Editing Alexander the Great (section)

==Early life==

===Lineage and childhood===

[[File:Archaeological Site of Pella by Joy of Museums.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Archaeological site of [[Pella]], Greece, Alexander's birthplace]]
Alexander III was born in [[Pella]], the capital of the [[Kingdom of Macedon]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Peter |title=Alexander of Macedon, 356–323 B.C.: a historical biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6Wl4AKGQkIC&pg=PA559 |page=xxxiii |year=1970 |series=Hellenistic culture and society |edition=illustrated, revised reprint |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07165-0 |quote=356 – Alexander born in Pella. The exact date is not known, but probably either 20 or 26 July. |access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> on the sixth day of the [[Ancient Greek calendars|ancient Greek month]] of [[Hekatombaion]], which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC (although the exact date is uncertain).<ref>Plutarch, ''Life of Alexander'' 3.5: {{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t32.html#7 |title=The birth of Alexander the Great |work=Livius|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320180439/https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t32.html|archive-date=20 March 2015|url-status = dead |access-date=16 December 2011 |quote=Alexander was born the sixth of [[Hekatombaion]].}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=David George Hogarth |date=1897 |title=Philip and Alexander of Macedon : two essays in biography |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028251217/page/n321/mode/2up?view=theater |location=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |pages=286–287 |access-date=9 November 2021}}</ref> He was the son of the king of Macedon, [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]], and his fourth wife, [[Olympias]] (daughter of [[Neoptolemus I of Epirus|Neoptolemus I]], king of [[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]]).<ref>{{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=10}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=28}}, {{harvnb|Durant|1966|p=538}}</ref>{{Cref2|g}} Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely because she gave birth to Alexander.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=171}}[[File:Coin olympias mus theski.JPG|left|thumb|155px|Roman medallion depicting [[Olympias]], Alexander's mother]]Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}} According to the [[Ancient Greeks|ancient Greek]] biographer [[Plutarch]], on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, Olympias dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunderbolt that caused a flame to spread "far and wide" before dying away. Sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife's womb with a [[Seal (emblem)|seal]] engraved with a lion's image.<ref name="PA2" /> Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations for these dreams: that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was [[Zeus]]. Ancient commentators were divided about whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, variously claiming that she had told Alexander, or that she dismissed the suggestion as impious.<ref name="PA2" />

On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a [[siege]] on the city of [[Potidea]] on the peninsula of [[Chalcidice]]. That same day, Philip received news that his general [[Parmenion]] had defeated the combined [[Illyria]]n and [[Paeonian]] armies and that his horses had won at the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]]. It was also said that on this day, the [[Temple of Artemis]] in [[Ephesus]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World|Seven Wonders of the World]], burnt down. This led [[Hegesias of Magnesia]] to say that it had burnt down because [[Artemis]] was away, attending the birth of Alexander.<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=28}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=21}}</ref> Such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}}

In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, [[Lanike]], sister of Alexander's future general [[Cleitus the Black]]. Later in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict [[Leonidas of Epirus|Leonidas]], a relative of his mother, and by [[Lysimachus of Acarnania]].{{sfn|Renault|2001|pp=33–34}} Alexander was raised in the manner of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the [[lyre]], ride, fight, and hunt.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from [[Thessaly]] brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen [[Attic talent|talents]]. The horse refused to be mounted, and Philip ordered it away. Alexander, however, detecting the horse's fear of its own shadow, asked to tame the horse, which he eventually managed.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}} Plutarch stated that Philip, overjoyed at this display of courage and ambition, kissed his son tearfully, declaring: "My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too small for you", and bought the horse for him.<ref name="PA6" /> Alexander named it [[Bucephalas]], meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas carried Alexander as far as [[India]]. When the animal died (because of old age, according to Plutarch, at age 30), Alexander named a city after him, [[Alexandria Bucephalous|Bucephala]].<ref>{{harvnb|Durant|1966|p=538}}, {{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=64}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=39}}</ref>

===Education===
{{Alexander the Great series}}
When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a [[tutor]], and considered such academics as [[Isocrates]] and [[Speusippus]], the latter offering to resign from his stewardship of the [[Platonic Academy|Academy]] to take up the post. In the end, Philip chose [[Aristotle]] and provided the Temple of the Nymphs at [[Mieza, Macedonia|Mieza]] as a classroom. In return for teaching Alexander, Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of [[Stageira]], which Philip had razed, and to repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or pardoning those who were in exile.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|pp=65–66}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=44}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=15}}</ref>

Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]], [[Hephaistion]], and [[Cassander]]. Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the "Companions". Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of [[Homer]], and in particular the ''[[Iliad]]''; Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander later carried on his campaigns.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|pp=65–66}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=45–47}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=16}}</ref> Alexander was able to quote [[Euripides]] from memory.<ref name="RLF">{{cite book |last1=Lane Fox |first1=Robin |title=Alexander the Great | date=1986 |publisher=Penguin Group |isbn=978-0-14-008878-6 |page=48}}</ref>

In his youth, Alexander was also acquainted with Persian exiles at the Macedonian court, who received the protection of Philip II for several years as they opposed [[Artaxerxes III]].{{sfn|Cawthorne|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oxyz0v9T74sC&pg=PA42 42–43]}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howe |first1=Timothy |last2=Brice |first2=Lee L. |title=Brill's Companion to Insurgency and Terrorism in the Ancient Mediterranean |date=2015 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-28473-9 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=248DCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="EDC">{{cite book |last1=Carney |first1=Elizabeth Donnelly |title=Women and Monarchy in Macedonia |date=2000 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3212-9 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbI2hZBy_EkC&pg=PA101|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref> Among them were [[Artabazos II]] and his daughter [[Barsine]], possible future mistress of Alexander, who resided at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BC, as well as [[Amminapes]], future [[satrap]] of Alexander, and a Persian nobleman named [[Sisines]].{{sfn|Cawthorne|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oxyz0v9T74sC&pg=PA42 42–43]}}<ref name="JM">{{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Janett |title=Greek Perspectives on the Achaemenid Empire: Persia Through the Looking Glass |date=2016 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-4724-8 |pages=271–272 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49JVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA271|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Briant |first1=Pierre |title=Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction |date=2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-15445-9 |page=114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WAW6kmL30RUC&pg=PA114|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="EJ">{{cite book |last1=Jensen |first1=Erik |title=Barbarians in the Greek and Roman World |date=2018 |publisher=Hackett Publishing |isbn=978-1-62466-714-5 |page=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QCRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref> This gave the Macedonian court a good knowledge of Persian issues, and may even have influenced some of the innovations in the management of the Macedonian state.<ref name="JM"/>

[[Suda]] writes that [[Anaximenes of Lampsacus]] was one of Alexander's teachers, and that Anaximenes also accompanied Alexander on his campaigns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/alpha/1989|title=SOL Search|website=cs.uky.edu|access-date=24 August 2019|archive-date=9 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809025936/https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/alpha/1989|url-status=live}}</ref>