Greek History Through Metal Songs #2: Alexander The Great (Iron Maiden)

 Mosaic showing Alexander the Great (Public Domain)

Welcome to another episode of me teaching you Greek history though classic heavy metal pieces. 

After the epic victory of Greece against the Italians during WW II, today I want to take you to the ancient times...

Today's lesson is about one of the greatest military commanders the world has ever known. A man who was never defeated in battle. A man who died very young, at the age of 32, but still managed to conquer almost the entire known world before his last breath. A Greek king who united all Greeks (except the proud Spartans) against the almighty Persian Empire and brought it to its knees once and for all. A man who founded over 20 cities bearing his name and spread the ancient Greek culture and values to every place he set foot and permanently changed the flow history in ways we can't imagine. A mortal man that became a legend and was even considered to be a God by some.  

Conqueror, accursed, liberator, brilliant, divine, heroic, prophet, Pharaoh, drunkard, god are some of the epithets historians and everyday folks have used to describe him over the course of time. But, it's "Great" the one that sticks out. 

His name was  Alexander,  (20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC) and this is his story, as told by Iron Maiden, one the greatest metal bands the world has ever known:

Lyrics Break Down

 "My son ask for thyself another
Kingdom, for that which I leave
is too small for thee"
(King Philip of Macedonia - 339 B.C.)

The prelude of the song begins with a direct quote from the father of Alexander the Great, King Philip of Macedonia. These words were spoken by Philip to his son, after witnessing how bravely Alexander fought in the battle of Chæronea, between the Macedonians and an alliance of some Greek city-states led by Athens and Thebes. This was a decisive battle that eventually led in establishing the federation of Greek states. The same federation that a few years later ended the threat of the Persian Empire, by taking the war to them and annihilating it completely.

In a part of ancient Greece
In an ancient land called Macedonia
Was born a son
To Philip of Macedon
The legend his name was Alexander

Pretty much self-explanatory. Alexander the Great was the son of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias of Epirus, born in Ancient Macedonia, home of the ancient Greek Macedons.

At the age of nineteen
He became the Macedon King
And he swore to free all of Asia Minor

After the cowardice assassination of his father in October 336 BC , Alexander was proclaimed King right on the spot. Actually, he was 20 but I guess "nineteen" was easier to rhyme :)

As for Asia Minor, it refers to Ionia, an ancient Greek settlement that had long fallen to the Persians. Sidenote: It was the Ionian Revolt, that gave Persians all the reasons they needed to launch an all-out attack to ancient Greece a few years back. An attack that as you might know from the 300,  ultimately failed. 

By the Aegian Sea
In 334 B.C.
He utterly beat the armies of Persia

This is a reference to the Battle of Granicus, the first of  the three major battles fought between the united army of greek states under Alexander the Great and the Persian Empire. The battle was fought in Northwestern Asia Minor, near the site of Troy, and it was a devastating defeat for the persians, despite their greater numbers.

Greek Vs Persian Army, Modern Estimations of Strength & Losses In The Battle Of Granicus (credit)

[Chorus:]
Alexander the Great
His name struck fear into hearts of men
Alexander the Great
Became a legend 'mongst mortal men

Pretty much self explanatory. Alexander the great's legendary status is proven by the fact that he appears in all kinds of literature from ancient times to even today, including Bible, Qu'ran, movies, songs, video games and the countless cities that still bear his name.

King Darius the third
Defeated fled Persia

King Darius fled both times in the two major battles that followed the battle of Granicus; the Battle of Issus and the Battle of Gaugamela in both of which the Greek Army emerged victorious. 

Mosaic, showing Battle of Issus (credit, CC BY)

At some point after the battle of Gaugamela and after failing to raise a force that would stand a chance against Alexander the Great, he fled to Bactria where he hoped he could put his cavalry and mercenary forces in better use thanks to the more even ground of the plains of Asia. But his demoralized forces grew tired of his shit and he was eventually killed by a coup led by Bessus,  also known as Artaxerxes V, a prominent Persian Satrap of Bactria in Persia.

The Scythians fell by the river Jaxartes

This line is about the Battle of Jaxartes where Alexander the Great fought  against the Scythians  in an area near the borders of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Again, a total victory for the Greeks, with the Greeks losing about 150 men and the Scythians about ten times more. 

After the battle, Alexander released all prisoners without ransom and the Scythians never bothered him again, as they came to know both his bad and his good side.

Then Egypt fell to the Macedon King as well
And he founded the city called Alexandria

Following the fall of Gaza after many failed attempts,  Alexander marched on Egypt and was regarded as a liberator. "He was pronounced son of the deity Amun at the Oracle of Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert.Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and after his death, currency depicted him adorned with the horns of a ram as a symbol of his divinity. During his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria-by-Egypt, which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death." [credit]

As for the city of Alexandria, it still stands today, carrying the same name that it was originally given. 

Name of Alexander the Great in Egyptian hieroglyphs (written from right to left) (credit, CC BY)

By the Tigris river
He met King Darius again
And crushed him again in the battle of Arbela

Mainly known as the Battle of Gaugamela, the Battle of Arbela was the last time the forces of Alexander tested the swords, spears and arrows of the Persian Empire. Heavily outnumbered, the Greek forces emerged victorious once more, thanks to the brilliant tactics of Alexander the Great. 

It was after this battle that Darius was killed by Bessus and according to the historians of the time, Alexander was really saddened to see his enemy die in the hands of his "comrades". Proving he is a man of honor, he gave Darius a full burial ceremony at Persepolis and promised his family that his death would be revenged. A year later, he managed to capture Bessus, who was later executed. 

Entering Babylon
And Susa, treasures he found
Took Persepolis the capital of Persia

A reference to the conquering of the three key-cities of the Persian empire; Babylon, Susa and Persepolis. Persepolis was the last to fall, and with it gone, the once upon a time all-mighty Persian empire essentially ceased to exist. Alexander's initial goal to terminate the Persian threat had finally been achieved.

But Alexander dreamed big. He had united the Greeks. He had brought down the Persian empire. It was time for the rest of the world to share the Greek values...

A Phrygian King had bound a chariot yoke
And Alexander cut the 'Gordian knot'
And legend said that who untied the knot
He would become the master of Asia

I think we have all heard the story of the Gordian Knot. Although sources from back then agree that Alexander was confronted with the challenge of the knot, there is a lot of dispute on how he solved the problem. Some say he cut it with his sword. Others that he pulled the knot out of its pole pin, exposing the two ends and eventually untied it. We will never know for sure!

Regardless,  Alexander later went on to conquer Asia as far as the Indus and the Oxus, fulfilling the prophecy that the one who unties the knot will become ruler of Asia.

Hellenism he spread far and wide
The Macedonian learned mind
Their culture was a western way of life

During his campaign, Alexander attempted and partially succeeded to insert Greek elements and hellenize the Persian culture. Often, he even married the local women to his soldiers in hopes to also homogenize the blood itself. He himself married 3 women, all foreigners, including  Stateira II, daughter of King Darius.

He paved the way for Christianity

This is quite an intriguing line. Much, much later, Greek scholars did play a huge role in the spread of Christianity and I guess that wouldn't have been possible if Alexander's campaign had failed. I suggest you to have a look over the Greco-Buddhism article on wikipedia, it's a really interesting read on how Buddhism (and possibly Christianity to an extent) was influenced by the Greek culture.

Marching on, marching on
The battle weary marching side by side
Alexander's army line by line
They wouldn't follow him to India
Tired of the combat, pain and the glory

After conquering Persia and Egypt, Alexander turned his eyes to India. But his men... were just mortal men...

After almost 10 years of battle after battle after battle they couldn't take it anymore. The moral was low and they pleaded to Alexander for the war to stop. After all, the initial goal of defeating the Persians had been achieved and then some...  All they wanted was to see their homelands, parents and wives again.. Nobody could blame them... At first, he didn't listen and the march to India continued...

At some point though, Alexander heard their plea and after many harshes eventually returned..

Alexander the Great
His name struck fear into hearts of men
Alexander the Great
He died of fever in Babylon 

 Sometime between the evening of June 10 and the evening of June 11, 323 BC, Alexander the Great left his dying breath at the age of thirty-two in Babylon. There's a lot of mystery and theories surrounding his sudden death. An illness like typhoid fever? Poisoning? Too much alcohol? We will probably never know..

What we do know is that his ideals, ideas and the Empire he built was too big for the small men that followed.  A series of civil wars tore it apart, and it wasn't long before his materialized dream was no more....

The End

This brings us to the end of the lesson. 

Alexander the Great by Iron Maiden is an old-time classic and I believe their song does true justice to his life. He was a great military figure and carried beliefs and ideas that were centuries ahead of his time. A big man but ultimately.. a man. He was not perfect and he had many flaws that I have not covered in this post. Hopefully, my words gave you the spark to learn more about his life, as there is much that it can teach us...

Map Showing The Empire Alexander The Great Built During His Life...It Wasn't Long Before his Successors Blew Everything Up! (Public Domain)