Men's Fitness Online

What can you learn from someone who truly deserves the moniker “The Great”?

What was so great about the boy king with the piercing blue eyes portrayed by the up-and-coming Buck Braithwaite in Netflix’s recent sword-and-sandals docu-drama Alexander the Great: The Making of a God?

Alexander, a 20-year-old from a small Greek city-state, led a modest army against the world’s most powerful empire—and won, again and again. In modern terms, it would be like a teenager from a small, underdeveloped Middle Eastern country leading a small rebel force and repeatedly defeating the United States in major clashes. Then, that same teenager marches on to a second superpower of the day and deals them a severe blow. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it?

Well, that’s the equivalent to what Alexander achieved in his time—and in just over a decade. That’s why he’s known as “the Great.” When someone, through sheer will and self-belief, changes the world order and brings down a superpower, they truly earn the title “Great.”

So, How Did Alexander Become So Great?

Fortunate parents and a good education, in short. Because he was the king’s son, he was taught by none other than philosopher and academic Aristotle, and so were his friends who’d later become his generals. He grew up within a tight crew of rich kids with the best education dad’s drachmas could buy. Notably, Alexander had a close emotional attachment to his companion, cavalry commander (Hipparchus), and childhood friend, Hephaestion, played by the dashing Will Stevens. Aristotle taught Alexander and his friends about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, art, and critical thinking.

From 13, Alex and his brothers were taught to think and fight all day, every day. His tactical mind probably came from his dad. Since he was 18, King Philip routinely gave Alexander command of elements of the Calvary in uprisings and border clashes, and he learned quickly. He was taught to fight mano-o-mano by a guy called Leonidas. He was not of 300 fame, but he reputedly possessed the same fighting prowess and was considered an exceptional warrior.

How Did he Fuck Up?

Booze. He was a big drinker and possibly an alcoholic. All his mates and generals were big drinkers, too. Alexander’s drinking bouts are legendary: in one, he killed his friend Cleitus, who had saved his life in battle, with a spear. He cried for three days, supposedly.

One academic argues that it was his alcoholism that, in reality, killed him. Most academics attribute his death to typhoid fever, but the professor argues that it was alcohol. “In a feverish state, he insisted on drinking a huge quantity of wine to slake his thirst. A few hours later, he was dead. ‘His insistence on wine – rather than water – only makes sense if the fever was an acute case of alcohol withdrawal.’” Who knows? Watch it on Netflix now.

DID YOU KNOW?

In Die Hard when well-spoken terrorist Hans Gruber, says “And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept to see he had no more worlds to conquer” he’s supposedly quoting some poet writing about Alexander, but no one’s ever written that. Although it rings true, it’s completely made up by the screenwriters.