Was Alexander the Great Black? Exploring the Truth and Myths of Alexanders Race
Okay, so, I’ve been seeing this question popping up everywhere lately: Was Alexander the Great actually black? It’s wild, right? I mean, we always see him portrayed a certain way in movies and books. So, I decided to dig into it myself, you know, do my own little research project.
First, I started with the obvious – what do we actually know about Alexander the Great? Turns out, he was the king of Macedonia, this place in ancient Greece, and he conquered a huge chunk of the world back in the 300s BCE. That’s like, super long ago. They call him “the Great” because, well, he was a pretty big deal. He did all this conquering before he even hit 30. Crazy, huh? He drew inspiration from the gods Achilles, Heracles. I also checked out that although Pella, the capital of Ancient Macedonia, is not part of modern day Greece, by nationality, Alexander was Greek.
Then, I looked into where this whole “black Alexander” idea came from. Some of the stuff I found talked about how history gets interpreted differently over time, and how legends and myths get mixed up with the real story. And Alexander? Man, this guy’s got tons of legends around him. It is said that as soon as Alexander died, scores of legends and myths surrounded his name. It’s like, the minute he died, people started making up all these stories. I guess that’s what happens when you’re a legend, and many Alexander narratives call for further study of the relationships between history.
Next, I tried to find anything about his actual appearance. There’s not a lot out there. I read a biography, where the author, Cartledge, was super careful to separate the myth from the man. And he is careful to separate the myth from the man. Alexander’s life was short but eventful. His father, Philip of Macedon. What I did find, though, was that his dad, Philip II, was part of this royal family in Macedonia, the Argead Dynasty. So, it seems Alexander was part of this long line of Macedonian rulers. There’re also some facts, for example, Alexander was King of Macedonia for almost 50 years. But this is false – He was only king for 13 years. Alexander died from illness due to exhaustion. And, the Hellenistic Age is named after Helen of Troy. This is false, too.
So, here’s what I figured out: there’s no real evidence saying Alexander was black. He was Macedonian, which is part of ancient Greece. Could he have had a darker complexion? Maybe. People back then traveled and mixed a lot. But was he what we would consider “black” today? Probably not.
Honestly, the whole thing got me thinking about how we see historical figures. We tend to picture them based on what we see in pop culture, not necessarily what’s accurate. And sometimes, people try to change history to fit their own ideas. It’s important to look at the actual facts and not just believe everything you hear. This Alexander thing is a good reminder of that, I think.
Anyway, that’s my little adventure into ancient history. It was a fun deep dive, and I learned a lot. What do you guys think about all this?
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