Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth

Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth by Cantor, Norman F.. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780060570125.

"Alexanders behavior was conditioned along certain lines -- heroism, courage, strength, superstition, bisexuality, intoxication, cruelty. He bestrode Europe and Asia like a supernatural figure." In this succinct portrait of Alexander the Great, distinguished scholar and historian Norman Cantor illuminates the personal life and military conquests of this most legendary of men. Cantor draws from the major writings of Alexanders contemporaries combined with the most recent psychological and cultural studies to show Alexander as he was -- a great figure in the ancient world whose puzzling personality greatly fueled his military accomplishments. He describes Alexanders ambiguous relationship with his father, Philip II of Macedon; his oedipal involvement with his mother, the Albanian princess Olympias; and his bisexuality. He traces Alexanders attempts to bridge the East and West, the Greek and Persian worlds, using Achilles, hero of the Trojan War, as his model. Finally, Cantor explores Alexanders view of himself in relation to the pagan gods of Greece and Egypt. More than a biography, Norman Cantors Alexander the Great is a psychological rendering of a man of his time.