Alexander: The not so great! 356 - 323 BCE*

The good thing about the History Channel is that it unfolds history as it is, minus the cloud of propaganda and bias in need to satisfy certain quarters. In that vein, I would like to share an episode in the about 'Our Uncultured Civilisations of the Past'.
It was on the story of the Macedonian warrior who brought Greek culture to the world and had no qualms in embracing the cultures that he conquered not to the liking of his subordinates. After his father, King Philip II united the peninsular of Greece; all he had to do was to continue conquering all the way to the East. If not for the tired dispirited soldiers who wanted to return home after reaching India, you could have reached the Far East!
The show highlighted a few scoops that were not common knowledge to a history buff novice like me....
Apparently Alexander was the child of one of his father's fourth wife, Olympia, a conniving snake worshipping cult member who claimed Alexander's father was not Philip II but Zeus (Greek father of Gods and men)! Hoping that he would one day Alexander be king, his mother nurtured him putting in thoughts in his mind that he was somebody special, like Achilles in the Greek mythology. There is undocumented proof that with the Olympus may have a hand in the conspiracy of his father's slaying as well as the killing of Alexander's half brother to ensure ascend to throne!
In spite being a warrior of his stature, he stood at a petite height of 5'7" devoid of facial hair (small for a warrior, unless you are a hero acted by Tom Cruise). His mother's constant reminder of his being special (Son of Zeus) made him develop narcissistic tendencies. To exert his authority and immortalise his greatness, he erected statues of him all over the places he conquered, his face donned many coins and many cities were named after him. Besides, Alexandria in Egypt, there were many more cities bearing that name. There was a revolt from the army as his grandiosity required his subordinates to prostrate in front of him, an act abhorred by the superstitious Greek culture as it was reserved for the Gods only.
Despite his two wives and heir (anyway the heir is posthumous), he is said to have same sex relationships with his favourite General (Hephaestion). He is supposed to have a drinking problem and anger management issues. During one of his drunken rage, he had stabbed his friend with ensuing remorse afterwards. He did burn a city because only because he could after a drunken stupor.
He blended himself well into the society of the subject he conquered by practising their culture and way of life but this practice was disliked by his men as they felt superior to the conquered.
One does not become great by being a nice guy. He indeed was a slave driver who had no qualms in making his army march through  a desert for a trivial course (for us but for him it was important - he marched to an Egyptian temple to ascertain whether he was indeed the son of Zeus) and worked the army to pulp to achieve his personal quest to apprehend King Darius dead or alive.
After his battle in Punjab, his greatness took a tumble. Hephaestion died of a unknown disease making Alexander morbidly depressed after his friend's loss. He then generally lost the will to live and fell sick after that and never regained his usual self. He died at a tender age of 33 due to a smorgasbord of reasons - malaria, injuries inflicted upon him by the mighty Punjabi warriors, poisoning by disgruntled enemies, alcoholism, over-exertion, self mutilation or depression. A great  invincible warrior not bowing to any man alive went horizontal in a casket possibly due to mosquitoes or microscopic bugs.
He was Great because of being a good general able to singlehandedly lead an army all over the place, bridge cultural communications between the east and west and achieved so much in a such a short span of time, unachievable by most in their lifetimes.
*BCE = Before Common Era, politically acceptable c.f. Before Christ (B.C.)