Alexander the Great: A Study in the Complexity of Humanity

What history's most infamous conquerer can teach us about embracing our own complexity.

Photo by Tucker Monticelli on Unsplash

I’ve been taking a lot of comfort in history lately, to dissociate from the horrors of waking reality. In that space, I recently decided to (finally) take the leap into Alexander the Great territory. My interest was piqued after I read the story of Sisygambis and Stateira, two of the women whom Alexander took hostage during his world conquest.

I started working on a book to tell the story (a book I actually ended up writing in 25 days) - but lo and behold, when I found myself hooked on Alexander the Great.

It’s an easy thing to do. I don’t know of anyone else in the history of the world who has a more fascinating story. The epic tale of this backwater prince taking over the whole of the ancient world is better than the bible. It’s better than the Henrician Era or the Regency Era, or any of those other time periods.

But it’s not the tales of battles and conquests that will get you when you dig into Alexander of Macedon’s history. It’s the humanity beneath it all.

Despite his repeated attempts at the opposite, Alexander was perhaps the most human human being that ever lived. He didn’t pretend to be anything other than he was. A world-domination-obsessed narcissist with occasional moments of blinding brilliance, compassion, cruelty, and rage.

And there’s something to be gleaned in that, for all of us. No, we’re not world conquerors - nor should we strive to be. What we are, though, is humans, and learning how to embrace the fullness of that is what could empower us to achieve what we desire most in this life.

Alexander the Great. Alexander the Complex.

Without a doubt, Alexander of Macedon has to be one of the most complex historical figures in the scope of the human experiment. We see examples of this complexity throughout the length and breadth of Alexander’s story. From his childhood, he would pop out of his mother’s bed to defend her honor against his rapacious father. Or as a teen, achieving unbelievable feats and showing sharp intelligence, love of knowledge, and even occasional compassion.