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Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy: A Biography book cover

1st Edition

Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy A Biography

By J M O'Brien Copyright 1993
    360 Pages
    by Routledge

    360 Pages
    by Routledge

    360 Pages
    by Routledge
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    Despite Alexander the Great's unprecedented accomplishments, during the last seven years of his life, this indomitable warrior became increasingly unpredictable, sporadically violent, megalomaniacal, and suspicious of friends as well as enemies. What could have caused such a lamentable transformation?
    This biography seeks to answer that question by assessing the role of alcohol in Alexander the Great's life, using the figure of Dionysus as a symbol of its destructive effects on his psyche. The unique methodology employed in this book explores various aspects of Alexander's life while maintaining an historical framework. The exposition of the main theme is handled in such a way that the biography will appeal to general readers as well as scholars.

    Chapter I: The Coming of Age in Macedonia; Dionysus in the Royal Tombs; Macedonian Drinking; Philip and Alexander; Olympias and Alexander; the Dionysiac Cult in Macedonia; Olympias, Philip and Alexander; The Gardens of Midas, Heroic Models; Regent; The Battle of Chaeronea; Athens (338 B.C.); The Wedding of Philip II and CLeopatra; The Pixodarus Affair; The Assassination of Philip II Chapter II: A Homeric King; The Accession (336 B.C.); Alexander in Greece; Northern Campaigns; The Destruction of Thebes; Dium; Alexander's Sexuality; Alexander at the Hellespont; The Battle of the Granicus River; Asia Minor; The Gordian Knot; The Battle of Issus; Phoenicia; The Siege of Tyre; Egypt; Alexandria; The Journey to Siwah; The Battle of Gaugamela; Babylon and Susa Chapter III The Metamorphosis; The Signs of Change; The Burning of Persepolis: Orientalization; The Philotas Affair; The Death of Cleitus; Proskynesis; Callisthenes; The Pages' Conspiracy; Nysa and Aornus ^:Chapter IV: The Ambivalent Victor; Into India (326 B.C.); The Battle of the Hydaspes (Jhelum) River; Mutiny at the Hyphasis (Beas) River; Ocean; The Gedrosian Desert; Carmania; Persis; Cyrus's Tomb; Susa; Deification; The Opis Mutiny; The Death of Hephaestiion; Chapter V Death in Babylon; The Last Plans; The Death of Alexander Epilogue; Appendix A: The Royal Tombs; Appendix B: Attributes of Wine in the Readings of Alexander the Great; Postscript; Key to Abbreviations; Notes; Bibliography; Index

    Biography

    J M O'Brien

    `What happened to Alexander? O'Brien's answer is mesmerising ... he brings to the tale a sense of fatalism that Euripides would understand.' - Paul A. Gilster, The News and Observer

    `The Invisible Enemy is scholarly, gripping and intensely readable, and can be recommended to student and general reader alike.' - Derek Mahon, The Irish Times

    `A carefully balanced and beautifully written general biography that is a model of thoughtful scholarship.' - Roger Forseth, Dionysos

    `Suitable for a modern age ... fair and balanced ... The bibliography is the most complete ever assembled on modern Alexander scholarhip and will prove useful to students and scholars alike.' - Eugene N. Borza, Choice

    `The author ... [displays] an immense knowledge of ancient Greek literature and history, we have a book that could indeed have been written 2,000 years ago. You don't often get a chance to read a book like this.' - Joseph Losos, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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