The Legend Of Alexander The Great's Death

Great Essays
Alexander was driven to discover and conquer as much land as he can. It was important that back then in order for an empire to be strong it must be in control with as much land as possible. On his journey in the middle east he stumbled upon modern day Jordan where the Jewish people inhabited that land. According to one book, “the greater part of the area belonged to the kingdom of Jordan – is the broken table-land round Jerusalem, roughly corresponding with the territory known in Roman times as Judaea” (Grant, 1973). Alexander passed through modern day Jordan after he overtook the Persian empire he stumbled upon the Jews. It was mentioned, “As Alexander passed through Palestine on his way to annex Egypt, there were stories of his kind treatment …show more content…
Some people speculate that he died because of the amount of alcohol that was confused, and other people think that Alexander died because someone poisoned him. What is even weirder is that no one knows where his body is buried or the location of his remains. When it comes to theories of Alexander the Great’s death it still remains an elusive mystery. After his death he was still memorialized in different religions. Each religion and culture came up with their mythology surrounding Alexander, to make him live on forever. One legend that was developed by the Jews is the legend of Alexander and his horns. According to the Jews Alexander would kill his barber after he received his haircut because underneath his hair he had horns. Alexander went through a lot of barbers in the ancient city of Jerusalem that only one of the barbers was left. Alexander was intelligent enough to know that he needs this last barber because all the other ones are dead. He made the barber promise him never to tell anyone. The barber managed to keep the big secret from everyone, but it got to the point where he could not keep it. The barber ended up going to a cave where he finally revealed Alexander’s secret. One day a shepherd decided to play his flute and instead of a melody coming out it was the barber’s voice saying Alexander has horns. Word got to Alexander and he sent out to kill the barber but the admitted to his wrongdoings and Alexander forgave him ("JHOM - Hair - Iraqi Folktale", 2016). This is an example of Alexander’s true character and that he can be merciful. This myth that the Jews came up with could have easily ended in a bad way where Alexander kills the barber who could not keep the secret. Yet, the decided to depict Alexander in a merciful way to show his character. Despite Alexander’s many wrong doings that he is guilty of doing there is still redeeming qualities that can help many people overlook the bad in him.

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