ABSTRACT
Few episodes in history have fascinated as many readers and listeners as the bright star of Alexander the Great shooting across the firmament, to mark the end of an era and the beginning of another. From schoolboys wide-eyed at the great adventure to old men moralizing on philosopher kings, we all interpret the great drama in terms of our experience and our dreams. It has gained a secure standing among the Myths of Ancient Greece, ranking (one may say) with the story of Odysseus or of Oedipus. Needless to say, the history of Alexander III of Macedon has to some extent been lost underneath the myth-making, and some aspects of it can perhaps no longer be salvaged. But the tragedy of the historical Alexander is at least as fascinating as the best of both the ancient and the modern legends; and it is this that, across the fragments of the history, I want to sketch on this occasion.2
