They Did WHAT!? Netflix Alexander the Great Episode 1: Historical Analysis
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Check out my review of the trailer
• Netflix is a JOKE! Ale...
Check out my friend's video on Polymathy run by Luke Ranieri!
• Alexander on Netflix: ...
Intro
1 - The Boy King
2 - The Greatest Military Mind
3 - The Greek
4 - Wrong Jewelry
5 - King Philip II
6 - Attalus' Treason
7- Was Alexander the Great Gay?
8 - Cavalry playing Polo?
9 - The Wedding with the warlord
10 - Helmets
11 - The armour of an Anchilosaurus
12 - Son of Zeus
13 - The Duel
Hello nobleones welcome back to my channel this is the Metatron speaking and as you know I've already reacted to the trailer of the Netflix production Alexander the making of a god, and today we are having a deep historical analysis of the first episode which I of course have watched.
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not sure where to place this one politically since it can piss off both sides
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I'll add more as I remember them.
As we always do we'll talk about the man himself, and the statements made surrounding him by the talking heads, the historicity of the period armour, jewelry, weapons, language, our usual empirical scrutiny entirely based on the sources which I will provide. We do this as a way to learn while having fun.
For the rest of you, namely those of you whom regardles of your own personal political preferences, left right or centre, just want to know what the evidence says without the political pandering, section 7 is for you and it will contain the most historically coherent and unbiased take on Alexander the great's sexuality on this platform. Let's go.
Point 1 The Boy King
I'd like to start with the fact that I already have a problem with the title of the pilot episode. ALEXANDER THE BOY KING. This title represents how king Darius refers to Alexander, twice on the show.
A 20 of age you were a fully grown man everywhere in that period… extremely improbable therefore that Darius would refer to Alessandro as a “boy king” that's a modernism right there.
Point 2 - The Greatest Military Mind
I don't feel like I can say that professor Llewellyn-Jones' consideration is demonstrably incorrect, however defining Alexander as “the greatest military mind of all time” is specious.
We know he perfected king Philip's military machiche, he was a fascinating man and incredible commander, he surely exploited the true battle potential of cavalry in conjuction with the phalanx, utilizes the“hammer and anvil” tactical structure beautifully.
So the great ok but the greatest? That would mean that not only you are comparing him to a Annibale, uno Scipione, un Cesare, un Gaio Mario, un Quinto Sertorio, consul Flavius Stilicho , and that's just int he Classical period, but to every military mind in all of human history. That sounds like a sensatiolaist claim, in other words a tv statement. Take it for what it is.
Defibniterly not an idiot, JT, and white supremacy is not the topic of this discussion Sara. One of the characteristics of Alexander's success was his charisma, unscrupulousness and contempt for danger. If there is one thing that the sources agree on is this.
Which is why I find it curious that Joe Rogan doens't believe that Alexander fought in the front lines, that was single handedly one of the main defining factors which set Alexander aside, he was a warrior king.
He lead cavalry charges in person, risked and won, his enemies died when they confronted him in combat, which is also one of the reasons why he was so inpiring to his men. I'll give you that that doesn't happen that often in the Classical period, usually commanders stay in the back. But it's not unheard of, we know it happened at least once to both Hannibal and Caesar. It was not the norm, but Alexander breaks the norm. We must make our judgments not based on what sounds reasonable to us, but based on the historical apparatus we have, to govern the opinions we form about our interpretation of the documented facts. I get that you woudln't do it, neither woudl I but we are not Alexander the Great.
#metatron #alexanderthegreat #netflix
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I didn't even know they remade Alexander the Great as a series! That's how much I don't even watch movies or documentaries coming from America or whoever follows their political agenda! Historical documentaries and movies are as accurate as the History Channel talking about ancient aliens nowadays!
Alexander WASN'T great.
He might have conquered a great amount of land, but he didn't leave a lasting empire, it fell apart immediately.
Greatness would have left something that endures more than the mythologised history of Alexander which we were left with.
Overstating the case is common for these sorts of "documentaries" -- there's a word for this called hyperbole.
Metatron you look like a very grumpy klingon in the thumbnail, i love it lol
Epaminondas of Thebes was a frontline general. It is also what ended his career so early.
Watching Netflix to learn history is like watching TikToks to learn physics.
😂😂😂😂😂😂 💯 I've got nothing. I can't top that comment. This was a priceless post!!!😂😂😂
“History” TikToks are wild too 😬
IDK. At least with TikTok you might be able to learn basic physics like gravity or inertia from people falling or running into things! 🙂
On more than one occasion I've heard adults in their 30s, 40s, 50s, say that they learned something from TikTok. In every case, they were wrong.
Tik toc 😅
I remember my grandmother telling me I don't care what they tell you in school, Alexander was more flamboyant than Elton John.
Oh god, The mental image of Alexander riding his rainbow chariot in a flamboyant rainbow feather boa in a gay pride parade in June. With rainbow feathers on top of the horse bridles for good measure. Probably with a bottle of wine in one hand.
Everyone knows the Mediterranean was super fruity at that time . Just look at the abudance of male sculpture of that time period vs female
@@rushdem1 Hmmm, that maybe true but most women in their prime would possibly have been pregnant and so not be so "photogenic"? Statugenic...?
@@ladybug591 most gods are... gods. Goddesses are few in between. Statues are mostly deities, and important historical people, which are mostly... y'know, people who're not pregnant.
@@rushdem1what abundance mate? Cause I'm Greek and there's no lack of female statues and sculptures. We even thought that women's figures would make the most beautiful addition on a structural piece (caryatids). Goddesses, muses, mythical or historical women, or simply unnamed mortal women adorn plenty and they are in no way few and far in between
the shortening of the names is killing me in the show, haven't finished it yet, but waiting for him to come face to face with Darius, and be like "Oi, Darr, my dad Phil was killed"
daz seems more proper for darius imo
i ggiggled at fucking PTOL.... like dude, PTOLEMY isn't even that long like come on
D-man,
P-TOL, Tole- ピ
Big Al
That “Phil” killed me with Prince of Bel Air vibes.
In West Macedonia, born and raised
On the playground was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin', all cool
And all shootin' some b-ball outside of the school
Nearchos : Neecoz
Antigonos : Tejay
Antipater : Padre
Cleitos the Black : CB
Eumenes : U-man
Crateros : Lil' C
Agreed! The correct nickname for Ptolemy is obviously Lemmy
Ptolemmy
Is Hephaestion's nickname Feisty?
Born to raise hell :))
Fax.
Based on the last time Netflix did a "documentary" on a historical Macedonian, I would have thought that the question on everybody's mind would have been "Was Alexander black?"
I don't care what they told you in school, Alexander the Great was Martian!
@@scottlidstone1902wrong he was Puerto Rican, my abuela's sister told me so at the last reunion!
Alexander was a black paraplegic lesbian
Or was he really a her
Don't care WHAT your fancy-schmancy schools and EVIDENCE says - my MOTHER told me Alexander the Great was actually named Schloimek and he was a tinsmith in a little Shtetl just outside Bialystok.
I am a Conservative, but I have learned that we cannot use modern minds to talk about the ancient world. They had different societies and beliefs and putting modern spins to ancient beliefs always fails. We can't moralize the past with the present.
I appreciate your open mind towards historical research. Thanks for sharing and watching
As a Paleoliberatarian, I agree. Tbh, I didn't really care what Alexander was. I don't watch Netflix anymore. It was a right winger infact that told me Alexander was gay lol.
Completely agree. You can’t look through history with a modern perspective. Morals and values are always changing
Nothing new under the sun.
"We can't moralize the past with the present."
and if we discuss his relationships with consenting adults, there is no need to moralize anything anyway. those are all moral by default.
Alexanders' Opis Mutiny speech is amazing. Alexander absolutely led from the front. That speech is incredibly deep
Maybe not the greatest military mind, but he was the most successful general. Does one follow the other?
"there's not 1 inch of me unscarred at least from the front"
It's a fascinating insight into Alexander the politician, using his image and his persona to further his agenda. And I don't mean that as a slight whatsoever, I think the speech shows how canny he was, which I find so interesting for a figure so often just perceived as a warrior and little else.
@@josephpercente8377 I think that people obsess over things that are just trivial. I mean, there is absolutely no way to objectively define who had the greatest military mind. so why does it matter? he was a military genius and one of the most proeminent figures from ancient history. isn't that enough?
@@louthegiantcookie
I think Caesar's speech to the 4 rebelling Legions (including Legio XIIII and Legio X) was MUCH more canny and is a better example of true genius.
With a single word (calling them "citizens," as opposed to "My fellow soldiers."), he both quells the rebellion and causes all 4 legions to beg him to take them back into his service (which he absolutely needed, but they didn't know that he needed).
Caesar was a truly great general, as demonstrated by his ability to defeat enemies using exactly the same types of soldiers + equipment, etc, and to defeat larger armies of Roman Legions, too!! Alexander, by contrast, would have to have been able to defeat a larger army of sarissa-equipped phalanx infantry, supported by companion cavalry, which simply never happened. The regent of Macedon, left in charge of the place while Alexander was off in the east, used the new armies built by King Philip, to build his own empire. Several Greek nations took up arms against Macedon and all of them were soundly defeated by 'Forgotten General, The Great.' This shows that Alexander wasn't the deciding factor in the battles he fought, rather, the deciding factor was the army built by King Philip, that no one yet knew how to beat. I mean, if some unnamed regent (he wasn't really unnamed, I just forgot his name) was able to defeat the best of the Greeks, including Athenians and Spartans and he was able to do this with the dregs of what Alexander left behind...
🤣 Julius Caesar "Mama mia, pasta, grazie!" just made my day
Augustus*
“Liberals, conservatives… I’m gonna piss everyone off today” Alright! Let me get the popcorn.
That was my favorite line of the episeode.😂
For real. I'm sick and tired of both groups and their idiotic closed mindedness and assumptions.
@@bobsaggater3454absolutely with you on that!!!!
My modern brain being like "Oh he wasn't gay or straight, he just had watery semen. Got it."
It's just idiotic to think that a person can remove all bias. It's human nature to add bias. While bias can me minimized, it can't be eliminated by people. This dude is so high on his own farts he thinks he has transcended humanity, and can talk about a subject without bias.
I am Greek. Your research on this matter, Metatron, is so insightful and valuable.
Thank you Mediterranean brother.
Greece just legalized gay marriage. Congratulations to the many gay couples in Greece. You've waited long enough.
@@johnwalzer9187 never understood why anyone wants to interfere with other people’s relationships or how two gay people being married impacts their marriage in any way shape or form. Happy for those people
it's a slippery slope to paedophilia. @@johnwalzer9187
@@johnwalzer9187 The Greek public are against it mind.
The Church of Greece is eastern orthodox & no Eastern Orthodox nation has allowed gay marriage which could end in civil war.
Greece has had internal war for much less!
I might be godless but I can understand the role the church plays in any western nation & marriage is a sacred part of that which the alphabet people don't realise they are losing what little good will Christendom has for them.
My self I can't help but laugh at the alphabet people for they see that they are destroying the few friends & allies they have.
Can't wait for the Islamic lot to end their precarious neutrality as their scripture on non stright marriage or relations is very clear & the punishment to those that don't abide the Quran severe.
Being a stright but basically celibate due to my failed health while a godless Englishmen it is not my concern.
Still as an outside onlooker it amusing to watch this lunacy unfold.
"Does it offend them? (....) Good luck with the Ptolomaic dynasty!" This remark made my day!
In the case of Caesar, I think we have 2 credible examples of him fighting alongside his men:
The Battle of the Sabis and the battle of Munda.
In the former, the evidence says that he threw down his (something) and picked up a shield, to fight alongside his men. In the latter, the sources quote him as saying "In other battles I fought for victory. At Munda, I fought for my life!" Since the battle of Munda happened AFTER the battle of the Sabis, I think it's fair to assume that "fighting for my life" meant picking up a shield- again- and fighting alongside his soldiers. Again.
As a young man, serving on the staff of a Roman governor in Asia Minor, Caesar won Rome's highest award for bravery, "crown of oak leaves(?) whilst scaling the wall of a fortress on Miletus(?) in the Aegean Sea.
Roman commanders rarely if ever actually fought in battle, they were there to command and Caesar was no exception. He was a brilliant commander, and a great inspirer of his men. He was caught in a very difficult situation with his army strung out along the Sabis River in Gaul and the Nervii closing in on the particular legion he was with. It was a desperate fight but Caesar was organising and encouraging his men until other legions came to their aid, not actually fighting. The Battle of Munda in Spain (45BC) was Caesar's last battle against the remnants of the Pompeiians led by Pompey's two sons. Caesar's legions were by this time heartily sick of the civil war. They had just marched 12 miles to confront the Pompeiians on a hill but when Caesar ordered them to charge they balked. Caesar was forced to put himself in great personal danger to get his troops to charge up the hill. They then charged but Caesar himself did no actual fighting. He was "fighting for his life" because his men were heartily sick of fighting.
Watching netflix documentaries is like watching fan fiction, can't be called a documentary.
they call this crap "docudrama". There are no words to explain how much I hate the term. Pick a damn side netflix!!!!
Cocaine cowboys was lit
claims to be the son of Zeus, sleeps with everything Checks out.
Verily, a chip off the old block.
Truly his father's son.
He wasn't gay or bisexual though.
@madcyborg1822 sounded like he was, but it was his college phase.
Gay as a soldier but straight when around woman alone and no other gay activities happening.
Or let's just say for the sake of it all they had bisexual relations regularly .
The Spartans called the Athenians "Boy-Lovers. The Athenians called the Spartans "Boy-lovers". The Romans called the Greeks in general "Boy-lovers". Very common insult in ancient times. I don't believe those kind of allegations in history unless they are from contemporaries who were friends of the person in question.
Looks “lmao you mad gay you sussy Baka” is an older than most think
“I hate it so its not right” lmao cope
Also yes the whole reason he died was due to injuries he got on the frontline catching up to him, so he definitely fought on the frontlines
As an aside, Alexander and Hephaestion identifying with Achilles and Patroclus has another basis. Alexander believed that, on his mother's side, he was a descendant of Achilles. On his father's side Herakles (Hercules) was believed to be his ancestor. This kinship myth was very important to Alexander. City-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece would usually claim descent from various such figures believed to be historical.
Its obvious he liked him and had more than just a friendship. Which is fine, doesnt make him less of a man. The comparison is just a way to show their love similarity and ancestry as equal to the gods.
They might have been historical
@@TheChosen2030 Some may have been, indeed.
In point of fact, some great leaders would commission works of literature in order to legitimize their rule by claiming descent from great historical/mythical figures. The most well known case is the Aeneid by Virgil. Augustus Caesar actually commission Virgil to make it in order to legitimize his rule of Rome by claiming descent from Aeneas and Romulus.
@@IphigeniaAtAulis The Romans again borrowed this myhological figure' from the Greeks. Aeneas is mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (Venus for the Romans). A minor figure in Greek mythology was turned into the first great hero of Rome.
Sounds like a significant improvement over Cleopatra at least
Well, at least they didn't try to claim "Alex" was black.
I'll take it
@@ThepupsnameisBrian yet 😅
Shitflix's Alesanduh: We wuz kangz N ghey shiiiet@@ThepupsnameisBrian
@@modanmardaanyehe always kissed his homies goodnight.
Everyone who knows anything knows that Alexander's one true love was Bucephalus...
Don't underestimate how much you can appreciate the loyalty of a horse. Probably considered that horse more valuable than half his generals.
Alexander couldn't be defeated in battle because he was already used to having his organs rearranged.
My memory of reading about Alexander and his army, while is about 30 years ago, is that he inherited his fathers well drilled soldiers. Principally his heavy infantry phalanx. They didn’t seem to get much attention in what I saw. All glory went to the cavalry, but if I’m not mistaken, they were the cream of the army but the heavy lifting (and largest part) was the phalanx.
Might be wrong though and happy to be corrected.
Alexander's army consisted of three parts. The Cavalry, the Phalanxes, and the light infantry. All were seen as important and Alexander was noted for giving the left flank to his Thracian Peltasts (javelin throwing light infantry) which was a position of great honor. But yes, the Phalanxes of pikemen where extremely important and the key to Macedonian success, they were unbeatable from the front.
No the cooks did the heavy lifting
At this point i'm just glad that Alexander isn't played by Idriss Elba.
Im glad they didnt turn him into a strong black woman
Alexandra the great black girl boss
Strong black trans woman in a wheelchair, who competes and wins championships in female arm wrestling.@@TheSuperappelflap
but it's Idriss Elba...
Well, if they chose Idris Elba but also to be accurate in the rest of the historical facts, could have been even a funny but good choice. For example, I have been watching the Anne Boleyn miniseries on Netflix, where not only Anne is black, but also semi-lesbian with Jane Seymour. Netflix writers seem to know no shame at any level.
4:43 THIS! Imagine being brought up by that type of parents. One was a military innovator while the other was whispering "You are the scion of God's" If Alexander didn't believe he was destined by the gods for success I highly doubt he would have been so bold.
It certainly explains his fearlessness. Hit by an arrow? Pfft. A mere splinter to a god.
Hard to say, for sure but it certainly played a role in his life's arc. Also, wasn't enough he believed he was the son of Zeus, but he actually had the brains and courage to carry his conquests so far. His tragic flaw was his love of drink... he drove himself too hard and died at 33.
Imagine what we all could achieve with such grandiose encouragement. If we all truly believed we were children of the gods, would we behave differently? Worms and cans, man…
@@kathleenhensley5951 Agreed. You can have all the tools and encouragement in world and not have the courage to do anything of importance. A big strength that Alexander leaned on was his companions. Like your friends in real life might make you brave enough to do something crazy or in Alexander's part historical.
This is how we know Alexander the Great was actually Irish. All Irish Mammies think their first born son is the son of God. (The sons all think their Mammy's a virgin, so it balances out.)
Ever since I watched it I’ve been waiting for this. Thanks for the video.
I always love your perspective. Thank you.
Metatron: I'm going to piss everyone off today
Me *grabs popcorn*
Metatron pissing people off is premium content
*copies comment with good interaction
Coincidentally, when I drink coffee my piss smells like popcorn.
he literally smoking a cigar at gas station while spitting mad facts 😂
🍿🍿🍿🧋🍿🍿🍿
It’s obvious Netflix should stop doing historical shows and movies.
They pretty much suck or are mediocre at it.
True they had some well done ones in the past, but now they don’t care about the actual accuracy and just add whatever they think works for audiences and say that it’s educational or accurate.
As opposed to anyone else making a drama based on historical events.
The key word is movie. Cinema art, not fact.
The Outlaw king, the road to victory docs, the best of enemies, Ottomans rise of an empire doc, and siege of Johannesburg were all done by Netflix
When you intentionally push agendas it's not art it's propaganda
@@timesthree5757
It's absolutely intentionally done
What's strange is that they use historians... but looks like they never listens to them so what's the purpose?
This was so good! I love your work! Thank you!
This is such an insightful and well research and source-backed presentation. Bravo.
Even Oliver Stone got it right with Philip II's missing eye in his Alexander film.
Wasan't he also limping in the movie?
@@fran3ro Yeah you see his lame leg too.
Alexander hade the best advisor ever. Don’t remember his name but he was at that time the worlds leading historian on Alexander the Great and a professor at Oxford. He hade one demand, that he would be one of the companies at the battle of gaugamela, and you can see him riding close to Alexander.
Some historical facts are wrong from what we know today but at the time it was close to perfect, as close as you can make it in a movie.
@@gustavgyll3291 Yep, that was Robert Lane Fox.
Didn't he have a genuine expert in the period to add authenticity though, and even then I seem to remember reading (complaint from the expert) that he had to remove huge chunks because it upset various sub-sections of US society who couldn't deal with facts.
The big issue is not that Alexander was interested in both man and woman, it's more that Netlix pushing only in one direction. They didn't explain or tried to explain how Alexander was interested in beauty, but only showed one side of it while using modern approach to it instead of how it was seen back then.
I don’t believe he believe he preferred both. It doesn’t seem to match much of what was accepted at the time. I know they used to accuse leaders they didn’t like of being into men very often, could such a trend have muddied historical data?
@@zzodysseuszzThis is cope
Alexander was bisexual
Oliver Stone kinda made this mistake too, albeit to a lesser extent. Issue with movie is it seems like he doesn't truly care for Roxanna at all and no mention is made of his... harem tendencies
Ancient times and cultures cannot be compared to the modern world.
Hiephestian and Alexander literally GREW UP TOGETHER.
They had a love-sexual thing going on for sure.
Μην σπαταλάς χρόνο σε ανόητους ξένους που δεν μπορούν να κάνουν μια σωστή έρευνα πόσο μάλλον μετάφραση.
Για αυτούς όπου δουν "σύντροφος" σημαίνει "Ομοφυλλόφιλος" λες και όλοι οι προγονοί μας ήταν τίποτα ανώμαλοι όπως η σημερινή διαστρευλομένη δυτική κοινωνία.
"Ο Ιάσωνας και οι σύντροφοι του" για παραδειγμά ήταν μια σεξουαλική ομάδα για αυτούς...όχι ένα πλήρωμα από διάφορους άνδρες όπου με την ευκαιρία ο κάθε ένας τους είχε μια δικιά του φυσιολογική οικογένεια. Κοίτα τον Ηρακλή με την Δηιάνειρα, όπου ήταν μέλος του πληρώματος για παράδειγμα.
and?
@@plasticweaponand that’s why they were often referred to as “inseparable”
@@plasticweaponEver hesrd of the expression "closer than a brother"? It means that two people are extremely close friends, a platonic soulmate. You can have extremely close friends and not be sexually attracted to them.
The Greek language has many different words that describe different kinds of love. Some examples:
Φιλία is friendship.
Στοργή is filial.
Αγάπη is a general affection.
Ανιδιοτελής αγάπη is unconditional love.
Αφοσίωση is devotion.
Έρως is romantic/sexual.
Μανία is obsessive.
Φιλαυτία is egoism.
Λαγνεία is lust.
interesting.
these terms change within the span of 25 centuries
@@naevan1 But you can still find the ancient meaning of the words because the ancient Greeks themselves wrote the definitions.
Dang, the last time I remember hearing this was from a Jesuit theology professor a long time ago! Very interesting!
@@locusta-bw2vd on what dialect ? The attic? The Macedonian? The Laconian? It is not as simple and most papers just speculate and project the historians own beliefs in it, so take everything with a grain of salt
Male friendship is apparently a foreign concept to modern writers.
Oh wow they’re still on THAT lol?
You have close male friends...that makes you part of the rainbow crowd. According to the crazy left anyways.
It's either men are toxic or lovers can't be in-between 😝
Exactly, if you admire a male while being a male they automatically think you are gay... The warped minds of actual gay people, it's why they try and convert any straight guy they see.
Same with bromances.
Metatron:
"Alexander considers lust a weakness, because he thinks himself a aon of Zeus." (paraphrasing)
Me:
"Are talking about the same Zeus? The guy who's sleeping around is responsible for around half of the Greek mythology?"
Maybe, as a son of Zeus, he sees his father as a bad example.
Wouldn't it be fair to consider that Zeus' weakest aspect though?
To be fair, the Greeks themselves didn't view their gods as infallible/perfect. So it's not necessarily incompatible with their world view to view some of the gods' actions as weaknesses/flaws to avoid.
Though he did that across centuries.
Zeus's lust was considered by The Greeks to be his humane fallibility. Unlike the memes you're regurgitating here. It wasn't a defining trait of his. It was a one of the representations of the aspects of him that he passed down to us when making us. Zeus was The Greek All Father/Creator who molded mankind in his image, without him having that "weakness of lust" it wouldn't make sense for us, his creations to have that as well. Use your rationality for a minute rather than just spouting jokes you saw on Reddit as historical Canon.
Sure, keep them coming. I appreciate your scholarly observations. Grazie.
lol 'Alexander the Great Gay' sounds like a roast his men would come up for him.
Alexander the Fabulous 💅🏻
Oliver Stone's 'Alexander' looks like a masterpiece in comparison to this Netflix lunacy! Very informative analysis by Metatron, thank you!
Which tells us a LOT about how bad this one is! 😅😉
@@finolacat8355to be fair though it's the absolute exception to the rule. That movie is bad despite being incredibly historically accurate.
Whenever I think about perhaps giving it another chance I always end up remembering how much everyone shouts at each other.
The Battle of Gaugamela is such a good sequence. The rest of the movie doesn't hold up very well but the lead up and the battle itself was great.
'Alexander' is of course by no means a masterpiece, but the Final Cut is a GOOD movie (which is not enough concerning the director, the input, the money etc)...Of course - as mentioned ''the ''shouting'' is poor directing, Jolie - abysmal casting and performance, but objectively the movie has more pluses than minuses and I gladly re-watch it (The Final Cut) and Vangelis music as always is simply sublime and PERFECT!@@agonsfitness7308
@@agonsfitness7308well we don't have an audio of ancient Greeks talking. Could have as well shouted a lot.
One thing to note is that the sources themselves aren't free of grudges, bias, preference, slander or what have you.
It's evident in the wording some use, like Atheneus and Rufus, or Diogenes.
It's extremely evident in Roman politics, and we should also mention that all sources listed are from the Roman times, not in Alexander's life, so make of that what you will. I doubt they'd be free of interpretational preference, like the case of Achilles and Patroclus.
This isn't to support one case or the other but for some reason the moment people see a source it's like they forget, that we didn't develop personal bias yesterday.
People have been twisting past figures to support their current politics or beliefs since antiquity.
In addition, the majority of sources can only be generously called secondary and were written by people who lived well passed the lifetime of Alexander and any contemporaries. For example, some of the existing documents from that time are stone tablets with letters from Alexander to the Greek Cities.
Just as an aside, Metatron mentioned frequently Plutarch who was 400 years after Alexander lived. I think we have to accept that we actually can't know because all sources are flawed and we really only know the man existed and the general scope of his successes.
always think this. there were definitely bs merchants back then same as today
Exactly, very important to keep that in mind especially with the wording in some of the sources
Brilliantly said. Someone wrote something about him, oh it must be true then!! xD
5:42 I dunno why, but the cut to Augustus just suddenly speaking Italian killed me 😂😂
King Phillips body( skeleton)Alexander's father is in an museum Vergina( in Thessaloniki Macedonia, ive seen it. We still search for Alexander's body.Love from Greece 🇬🇷 ❤🎉
How tall was he?
Alexander's body is very likely in Venice. "Saint Mark's" body, which happens to be a mummy, was evacuated from Egypt and taken to Venice long ago. Curiously, the sarcophagus shows the sarissa spear and Macedon symbol of the sun....
Edit - and a chunk of it is in the foundation of St Mark's cathedral.
Alexander was said to be taken to Egypt after death - and mummified / buried there. Hmmm....
Edit - mummified, not "modified" autocorrect 😅
in this day and age i spend most of my time unlearning everything I've been taught
It’s pretty fun to be honest, learning that most of history taught is a lie, or a half truth without context. Unfortunately, it’s hard to discuss things with others because it goes against their reality
@@easyegg9760 very true hardest thing is having someone to talk to about it in real life
That's just life. 😅
Then you either live somewhere very bad, or you‘re delusional.
Most info we are taught isn’t wrong, it‘s simplified and summarized badly. Info on Alexander is widely available, and commonly known.
@@tiberseptim8434 I wasn’t specifically talking about Alexander just in general relax bro
Richard the Lion Heart did fight at the tip of the spear
He waded in and piled up bodies all around him
“Hand me my Danish axe”
Alexander, Richard the Lion Heart, and Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, all kings who liked to lead from the front
@@Isildun9 Charles XII of Sweden as well.
Robert the Bruce killed an English knight, snapping his axe handle while caving in the knight's skull. He then complained to his men that the horrible Englishman broke his axe with his face.
@@AEB1066 A truly Scottish move, good in the Bruce.
@@Isildun9Julius Ceasar as well often fought in the front lines
Thank you for going into detail
Thank you metatron ! I love your assessment
I'm going to use this to one-up my gamer friends. "Arrow in the knee? I took a spear in the knee! Check this out!"
I'm a 57 year old woman, and I laughed so hard about that. I even called my son and had him watch that part so we could laugh together. That exact phrase was going through my head when he said he had a spear wound to his knee. I may have the humor of a 12 year old boy. But, in my own defense, I'm a single mom of 2 boys.
My son first recommended this channel, and it's one of my favorites. ❤
The term arrow to the knee refers to marriage
Hahahaha, beat me to it.
My children are beginning college and they have both watched your channel fairly regularly. Thank you for being a catalyst to their curiosity.
Great video as always. I've said it many time, i appreciate how you always go for the facts, along with using the language of the time to break down what it means in our modern day
Alexander (and his father) were incredibly underrated in sieges... they were masterful in a siege. Alexander was not simply a cavalry leader!
He was also a taco vendor
Steven the anglo was with alexander the south european in his campaigns
Regarding Section 7, as is usually the case with most things: the truth is a lot more nuanced than most people are willing to admit; or, at least requires more patience than people are often willing to give. One of the many reasons I like your channel, Metatron, is that you're willing to explore subtlety and nuance in the pursuit of truth. Thank you for your work!
Oh come on, Meta! First Shad, now you. I have to go to sleep today and it's almost midnight in Europe.
Come on it's only 23:40 😉
Same it's almost 2 AM here...
It's after midnight, what are you on about?! It's almost like you posted this comment an hour ago
@@m0-m0597 First off it's only 7pm. It's like you guys don't live in my exact geographic location in this specific moment in time.
Where I live it's Monday
The definitive analysis. Nice ad placement by the way, wicked smart. 😂
You really out here inflicting yourself this for us. Thx bro.
Netflix's Alexander makes Oliver Stone's Alexander look amazing.
Oliver Stone's Alexander is unironically the best when it comes to showing Alexander's battles (until it gets to India and makes a mess of things). But is also gave us 'Babylon, Persia', which is repeated here. Way to obfuscate Babylon's status as a conquered rival imperial capital that was in frequent revolt against Persia.
Rosario in her prime.
@@badlaamaurukehu true but she's aging gracefully though.
She had a nice figure🤤
That movie was inspired by the books by valeri massimo manfredi
😂😂😂 the beginning, hilarious. Just the your face lol
He was not amused! 😊
this 😂
That's how you know it's gonna be a good video
So true, I'm glad we have him. He is a treasure!
That was the kind of face I imagine Mussolini had when he began receiving the reports of his invasion of Greece in 1940.
Hi!, love your content. As an advice, you could add a menu on your video so is easier to navigate through it :)
Great video, noble one! I learned tons :)
Netflix forgot the most important rule, the rule of cool. The Alexander movie from the 2000's understood this concept but for some reason Netflix is oblivious to this.
It was common practice during the Greek Classic Age for Greek commanders to fight in the front line. Alexander was just following Greek practices. Even his father, Phillip II, lost an eye and was wounded in the leg during battles. That doesn't happen in the rear.
it was also common practice to be LGBT+ so then, why is everyone so upset about it ? does it really matter if Alexander was LGBT or not ?
@@itsMe_TheHerpes Because most men think sex between two men is disgusting, and so did most Greeks. It was not as wide spread as homosexuals want us to believe.
@@itsMe_TheHerpes No, it wasn't that common.
@@itsMe_TheHerpes Dude, you just watched a video about the fact that applying our ideas about LGBTQ on classical Greeks is a nonsense, so WTF? BTW Metatron also has a video where debunks the myth that homosexuality (as we understand it today) was common and widely accepted in ancient Greece.
IMHO no one normal is really upset about anyone being anything if there is historical evidence for it. People (me included) are upset about history being bent to suit whatever modern political worldview - making Alexander monogamic straight man would be just as insulting as making him purely gay, simply because neither corresponds with know historical sources.
@@itsMe_TheHerpes except it was extremely rare and the legitimacy of cases where it actually existed are questionable at best and completely fabricated at worst.
great vid with source and cited material
21:48 , Alexander the Great slept with everything that looked good
In regards to Alexander’s Battle wounds and leading from the front lines , Alexander biographer Flavius Arrianus notes the multi battle injuries sustained by Alexander through his campaign, from long range weapons to close quarter weapons . Even Alexander himself in his speech described the wounds he sustained along side his troops
he did claim to never have suffered a wound from the back, but I guess that's probably meant to mean he's never fled from combat
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrian This guy? Meaning 400 years later?
@@AandKify Yes, this guy is calling Hephestion "eromenos". So he must be right.
"Who among you believes he’s worked harder for me than I have for him? Come on! If you’ve got scars, strip and show them to me. I’ll show you mine! There isn’t one part of my body, the front at least, that doesn’t bear a wound! Swords, arrows, stones, clubs. All for the sake of your lives, your glory, and your wealth."
-Alexander the Great addressing his troops following the Opis Mutiny, 324 BC
As a Greek i don't think Metatron really understands the respect and love that grows inside me about him!
Get a room.
@@theressomelovelyfilthdownh4329 Lmfao,not in that way!
@christhegreek3667 what did you think of this show? I havnt watched it nor have any interest in watching it so I don't know how it is.
@@kyle18934 The show has 6 episodes in total ,counting 40-45 minutes each, that's a lot of time wasted considering
you can find CZcams channels making more informative and detailed videos about Alexander The Great.
Something to note is that the music was TOP NOTCH! Maybe something that i liked in the series!
Gay
Love your channel ❤
Honestly I've never been mad at you cause I believe you truly tell the truth without bias, you look at the evidence and report what you find, excellent channel
Metatron needs to start all his videos with ten seconds of angry Jesus stare.
Pray we don't earn the Jesus Glare.
He does it so well, downright scary, even to someone my age, and I'm old enough to be his grandmama.
It does make a point. You see it and immediately think “oh crap, what did Netflix do now?”
well Metatron would choose a historical figure and not a character from mythology i would guess.. (:yes flavius josephus did mention him one time but not with specifics).i was raised catholic dont be triggered church crowd. it is my opinion and my right
@@thomashauer6804 your opinion is boring, and you missed the joke.
"I will piss of everyone on the political spectrum." Sounds like music in my ears.
I mean I’m not pissed, have reservations when it comes to the Roman writings though since it happened way after his life.
@@ImperialSenpai That's like saying writing a report on hitlers life now as gen z member is irrevant to future generations because we didn't live to see it.
@@Moncrom I don’t know where the Roman ones got their original sources or if they just made it up. Which is why I said I have reservations about it. Also I would not trust %99.9 of gen Z or millennials on knowing anything about WWII as a whole so that doesn’t help and a lot of things about it. Including Hitler’s life get lied about for ideological reasons leaving a lot of people ignorant about it.
@@Moncrom It's LESS relevant than a source directly from his time. Mostly because you're reiterating what those sources said through the lens of your generation. Much like Chinese whispers, do that often enough and you don't necessarily have an accurate picture anymore. One century isn't a big deal, but several can make sources questionable. Since they're sources based on sources based on sources...
As a conservative whose instincts are to distrust modern reinterpretations of historical figures, I'm not pissed off. I get what our host was getting at about angering both sides, but I doubt my reaction is hardly unique among cons.
And yes, moncrom, documents from several hundred of years after an event are not weighted the same as contemporary sources. Even moreso when you include different languages and cultures. Why is that difficult for you to understand?
Video bellissimo. Bravo!
Alex, Heph and Rox had the most funniest travel ever i know.
😂😂😂😂😂
I enjoy your insistence that modern interpretations of relationships be dropped and instead relationships be understood in the context of the time. It not only helps with historical accuracy but also helps sociologically for us to understand how different cultures understood the relationship of the sexes and sexual relationships and how those understandings have changed over time. To interpret such relationships from a modern perspective loses valuable sociological data. Love those 72 wings.
czcams.com/video/BNAT4ybsz_E/video.htmlsi=zCFISDmEAl6Fhdm2
How is having sex with a man not gay in any time period?
Lets face it, sex with a man is twice as manly as sex with a woman. This is a fact.
@@Mr.Witness What is modern is how you label and understand same sex desires and relations. Having sex with a man would not have you labelled as 'gay' , nor would having sex with a woman have you labeled as 'straight'. Sexuality was something you did, more of an action. They were also not so concerned and worried about falling into one or other box. Things changed with Abrahamic religions and their obsession with sins of the flesh and then in the modern era with science and the pathologization and characterisation of different characteristics into identity features.
@@Mr.Witness "Gay" and "homosexual" are not the same thing. A man can engage in homosexual activity, as well as heterosexual activity...what does that "make" him? If his attractions are 80% towards women, but 20% towards men...what then?
Just finished this series not one hour ago, and my very first thought was, "Can't wait until Metatron does a video on this."
This was superb and very entertaining.
Fascinating, thank you.
Another historical inaccuracy was when they showed the city of Babylon with the Ishtar Gate seemingly on the outer wall of the city when in fact it was a gateway into the sacred precincts of the city on the Processional Way near the center of the cityl
About Alexander;s wounds Plutarch lists a great number of them. He had A LOT. Also, King Philipp was assassinated on the road tio the thater of Aigai not inside a room as they showed.
Technically, he died a he was walking out to make his appearance. I know what you meant, but the term “On the road” makes it sound like he was traveling to an uninformed reader.
@@edfilandrianos You are right. But in the show they killed him indoors, which is BS.
marvellous video. Bravo!
Thank you for your erudite and clear-eyed analysis. A real breath of fresh air.
About 14:30
_"... someone cries because his best friend died, he must be gay, they must have been in a relationship."_
That's ludicrous. What would such people say about a teacher mourning the death of one of his students?
That seems an odd example. Any teacher who actually mourns a student, (rather than just being sad about it), would be suspect in my eyes. I wouldn't want any teacher so attached to my kid that they go around crying about it as if they were family (or a friend). I have been a Sunday School teacher and then coordinator at my church for years, having the same kids to work with for years in a row, having lots of events and being part of the church family, too. If something happened to one of them, I would be sad about it, might even cry a little, but I wouldn't "mourn".
Not trying to be mean, maybe your interpretation of the word "mourn" is different from mine. Plus some of us are a bit touchy about the teachers or president who claim other people's children as "all of our children". I agree that mourning someone doesn't mean that you are romantically in love with them, fwiw, but I might use a better example than teacher and student.
@@nicolethompson8613wow, you might be heartless then. If a teacher doesn't mourn their student their heart is made of stone
@@ashyroy9454 be sad, yes. Mourning is a different thing. I am far from heartless. Mourning is defined as: "the expression of deep sorrow for someone who has died, typically involving following certain conventions such as wearing black clothes.".
@nicolethompson8613 I didn't have very good parents growing up and my teachers completely helped me survive my childhood by providing good examples and supporting me. I talked to my first grade teacher until she died. This is a sad view that you have.
@@Kp42083 its obvious that your teacher was gay dude pfff
He led every attack, he almost died on a tower as a result, fighting alone, with an arrow in his chest
Achilles: "Imagine a king who fights his own battles"
Alexander: Alright bet
@@firingallcylinders2949well he did liked reading illiad so..
@@Pavlos_Charalambous Alexander is an Achilles cosplay / acting method pushed too far
... and a hard on.
@@Pavlos_CharalambousEven more so he was one the HEROES who he worshipped!!! Despite he was a GOD himself!!!
Excellent video Metatron! My only caveat, as a Modern and Koine Greek Speaker, is comparing using modern Greek phrases to Latin and Italian. Late Attic/ Early Koine is closer to Modern Greek than Latin to Italian. But I’m nitpicking
great start
"veni vidi vici
alea iacta est
Pizza, Mama Mia, Grazie"
gaius julius mario caesar
quod erat demonstrandum
🤌🤌🤌
*Gai Jul Rio Ceasar
I cringed so hard to be honest
And of COURSE Netflix has to FIRST tell us - rightly - that Zoroastrianism gave an equal or near-equal role to women, and queens wielded a lot of power. A few moments later, they have the Persian king pooh-poohing someone as being "a mere woman" LOL THANK YOU METATRON for another wonderful, organised, erudite video!!!
Queens wielded a lot of power throughout history. The infamous "modern audience" Intersectionalists often try to portray them akin to slaves in order to justify their own hateful behavior. The exaggeration can get pretty thick.
@@NefariousKoel often queens had no power its Just a historical fact
@@NefariousKoelsome Queens wielded power. Others got their heads chopped off because their king was horny for a younger model.
Context is everything. You generalise as much as the "modern audiences" you demonise. But your statement is no better.
@@giorgijioshvili9713 queens and women wielded power quite often, but through men. Look at Katherine of Aragorn, she made military decisions on behalf of her husband when he was away. Margaret Beaufort certainly used every wit she had to get her son onto the English throne. Anne Boleyn influenced Henry so much he broke from the Catholic Church. She could have been content with being a mistress, but she wanted to be queen and wanted to reform the religion. You’d be surprised by how much influence women could have.
It’s just the man usually had the last say whether he was right or wrong.
It's important to specify the kind of power royal women wielded *on average* - which was usually 'soft power'; they served as patrons of the arts, they were involved in charity, the education of their children/ the children of others - people begged for their intercession, in legal matters- & they might apply to the king on behalf of others, as it wouldn't be 'proper' for grown men to _beg_ for mercy on their own behalf- but it was entirely fitting for women & children, & even aged parents to do so- & a king could claim to be 'moved to mercy' by such gestures.
There are instances of women wielding both hard *&* soft power- but that was often almost always a Queen Regnant- as in, women ruling *in their own right* - most queens were mere consorts, & occasionally regents for under-age heirs. They were often the exception, not the rule...
I think your respond to that show, I call it show, makes me learn more.
This is an excellent video. Thank you.
I had the video set to audio only (I was in my car) and I heard Metatron call out “JT” and I honestly jumped in my seat. I had to pull over and make sure that:
1. You weren’t mentioning me by name and
2. I hadn’t posted something that outrageously while blackout drunk or something.
Lol that’s funny
@@metatronyt it was quite frightening
Richard the third's body was found in a parking lot in the UK fairly recently. A TON of documentaries were made about it, as well as a movie. On Netflix, I believe. Personally, I think that is more impressive as far as recent findings. Especially as it was then able to assess IF he was even "a hunchback", as we have all always believed, thanks to Shakespeare. It was interesting to learn about the curvature of his spine in detail. If you are into that sort of thing, that is...lol!
Really well done.
I like the Skyrim reference. Well done, Metatron.
God I love this channel. Bless you Metatron!
I Appreciate thanks 🙏🏻
All the great generals you mentioned are freakin' legends. For me, a totally underrated and underappreciated general in history is Eastern Roman General Flavius Belisarius. He barely gets any credit, despite the amazing feats he achieved. I think it's a wider issue, Eastern Roman (aka "Byzantine") history is underrepresented in modern media.
Sadly Belisarius (as awesome as he was) never had much lasting success due to massive underfunding. Thats probably why he never had that much of an impact in the History Books.
@@blablubb8615 yes, but I think that was mostly Justinian's fault.
@@jonirenicus9903 Well Byzantine was simply in no condition to invade anything at the time , but yes.
I saw the trailer and that’s it .. Alexander’s real history is already fascinating. Thank you for your passion and dedication to history and finding historical accuracy.
Merci pour la vidéo
Your refrence of Arrian, Discourses of Epictetus, is 450 years after Alexander, written by a Roman about a Greek. The Romans admired Greek culture but thought them morally questionable.
Yeah most of his sources in the video aren’t contemporary & the one that is he admits is authentically dubious.
I’ve made a comment asking him about it & hopefully he responds as I respect Metatron but his conclusion is very strange considering his stance on Achilles and Patroclus.
@@MannerdDesert7 You are aware Achilles and Patroclus arent real people right?
That´s why I like ancient history but I never believe in almost anything written. Too few sources which can´t be authenticated.
@@levski19 If historians thought like that nothing would pass the bar lol.
@@OGTheDemon Indeed but still too much hypothesis and conjecture to suit me.
First argument in Alexander's propaganda was that the cause of the campaign was to punish the killers of his father and avenge the destruction of Athens.
He had a real emotional (and nearly, a spiritual) Tie to Achilles, also. I think he believed He was Achilles, reborn. ( If I remember correctly) He kept the Iliad under his pillow.
And yes, he also wanted to pay Persia back for its two invasion.
@metatronyt Greek and Roman political thought in context was one of my favourite modules at Birkbeck and you did a great job
I love historical dramas and documentaries on tv. Metatron is ruining this for me. Thank you Metatron. I feel awakened.
Wait, Netflix got the Helmets right? Maybe, they are going to get the Leather Bracers right next time. ;) XD
Netflix invites you to hear the story of one of history’s greatest conquerors: Alexander the Great. Played by one of the most compelling actors of our time: Jada Pinkett-Smith.
The New York Times raves: Pinkett-Smith delivers a powerful performance as Alexander.
The Washington Post proclaims: Pinkett-Smith has forever altered the way we will picture Alexander the Great.
And National Inquirer exclaims: Don’t ever let anyone tell you different - Alexander the Great was a Black Woman.
So brave!
3 days late but at least I'm here. thanks again Metatron