macedonian king were able to change the world at his time and left a legacy for the generations after his death.

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Works Cited

Primary Source:

Plutarch. "The Life of Alexander." The Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 7. N.p.: Harvard UP, 1919.

247. Lives. Web. 18 July 2015.

Secondary Sources:

Antela-Bernãrdez, B. "Philip and Pausanias: A Deadly Love in Macedonian Politics." Classical

Quarterly 62 (2012): 859-61. ProQuest. Cambridge University Press. Web. 18 July 2015.

Cicarma, Andra Elena. "Alexander The Great And Pharaonic Egypt. His Conquest, Miths,

Titulaturies and The Establishment Of Hellenistic Egypt." Scientific Journal Of Humanistic Studies 7.12 (2015): 24-32. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 July 2015.

Cunha, BA. "The Death of Alexander the Great: Malaria or Typhoid Fever?."Infectious Disease

Clinics of North America, 18.1 (2004): 53. Web of Science. Web. 18 July 2015.

Nikoloutsos, Konstantinos P. "The Alexander Bromance: Male Desire and Gender Fluidity In

Oliver Stone's Historical Epic."Helios 35.2 (2008): 223-251. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 July 2015.

Sivers, Peter Von, Charles Desnoyers, and George B. Stow. Patterns of World History. New

York: Oxford UP, 2012. Print