VilaWeb - Diari escola: Alexander the Great, on the Big Screen

VilaWeb.cat

VilaWeb.tv

Nosaltres.cat

MÉSVilaWeb

Correu

Clau

dissabte, 5 d'abril de 2025

> Alexander

> The Builder of an Immense...

> ...and Cosmopolitan Empire

dimarts, 11 de gener de 2005

The 5th of January saw the premiere of the film 'Alexander' at cinemas all over the country. Directed by the North American film-maker Oliver Stone, it recreates the life and times of Alexander the Great, one of the major figures of ancient history, now enveloped in an aura of myth and legend.

Stone has been interested in the character of the Macedonian warrior for some time and has been working hard to get this film made for fifteen years or so. It is almost three hours long and has cost around one hundred and fifty million dollars, which makes it the most expensive production of his career, above and beyond films like his 'Platoon', 'Born on the 4th of July', 'JFK' and 'Nixon'.

This megaproduction has an all-star cast headed by Colin Farrell in the role of Alexander; Angelina Jolie, who plays the part of Olympias; Val Kilmer, who plays Philip of Macedonia; and Anthony Hopkins, who plays Ptolemy.

The premiere of 'Alexander' has raised controversy, as already occurred with Stone's previous films, such as 'JFK'. This time, the controversy has mostly centred on the character's sexual orientation, as the film presents him as a bisexual.

In the United States, 'Alexander' has received poor reviews and has not been a box office success, but Stone is confident that it will be better received in Europe.

+ Webs relacionades dins Nosaltres.Com: Cinema

Alexander

+ Alexander was educated by the philosopher Aristotle.

Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C) had a short but extremely intense life. The son of King Philip and Queen Olympias of Macedonia, from a young age he received a meticulous education under the tutorship of the great philosopher Aristotle. An expert in Greek mythology, the young Alexander dreamt of emulating the great deeds of the heroes described in the poems of Homer, and very soon he was presented with the chance of doing so: in 336 B.C Philip died and Alexander, who was then twenty years of age, decided to turn his political ambitions and dreams of grandeur into reality.

The Builder of an Immense...

+ Detail of the Alexander mosaic from the House of the Faun (Pompeii).

First of all, the new king of Macedonia subdued the Greek cities that had rebelled following the death of his father. That done, the Alexandrian army embarked on the conquest of the Persian Empire, which was finally defeated at the battle of Gaugamela. Not content with this, and after a stay in the beautiful city of Babylon, Alexander pushed his way into the lands located even further east until he reached the Indus Valley in India; and he would have gone even further, had his lieutenants not opposed him.

...and Cosmopolitan Empire

+ Map of Alexander's Empire.

With these conquests, Alexander became the leader of a vast empire the like of which had never been seen. It stretched from Greece to the Indian subcontinent and included Egypt to the South. It was of course a highly diverse empire, and Alexander wanted it to be integrating and cosmopolitan. He led by example, marrying the Persian Princess Roxane. But in 323 B.C., about to reach the age of thirty-three, Alexander died, supposedly of fever, and the empire was broken up into several kingdoms. But Alexander's military deeds had given rise to the great expansion of Greek civilisation.

MATERIALS

'Alexander'
Format:Web
Web oficial del film sobre Alexandre el Gran: tràiler, galeria fotogràfica, sinopsi...
Alexander the Great on the Web
Format:Web
Portal íntegrament dedicat a la figura del rei macedoni.
Alexander the Great
Format:Web
Una altra pàgina relativa al mateix personatge històric.
Laberint
Format:Web
Portal en català que vol fer conèixer la mitologia clàssica. Adreçat a mestres i escolars d'ESO.
Recursos
Format:Web
Un recull de vincles sobre l'antiga Grècia.

QUE HO SABIES?

When he was still a child and to everyone's surprise, Alexander managed to ride a horse that no-one had ever managed to tame. Given the name Bucephalus, the steed accompanied Alexander in his Asian conquests.
Alexander the Great founded many cities, some of which he named Alexandria. The one he founded in Egypt was to become the most famous of them all.
In 333 B.C. in the city of Gordium, Asia Minor, the Macedonian king succeeded in undoing the Gordian knot. Legend had it that the first person able to undo it would rule over Asia.