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Alexander
Alexander the Great
Gender	Male
Meaning	"Defender of Man"
Origin	Greek
Popularity	Popular names page

Alexander is a common male first name.

Origin

Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb ἀλέξω (alexō) "protector of men", "to push back", "to hold off" and the noun ἀνδρός (andros), genitive of ἀνήρ (anēr) "man". It is an example of the widespread motif of Greek (or Indo-European more generally) names expressing "battle-prowess", in this case the ability to withstand or push back an enemy battle line.

The earliest attested record of the name is the Mycenaean Greek of the feminine Alexandra, written in Linear B.^[1][2]

The name was one of the titles ("epithets") given to the Greek goddess Hera and as such is usually taken to mean "one who comes to save warriors". In the Iliad, the character Paris is known also as Alexander. The name's popularity was spread throughout the Greek world by the military conquests of King Alexander III, commonly known as "Alexander the Great". Most later Alexanders in various countries were directly or indirectly named for him.

Variants and diminutives

• Albanian – Aleksandër, hi, Leka, Lekë, Sandër, Skënder, Leksi, Leks, Aleko, Lisandër
• Amharic – እስከንደር (Eskender)
• Arabic – الاسكندر / اسكندر (Iskandar)
• Aragonese – Alexandre, Alixandre
• Armenian – Ալեքսանդր (Aleksandr/Alexandr), Ալեքսան (Aleksan/Alexan), Ալեք (Aleq), Ալիկ (Alik)
• Asturian – Alexandru
• Azerbaijani – İsgəndər (Isgandar)
• Bangla – Sikandar Alakshendra, Iskandar, Skandar, Alekzandar
• Bashkir – Искәндәр (Iskәndәr)
• Basque – Alesander
• Belarusian – Аляксандp (Aliaksandr, in normative spelling), Аляксандаp (Alaksandar, in Taraškievica spelling), Алeсь (Aleś)
• Bosnian – Aleksandar
• Bulgarian – Александър (Aleksandar), Сашо (Sasho), Aлекс (Aleks)
• Catalan – Alexandre, Àlex, Xandre
• Chinese – 亞歷山大 (Yalishanda)
• Corsican – Lisandru
• Croatian – Aleksandar, Saša, Aco, Aleksandra (feminine)
• Czech – Alexandr
• Danish – Alexander, Alex, Alexandra (feminine)
• Dutch – Alexander, Alex, Lex, Sander, Xander
• Estonian – Aleksander, Sander
• Ethiopian – Eskender
• English – Alexander, Alec, Alex, Alan, Ali, Al, Andy, Alexis, Alexa (feminine), Alexandria (feminine), Alexandra (feminine), Lex, Lexxi, Sandra (feminine), Sandy, Sasha (feminine), Xander, Xandra (feminine), Zandra (feminine), Zander
• Esperanto – Aleksandro, Aleksaĉjo, Aleĉjo, Aĉjo, Alekso, Aleksandra (feminine), Aleksino (feminine), Aleksanjo (feminine), Anjo (feminine)
• Extremaduran – Alejandru
• Faroese – Aleksandur
• French – Alexandre, Alexis, Alex
• Finnish – Aleksanteri, Santeri, Santtu
• Galician – Alexandre, Álex
• Georgian/ქართულად – ალექსანდრე (Alexandré),(Aleksandre) ალეკო (Aleko), ლექსო (Lexo).
• German – Alexander, Alex, Alexandrine (feminine), Alexandra (female), Sascha, Sander
• Greek – Αλέξανδρος (Aléxandros)
• Hebrew – אלכסנדר (Alexander), אלכס (Alex)
• Hindi – Hindustani – Sikandar Alakshendra अलक्षेन्द्र
• Hungarian – Sándor
• Indonesian – Iskandar
• Icelandic – Alexander, Alex, Alexis, Axel, Alexandra (feminine)
• Interlingua – Alexandro
• Irish (Gaeilge) – Alasandar, Alastar, Alsander
• Italian – Alessandro, Ale, Sandro, Alessio, Aleandro
• Japanese – アレキサンダー (Alexander), アレックス (Arekusu), アレクサンドロス (Arekusandorosu)
• Javanese – Alexander, Iskandar
• Kazakh – Eskendir
• Korean – 알렉산드로스 (Alleksandeuroseu), (알렉산드로스 대왕 Alleksandeuroseu Daewang means Alexander the Great)
• Kurdish – Askander, Eskander, Îskenderê
• Kyrgyz – Искендер (İskender)
• Latvian – Aleksandrs (Aleksandrs)
• Latin – Alexander, Alexandrus
• Lithuanian– Aleksandras
• Lombard – Lisander
• Macedonian – Александар (Aleksandar), Алек (Alek), Аце (Atse), Ацо (Atso), Сашо (Sasho)
• Malay – Iskandar
• Malayalam – ചാണ്ടി (Chandy)
• Maltese – Lixandru
• Mandarin Chinese - Yalishanda or Alishanda
• Manx – Alastar, Alister
• Mirandese – Alxandre
• Norwegian – Aleksander
• Occiadental – Alexandro
• Occitan – Alexandre
• Persian – اسكندر (Eskandar) or اسکندر گجسته (Eskandare Gojaste)
• Polish – Aleksander, Alek, Olek, Aleks
• Portuguese – Alexandre, Alexandra (feminine), Alexandro (rare), Alex, Sandro, Sandra (feminine), Alessandro, Alessandra (feminine)
• Romanian — Alexandru, Alexandra (feminine), Alex, Sandu, Sanda (feminine), Sandra (feminine), Alecu, Aleca (feminine), Sasa (feminine)
• Russian — Александр (Aleksandr), Александра (Aleksandra, feminine), Саша (Sasha), Сашка (Sashka), Сашок (Sashok), Сашкин (Sashkin), Шура (Shura), Шурик (Shurik), Саня (Sanya), Санька (San'ka), Санёк (Sanyok), Алик (Alik)
• Sanskrit language – Alekchendra
• Scots Gaelic – Alasdair, Alastair, Alistair, Alisdair, Aldair
• Serbian – Александар (Aleksandar), Алекса (Aleksa), Алекс (Aleks), Саша (Saša), Сале (Sale), Аца (Aca), Александра (Aleksandra, feminine)
• Sicilian – Alissandru
• Old Church Slavonic – Алєѯандръ (Aleksandr, Alexandr)
• Slovak – Alexander
• Slovene – Aleksander, Aleks, Sandi, Sašo
• Spanish – Alejandro, Alejo, Alex, Jandro, Jano,, Lisandro/a, Alejandra (feminine)
• Swedish – Alexander, Alex, Alexandra (feminine)
• Tamil – Aleksandar
• Thai – อเล็กซานเดอร์ (Aleksāndə̄[r] (Aleksandar))
• Turkish – İskender
• Ukrainian — Олександр (Olexandr, Oleksandr), Олекса (Oleksa, Olexa), Сашко (Sashko), Олесь (Oles')
• Urdu – Pakistani – سکندر (Sikandar)
• Uzbek – Iskandar
• Venetian – Alessandro
• Vietnamese – Alêchxăngđrơ
• Võro – Aleksandri
• Welsh – Alecsander
• West Frisian – Aleksander
• Yiddish – סענדער – Sender, Senderl

Alexander as a given name

This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.

Antiquity

• Alaksandu, ca. 1280 BC
• Alexander of Corinth, 10th king of Corinth (816–791 BC)
• Alexander I of Macedon
• Alexander of Pherae despot of Pherae between 369 and 358 BC
• Alexander I of Epirus king of Epirus about 342 BC
• Alexander II of Epirus king of Epirus 272 BC
• Alexander II of Macedon
• Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon), King of Macedon, 356–323 BC
• Alexander IV of Macedon
• Alexander Balas, ruler of the Seleucid kingdom of Syria between 150 and 146 BC
• Alexander Jannaeus king of Judea, 103-76 BCE
• Alexander Severus, (208–235), Roman Empire
• Domitius Alexander, Roman usurper who declared himself emperor in 308

Middle Ages

• Alexander, Byzantine Emperor (912–913)
• Alexander I of Scotland (c. 1078–1124)
• Alexander II of Scotland (1198–1249)
• Alexander III of Scotland (1241–1286)
• Aleksander (1338–before 1386), prince of Podolia (son of Narymunt)
• Alexandru I Aldea, ruler of the principality of Wallachia (1431–1436)
• Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (1472–1494)
• Alexander Jagiellon (Alexander of Poland) (1461–1506), king of Poland
• Alexandru Lăpuşneanu, voivode of Moldavia (1552–1561 and 1564–1568)

Modern

• Alexander I of Russia (1777–1825), emperor of Russia
• Alexander II of Russia (1818–1881), emperor of Russia
• Alexander III of Russia (1845–1894), emperor of Russia
• Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia (1842–1858)
• Alexander of Bulgaria (1857–1893), first prince of Bulgaria
• Alexander John Cuza, prince of Romania (1859–1866)
• Alexander I Obrenović of Serbia (1876–1903), king of Serbia
• Alexander, Prince of Lippe (1831–1905), prince of Lippe
• Alexander I of Yugoslavia (1888–1934), first king of Yugoslavia
• Zog I also known as Skenderbeg III, (1895–1961), king of Albanians
• Alexander of Greece (king) (1917–1920), king of Greece
• Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, (born 1939), king of Albanians (throne pretender)
• Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange

Religious leaders

• Pope Alexander I, (pope 97–105)
• Alexander of Apamea, 5th century bishop of Apamea
• Pope Alexander II, (pope 1058–1061)
• Pope Alexander III, (pope 1164–1168)
• Pope Alexander IV, (pope 1243–1254)
• Pope Alexander V, ("Peter Philarges" ca. 1339–1410)
• Pope Alexander VI, (1493–1503), Roman pope
• Pope Alexander VII, (1599–1667)
• Pope Alexander VIII, (pope 1689–1691),
• Alexander of Constantinople, bishop of Constantinople (314–337)
• St. Alexander of Alexandria, Coptic Pope, Patriarch of Alexandria between 313 and 328
• Pope Alexander II of Alexandria, Coptic Pope (702–729)
• Alexander of Lincoln, bishop of Lincoln
• Alexander of Jerusalem

• See also Saint Alexander, various saints with this name

Other people

• Alexander (artists), the name of a number of artists of ancient Greece, Rome and Macedon
• Alexander (3rd century BC general), commanded the cavalry under Antigonus III Doson
• Alexander of Athens, Athenian comic poet
• Alexander Lyncestes, a contemporary of Alexander the Great
• Alexander Aetolus, a poet and member of the Alexandrian Pleiad
• Alexander, son of Lysimachus, 3rd century BC Macedonian royal
• Alexander of Aetolia, briefly conquered Aegira in 220 BC
• Alexander (general), son of Polyperchon, the regent of Macedonia
• Alexander Isius, 2nd century military commander of the Aetolians
• Alexander of Acarnania (d. 191 BC), confidante of Antiochus III the Great
• Alexander Lychnus, early 1st century BC poet and historian
• Alexander Jannaeus, 1st century BC king of Judea
• Alexander Polyhistor, Greek scholar of the 1st century
• Alexander of Myndus, ancient Greek writer on zoology and divination
• Alexander of Aegae, peripatetic philosopher of the 1st century
• Alexander of Judaea, son of Aristobulus II, king of Judaea
• Alexander of Cotiaeum, 2nd century Greek grammarian and tutor of Marcus Aurelius
• Alexander the Paphlagonian, 2nd century Greek imposter
• Alexander Peloplaton, Greek rhetorician of the 2nd century
• Alexander of Lycopolis, 4th century author of an early Christian treatise against Manicheans
• Alexander of Aphrodisias, Greek commentator and philosopher
• Alexander of Greece (rhetorician)
• Alexander of Hales, 13th-century Medieval theologian
• Paris (mythology) aka Alexander, the Trojan prince who kidnapped Helen
• Prince Alexander John of Wales (1871), short-lived son of Edward VII
• Prince Alexander of Belgium (1942-2009)

Several other princes have borne the name Alexander:

• George V of Hanover (1819–1878)
• Prince Alfred of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1874–1899)
• Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902–1942)
• Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (born 1944)]

Fictional people with the name Alexander

• Alex (A Clockwork Orange), the main character from the novel A Clockwork Orange and its film adaptation
• Xander Harris, one of the main characters of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise
• Alexander (Summons), a summoned avatar from the Final Fantasy series of games
• Alexander Sterling, teenage vampire in the "Vampire Kisses" novels by Ellen Schreiber.

See also

• All pages beginning with "Alexander"
• Hera Alexandros, an epithet of the Greek goddess Hera
• Philip

References

From Wikiquote

Are you still to learn that the end and perfection of our victories is to avoid the vices and infirmities of those whom we subdue?

Alexander III (late July, 356 BC – 10 June 323 BC) was the Ruler of Macedon, and creator of an empire that included Greece, Persia, Egypt, and many regions beyond them; commonly known as Alexander the Great (in Greek: Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος : Megas Alexandros).

Sourced

• What an excellent horse do they lose, for want of address and boldness to manage him! ... I could manage this horse better than others do.
  • Statement upon seeing Bucephalas being led away as useless and beyond training, as quoted in Lives by Plutarch, as translated by Arthur Hugh Clough

• Holy shadows of the dead, I’m not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and brother people, to fight one another. I do not feel happy for this victory of mine. On the contrary, I would be glad, brothers, if I had all of you standing here next to me, since we are united by the same language, the same blood and the same visions.
  • Addressing the dead Hellenes (the Athenean and Thebean Greeks) of the Battle of Chaeronea, as quoted in Historiae Alexandri Magni by Quintus Curtius Rufus.

If I were not Alexander, I should wish to be Diogenes.

• If I were not Alexander, I should wish to be Diogenes.
  • After Diogenes of Sinope who was lying in the sun, responded to a query by Alexander asking if he could do anything for him with a reply requesting that he stop blocking his sunlight. As quoted in "On the Fortune of Alexander" by Plutarch, 332 a-b

• I do not steal victory.
  • Reply to the suggestion by Parmenion, before the Battle of Gaugamela, that he attack the Persian camp during the night, reported in Life of Alexander by Plutarch, as quoted in A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great (1900) by John Bagnell Bury

• If it were not my purpose to combine barbarian things with things Hellenic, to traverse and civilize every continent, to search out the uttermost parts of land and sea, to push the bounds of Macedonia to the farthest Ocean, and to disseminate and shower the blessings of the Hellenic justice and peace over every nation, I should not be content to sit quietly in the luxury of idle power, but I should emulate the frugality of Diogenes. But as things are, forgive me Diogenes, that I imitate Herakles, and emulate Perseus, and follow in the footsteps of Dionysos, the divine author and progenitor of my family, and desire that victorious Hellenes should dance again in India and revive the memory of the Bacchic revels among the savage mountain tribes beyond the Kaukasos…
  • As quoted in "On the Fortune of Alexander" by Plutarch, 332 a-b

We of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war...

• Our enemies are Medes and Persians, men who for centuries have lived soft and luxurious lives; we of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war. Above all, we are free men, and they are slaves. There are Greek troops, to be sure, in Persian service — but how different is their cause from ours! They will be fighting for pay — and not much of at that; we, on the contrary, shall fight for Greece, and our hearts will be in it. As for our foreign troops — Thracians, Paeonians, Illyrians, Agrianes — they are the best and stoutest soldiers in Europe, and they will find as their opponents the slackest and softest of the tribes of Asia. And what, finally, of the two men in supreme command? You have Alexander, they — Darius!
  • Addressing his troops prior to the Battle of Issus, as quoted in Anabasis Alexandri by Arrian Book II, 7

• Your ancestors came to Macedonia and the rest of Hellas [Greece] and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury. I have been appointed leader of the Greeks, and wanting to punish the Persians I have come to Asia, which I took from you.
  • Alexander's letter to Persian king Darius III of Persia in response to a truce plea, as quoted in Anabasis Alexandri by Arrian; translated as Anabasis of Alexander by P. A. Brunt, for the "Loeb Edition" Book II 14, 4

• So would I, if I were Parmenion.
  • After Parmenion suggested to him after the Battle of Issus that he should accept Darius III of Persia's offer of an alliance, the hand of his daughter in marriage, and all Minor Asia, saying "If I were Alexander, I would accept the terms." (Variant translation: I would accept it if I were Alexander.) As quoted in Lives by Plutarch
  • Variants: I too, if I were Paremenio. But I am Alexander.
    So would I, if I were Parmenion.
    So should I, if I were Parmenion.
    So should I, if I were Parmenion: but as I am Alexander, I cannot.
    I would do it if I was Parmenion, but I am Alexander.
    If I were Parmenion, that is what I would do. But I am Alexander and so will answer in another way.
    So would I, if I were Parmenion, but I am Alexander, so I will send Darius a different answer.
    If I were Perdicas, I shall not fail to tell you, I would have endorsed this arrangement at once, but I am Alexander, and I shall not do it. (as quoted from medieval French romances in The Medieval French Alexander (2002) by Donald Maddox and Sara Sturm-Maddox, p. 81)

• Youths of the Pellaians and of the Macedonians and of the Hellenic Amphictiony and of the Lakedaimonians and of the Corinthians… and of all the Hellenic peoples, join your fellow-soldiers and entrust yourselves to me, so that we can move against the barbarians and liberate ourselves from the Persian bondage, for as Greeks we should not be slaves to barbarians.
  • As quoted in the Historia Alexandri Magni of Pseudo-Kallisthenes, 1.15.1-4

• Now you fear punishment and beg for your lives, so I will let you free, if not for any other reason so that you can see the difference between a Greek king and a barbarian tyrant, so do not expect to suffer any harm from me. A king does not kill messengers.
  • As quoted in the Historia Alexandri Magni of Pseudo-Kallisthenes, 1.37.9-13

• Are you still to learn that the end and perfection of our victories is to avoid the vices and infirmities of those whom we subdue?
  • As quoted in Lives by Plutarch, as translated by Arthur Hugh Clough

• To the strongest!
  • After being asked, by his generals on his deathbed, who was to succeed him. It has been speculated that his voice may have been indistinct and that he may have said "Krateros" (the name of one of his generals), but Krateros was not around, and the others may have chosen to hear "Kratistos" — the strongest. As quoted in The Mask of Jove: a history of Graeco-Roman civilization from the death of Alexander to the death of Constantine (1966) by Stringfellow Barr, p. 6

• There is nothing impossible to him who will try.
  • On taking charge of an attack on a fortress, in Pushing to the Front, or, Success under Difficulties : A Book of Inspiration (1896) by Orison Swett Marden, p. 55

• I consider not what Parmenio should receive, but what Alexander should give.
  • On his gifts for the services of others, as quoted in Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Giving the Derivation, Source, or Origin of Common Phrases, Allusions, and Words That Have A Tale To Tell (1905) by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, p. 30
  • Variant: It is not what Parmenio should receive, but what Alexander should give.
  • quoted in Alexander : A History of the Origin and Growth of the Art of War from Earliest Times to the Battle Of Ipsus, B. C. 301 (1899) by Theodore Ayrault Dodge

• Sex and sleep alone make me conscious that I am mortal.
  • As quoted in Alexander the Great (1973) by Robin Lane Fox
  • Unsourced variant : Only sex and sleep make me conscious that I am mortal.

Disputed

An army of sheep, led by a lion, is better than an army of lions, led by a sheep.

• An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.
  • Attributed to Alexander, as quoted in The British Battle Fleet: Its Inception and Growth Throughout the Centuries to the Present Day (1915) by Frederick Thomas Jane, but many variants of this statement exist and have been attributed to others, though in research done for Wikiquote definite citations of original documents have not yet been found for any of them:
  • An army of sheep led by a lion are more to be feared than an army of lions led by a sheep.
    • Attributed to Chabrias, who died around the time Alexander was born.
  • It is better to have sheep led by a lion than lions led by a sheep.
    • Attributed to Polybius in Between Spenser and Swift: English Writing in Seventeenth Century Ireland (2005) by Deana Rankin, p. 124, citing A Contemporary History of Affairs in Ireland, from 1641 to 1652 (1880) by John Thomas Gilbert Vol. I, i, p. 153 - 157; but conceivably this might be reference to Polybius the historian quoting either Alexander or Chabrias.
  • An army composed of sheep but led by a lion is more powerful than an army of lions led by a sheep.
    • "Proverb" quoted by Agostino Nifo in De Regnandi Peritia (1523) as cited in Machiavelli - The First Century: Studies in Enthusiasm, Hostility, and Irrelevance (2005) by Mathew Thomson, p. 55
  • Greater is an army of sheep led by a lion, than an army of lions led by a sheep.
    • Attributed to Daniel Defoe (c. 1659 - 1731)
  • I am more afraid of one hundred sheep led by a lion than one hundred lions led by a sheep.
    • Attributed to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754 – 1838) Variants: I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep.
      I am not afraid of an army of one hundred lions led by a sheep. I am afraid of army of 100 sheeps led by a lion.
  • Variants quoted as an anonymous proverb: Better a herd of sheep led by a lion than a herd of lions led by a sheep.
    A flock of sheep led by a lion was more powerful than a flock of lions led by a sheep.
    An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
    It were better to have an army of sheep led by a lion than an army of lions led by a sheep.
    An army of sheep led by a lion, will defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
    An army of sheep led by a lion would be superior to an army of lions led by a sheep.
    Unsourced attribution to Alexander: I would not fear a pack of lions led by a sheep, but I would always fear a flock of sheep led by a lion.
  • As one lion overcomes many people and as one wolf scatters many sheep, so likewise will I, with one word, destroy the peoples who have come against me.
    • This slightly similar statement is the only quote relating to lions in The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version of the Pseudo-Callisthenes (1889) as translated by E. A. Wallis Budge, but it is attributed to Nectanebus (Nectanebo II).

• There are no more worlds to conquer!
  • Statement portrayed as a quotation in a 1927 Reader's Digest article, this probably derives from traditions about Alexander lamenting at his father's Philip's victories that there would be no conquests left for him, or that after his conquests in Egypt and Asia there were no worlds left to conquer. Some of the oldest accounts of this, as quoted by John Calvin state that on "hearing that there were other worlds, wept that he had not yet conquered one."
  • There are no more other worlds to conquer!
    • Variant attributed as his "last words" at a few sites on the internet, but in no published sources.

• Now that the wars are coming to an end, I wish you to prosper in peace. May all mortals from now on live like one people in concord and for mutual advancement. Consider the world as your country, with laws common to all and where the best will govern irrespective of tribe. I do not distinguish among men, as the narrow-minded do, both among Greeks and Barbarians. I am not interested in the descendance of the citizens or their racial origins. I classify them using one criterion: their virtue. For me every virtuous foreigner is a Greek and every evil Greek worse than a Barbarian. If differences ever develop between you never have recourse to arms, but solve them peacefully. If necessary, I should be your arbitrator. You must not consider God like an autocratic despot, but as a common Father of all; so your behavior may resemble the life siblings have in a family. On my part I should consider all equals, white or blacks, and wish you all to be not only subjects of the Commonwealth, but participants and partners. As much as this depends on me, I should try to bring about what I promised. The oath we made over tonight’s libations hold onto as a Contract of Love.
  • "Alexander's Oath given at Opis", as quoted by Nikos Martis, in "Historical Sources Regarding the Contents of Alexander the Great’s Speech at Opis" where he asserts this statement originates with Alexander; the discussion at "More unsubstantiated stories?" at Alexander the Great's forum, states that this is primarily the composition of modern Greek writers drawing upon dubious sources.

Quotes about Alexander

• Alexander sacrificed to the gods to whom it was his custom to sacrifice, and gave a public banquet, seated all the Persians, and then any persons from the other peoples who took precedence for rank or any other high quality, and he himself and those around him drank from the same bowl and poured the same libations, with the Greek soothsayers and Magi initiating the ceremony. Alexander prayed for various blessings and especially that the Macedonians and Persians should enjoy harmony as partners in government. The story prevails that those who shared the banquet were nine thousand and that they all poured the same libation and gave the one victory cry as they did.
  • Arrian in Anabasis Alexandri, 7.2.6-9

• The ancient writers tell of the peculiar "melting" glance of his eyes, or of the way in which, as Plutarch says, his body seemed to glow. They are evidently trying to describe something which they found it difficult to express. He also grew up, to the delight of Philip, Serious-minded, untiring, passionately keen to succeed in any difficult task, and yet more keen the more difficult it was.
  He was a great reader, too. He had been early caught by the glamour of the Tale of Troy, like most Greek boys; and he never grew weary of it. As far as the Oxus and the Indus, he carried with him his personal copy of the Iliad...
  • A. R. Burn, in Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Empire (1948), p.11

• When he says that in that day all his thoughts perish, or flow away, perhaps under this expression he censures the madness of princes in setting no bounds to their hopes and desires, and scaling the very heavens in their ambition, like the insane Alexander of Macedon, who, upon hearing that there were other worlds, wept that he had not yet conquered one, although soon after the funeral urn sufficed him.
  • John Calvin, in his interpretation of Psalm 146 in On The Book Of Psalms (1557) as translated by Rev. James Anderson (1849)

• Dhu al-Qarnain is Alexander the Greek, the king of Persia and Greece, or the king of the east and the west, for because of this he was called Dhul-Qarnayn [meaning, "the two-horned one"]...
  • Ibn Hisham, in a note on the Qur'an; see also Alexander the Great in the Qur'an.

• We are not in the situation of poor Alexander the Great, who wept, as well indeed he might, because there were no more worlds to conquer; for, to do justice to this queer, odd, rantipole city, and this whimsical country, there is matter enough in them to keep our risible muscles and our pens going until doomsday.
  • Washington Irving in Salmagundi : Or, The Whim-whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, Esq. and Others (1835)

• When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer.
  • "Hans Gruber" in Die Hard (1988); this is often mistaken as a direct quote from more ancient sources, but this phrasing seems to have originated in this movie.

• Once upon a time, in days of long ago, Alexander the Great complained bitterly that there were no worlds left for him to conquer.
  • Alfred Wainwright, in A Pennine Journey : The Story of a Long Walk in 1938 (1986), p. 1

External links

Wikipedia has an article about:

Alexander the Great

Primary Sources

• Alexander the Great: An annotated list of primary sources from Livius.org
• Wiki Classical Dictionary, extant sources and fragmentary and lost sources
• Plutarch, Life of Alexander (in English)
• Justin, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus (in English)
• Plutarch, Of the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander the Great (in English)
• Quintus Curtius Rufus, Histories of Alexander (in Latin)

Projects

• Alexander the Great on the Web, a comprehensive directory of some 1,000 sites
• Livius Project articles on Alexander by Jona Lendering
• Pothos.org: Alexander's Home on the Web
• Wiki Classical Dictionary: Category Alexander the Great, a Mediawiki based project, with stricter guidelines and editors

Narratives

• Alexander the Great of Macedon, a project by John J. Popovic
• The loves of Alexander III of Macedon

Discussion

• Pothos Forum

Bibliography

• PDF: A Bibliography of Alexander the Great by Waldemar Heckel

From Wikitravel

Alexander is a town in McKenzie County, in the Badlands area of North Dakota. It has a population of about 200 people and is located near the western end of Lake Sakakawea. Its elevation is 2,180 feet, and its latitude 47.86N & longitude W103.64.

• By car: US Highway 85, about 22 miles west and north of Watford City.
• By Air: Sloulin Field in Williston is about 20 miles to the north.

• Lewis and Clark Trail Museum, Highway 85 North, +1-701-828-3595. Open: Memorial Day thru Labor Day, M-Sa 9AM-5PM, Su 1PM-5PM. The largest museum in northwestern North Dakota. Eight display rooms featuring cars, machinery, homestead artifacts and a Lewis and Clark panorama. Admission: Adults $2, teens $1, 12-under free when accompanied by adult.

• Ragged Butte Cafe

• Alexander Campground, City Park, +1-701-828-3461. Primitive camping.
• Ragged Butte Inn, 804 Elk St, +1-701-828-3164. 18 Rooms, RV hookups.

From LoveToKnow 1911

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Wikipedia has an article on:

Alexander (disambiguation)

Wikipedia

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌælɪgˈzɑːndə/

Etymology

From Latin Alexander < Ancient Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros) < ἀλέξω (aléxō), “‘I defend’”) + ἀνδρός (andrós), genitive of ἀνήρ (anēr), “‘man’”).

Proper noun

Alexander

1. A male given name, most famously held by Alexander the Great.
2. A patronymic surname.

Derived terms

Related terms

• Alexandra and its variants

Quotations

• 1594, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: Act V, Scene I:

  Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole?

• 1765 Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy, Book IV, Chapter 18:

  And for my own part, said my uncle Toby, though I should blush to boast of myself, Trim - yet had my name been Alexander, I could have done no more at Namur than my duty.

• 1985 Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist, ISBN 0-7011-2986-7, page 170:

  "My son's name is Alexander," Muriel said. "Did I tell you that? I named him Alexander because it sounded high-class.

Translations

Danish

Proper noun

Alexander

1. A male given name, cognate to English Alexander.

Related terms

• variants: Alex
• female forms: Alexandra, Sandra, Sascha

German

Proper noun

Alexander

1. A male given name, cognate to English Alexander.

Related terms

• variants: Sandro, Sascha
• female forms: Alexandra, Sandra

Icelandic

Proper noun

Alexander m.

1. A male given name, cognate to English Alexander.

Related terms

• variants: Alex
• female forms: Alexandra, Sandra

Norwegian

Alternative spellings

• Aleksander

Proper noun

Alexander

1. A male given name, cognate to English Alexander.

Related terms

• Sander
• female forms: Alexandra, Sandra

Swedish

Proper noun

Alexander

1. A male given name, cognate to English Alexander.

Related terms

• Alex
• female forms: Alexandra, Sandra

From Wikispecies

Alexander may mean:

• Alexander Boyd - British explorer and ornithologist.

• Alexander, Edward Johnston - botanist in the United States.

From BibleWiki

Meaning: man-defender

1. A relative of Annas the high priest, present when Peter and John were examined before the Sanhedrim (Acts 4:6).
2. A man whose father, Simon the Cyrenian, bore the cross of Christ (Mk 15:21).
3. A Jew of Ephesus who took a prominent part in the uproar raised there by the preaching of Paul (Acts 19:33). The Jews put him forward to plead their cause before the mob. It was probably intended that he should show that he and the other Jews had no sympathy with Paul any more than the Ephesians had. It is possible that this man was the same as the following.
4. A coppersmith who, with Hymenaeus and others, promulgated certain heresies regarding the resurrection (1 Tim 1:19; 2 Tim 4:14), and made shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience. Paul excommunicated him (1 Tim 1:20; comp. 1Cor 5:5).

what mentions this? (please help by turning references to this page into wiki links)

(1) ALEXANDER THE GREAT

King of Macedon, 336-323 B. c. He is mentioned in 1 Mach., i, 1-10; vi, 2. He is also supposed to be spoken of in Dan., ii,39; vii, 6; viii,5-7; xi 3,4.

(2) ALEXANDER BALAS

Eleventh King of Syria, 150-145 B. C. His struggle for the throne, his promises to Jonathan, his pro-Jewish policy may be learned from I Mach., x, 1-89. He was vanquished by his father-in-law, Ptolemy Philometor of Egypt, and Syria thus passed into the hands of Demetrius II (1 Mach., xi, 1-19).

(3) ALEXANDER

A son of Simon of Cyrene mentioned by St. Mark (xv, 21) who carried the Cross after Jesus.

(4) ALEXANDER

A member of the court that tried Peter and John (Acts, iv, 6); some identify him with Alexander Lysimachus the brother of Philo and friend of Claudius before he ascended the throne.

(5) ALEXANDER

A Jew or a Jewish Christian (Acts, xix, 33,34) who attempted to defend St. Paul in his Ephesian difficulty -- some identify him with the son of Simon of Cyrene.

(6) ALEXANDER

An Ephesian Christian who apostatized (1 Tim., i, 20), and who together vith Hymeneus was delivered up to Satan by the Apostles.

(7) ALEXANDER

A coppersmith of Ephesus (2 Tim., iv, 14,15), who did much evil to St. Paul. Some identify him with the Alexander mentioned under the preceding number.