Biographies of Grecian Legends

Alexander the Great was born on July 20, 356 B.C. His father was Phillip II and Queen Olympia. When Alexander was young, he had many tutors. One of which was the great Philosopher, Aristotle. Aristotle introduced the Iliad to Alexander, causing his dreams of being a hero to begin. When Alexander was 19 years old, his father was assassinated. After his death, Alexander used force in order for him to become king. Alexander, his army, and his mother murdered every heir that could get in Alexander's way. After Alexander became king of Macedonia, he wanted to gain control of the Corinthian league. However, he was not accepted right away and had to coerce the other city-states into letting him control the league by giving them treaties and convincing them in meetings. After his efforts to control the league, Alexander became the leader of the campaign against Persia. One of Alexander's most significant campaigns/conquests was the Asiatic expedition. During this campaign, Alexander defeated Darius III's forces at the Grancius River. Next, Alexander defeated Darius again at Issus even with Alexander's smaller army. After Darius fled due to this defeat, Alexander became the king of Persia. Alexander would go on to conquer many more countries and become "King of Babylon, King of Asia, King of the Four Quarters of the World," before his death by Malaria in 323 B.C.

Phillip II was born in 383 BCE and was the father of Alexander the Great. Phillip's first position of power was the guardian of his brother, the king, Perdiccas III's son. Using this power, Phillip was able to "remake the Macedonian army." Phillip made the army very strong and it was able to invade many places such as Paeonia and Illyria. Phillip became king of Macedonia in 357. Phillip was a grade military fighter and conquered many regions of Athens, gaining Macedonia more power and wealth. In 338, Phillip was victorious over the Greeks and formed the League of Corinth, bringing almost every Greek city-state into an alliance with Phillip. However, Phillip was assassinated by Pausanias in 336. The legacy left behind by Phillip led to Alexanders immaculate success and incredible ability to lead.

Darius III was the last king of the Achaemenid dynasty. Phillip II had left behind the League of Corinth in order to free the Greeks from the rule of Darius's people. However, Darius wasn't extremely involved with Phillip's family until he was defeated by Alexander the Great in 334 and again in 333. After his defeats, Darius fled and abandoned his family to save himself. Darius did all he could to stop Alexander's attacks, he wrote him letters of friendship, offered him ransom, and even offered him his daughter. However, Alexander didn't break down and he battled the Persians again at Gaugamela where Darius fled again and was killed on October 1, 331 by satrap Bessus.