Alexander the Divine???


There is a lot of talk regarding the divinity of Alexander the Great. Most modern historians would agree that he probably was not a god, but you would not be able to say that to Alexander; it was clear that he felt that he was. From his conception, his mother, Olympias, maintained that it was not her husband, Philip, who impregnated her, but rather a serpent. This is very interesting because a serpent is closely identified with the god, Zeus Ammon.

This ties in later on in Alexander's life, after he conquered Egypt. He took time out from his campaign to visit the Temple of Ammon in Siwah, at an oasis in the middle of the desert in present-day Libya. Arrian said that he went there, "to consult the god, since the oracle of Ammon was said to be infallible, and to have been consulted by Perseus,... and by Hercules..... Alexander sought to rival Perseus and Hercules, as he was descended from them both; and in addition, he himself traced his birth in part to Ammon, just as the legends traced [the births] of Hercules and Perseus to Zeus." When he finally reached the temple, Arrian told us that he "made his inquiry of the god; he received the answer his heart desired, as he said and turned back for Egypt."

Not only did Alexander want to rival Hercules with his visit to the temple, but he could also do so by impersonating him. On coins that Alexander minted, the face of Hercules bears a great resemblance to Alexander. It is obvious why Alexander wanted to draw this connection between the two. Hercules was, first, the son of Zeus, yet he also was a mortal who became a god. Creating a parallel to the life of Hercules would further strengthen Alexander's claim to be divine. By minting coins that related Alexander to Hercules, he was able to spread the message throughout his empire.

Alexander's introduction of proskynesis, (or prostration) is often cited as another example of his belief in his own divinity. Prostration was used in Persian culture as a way of showing the supreme status of the king and inferiority of everyone else. Mary Renault wrote that, "Persians are willing to bow down before a king, Macedonians not.... The faces of Macedonians could be saved by upgrading the status of the person to whom they bowed. From a king, there was only one step up. Let them bow to before a son of Ammon, who partook of the God's divinity." There is much debate on whether this was an act of statesmanship between two different cultures, but it could also very well be Alexander imposing his divinity upon his people.

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