Essay About Philips Horse And Olympic Games

Alexander the Great
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Long before the birth of Christ, the land directly above what we know as Greece
today, was called Macedonia. Macedonia still exists, but it is now Bulgaria, Yugoslavia
and modern Greece. Macedonia was considered to be part of ancient Greece, but the
people of these two countries couldnt be more different. No people in history ever gave
so much to the human race as the ancient Greeks. They produced architectural
monuments, four of the greatest dramatic actors who ever lived, one of the most brilliant
statesmen and two of the greatest historians. Scientists, philosophers and artists all thrived
in this country. The political system we call democracy had its roots in this culture.
The Macedonians in comparison with their Greek neighbors were crude and fierce in their
outlook. They were a rough people. They never produced any artists, philosophers, or
great actors. But they produced Alexander The Great — a man with a legacy so
remarkable that it has challenged the minds of men ever since.
Alexander was born to conquer the world. His life was bold and from beginning
to end, it was etched with dramatic clarity. Every important event in his life brought him
one step closer to fulfilling his ambition. He was the first leaders, like Caesar and
Napoleon, who partly be accident and partly by design, set out to gather the whole world
into their fists, unify it, rule it and enlighten it.
But unlike the other great giants of history, Alexander was a shooting star whose
blaze of glory ended with his death, at not quite thirty-three years old. . . .
Alexander was born in 356 BC to King Philip of Macedonia and his wife,
Olympias. On the day of Alexanders birth, Philip was away in battle. A courier brought
Philip the message of his sons birth, along with two other messages – Philips horse had
won first prize in the Olympic Games and his army had just won a very important battle.
With three pieces of good news at once, Philip always thought his sons arrival into the
world came with an omen of good luck.
As Crown Prince of Macedonia and at that time, his fathers only heir, Alexander
was raised to inherit his fathers kingdom. Alexander was good at sports and even as a
young child showed a very ambitious streak. One of his courtiers commented on how
well he ran and suggested that he compete in the Olympic foot races. Alexander refused
and replied that we would only run against kings, so that he could be sure that no one
threw the race in his favor.
As a young boy, Alexander began to show many of the traits that made him
famous – courage, cleverness and complete self-confidence. Once when Alexanders
father brought home several horses, one horse in particular caught Alexanders eye. It was
an enormous black horse and one that none of King Philips men seemed to be able to
mount and ride. Alexander approached his father and asked for the horse. On a dare and a
bet from his father, Alexander did what no one else had been able to do, mount and ride
the horse. The horse, Bucephalus, became one of the most famous horses in history and
for most of the sixteen years of his life was the only horse that Alexander ever rode in
battle. When Bucephalus died, Alexander gave him a funeral worthy of a king and named
a city after him.
Alexanders education is said to have been the most expensive in history. Philip
persuaded