The birth of Alexander III of Macedon was supposedly heralded by three great victories – that of his father Philip II in the siege of Potidaea, that of the general Parmenion over the Illyrians, and that of Philip’s horse at the Olympic Games – which, according to legend, signified that Alexander himself would never be defeated. And indeed, across Alexander’s short and bittersweet life, he remained undefeated in battle, earning him the praise and envy of generations of military thinkers. In a little under twelve years, Alexander conquered almost all of the known world. It was thought by many at the time that his objective was to reach okeanos, the great sea theorised to surround the World (). It was not an impassable foe nor impossible odds which thwarted this ambition, nor even Alexander’s illness and eventual death. Instead, his troops, so far and so long from home, simply refused to go any further. Deep into the Indian subcontinent, on the banks of the Ganges, and about to face the joint might of the Nanda and Gangaridal Empires, Alexanders men begged him to allow them to go home. It was on this return journey, as he reached the famed city of Babylon, that Alexander’s illness, most likely malaria or typhoid fever, worsened. He died while his wife, Roxane, was pregnant with their son, Alexander IV who was also known as Aegus. Since the sex of the child, and therefore whether he would be a legitimate successor according to Macedon’s system of male primogeniture, was unknown, the throne was passed to the custodianship of Alexander’s mentally incapacitated brother, Philip Arrhidaios, who was considered too weak-minded to be more than a powerless figurehead. Under the regency of Perdiccas, one of Alexander’s generals, rivalries emerged among Alexander’s other close companions. With his birth in 322 BC, Alexander IV ascended to the throne, also under the regency of Perdiccas, who was promptly assassinated, and replaced with the general Antipater. Alexander IV’s reign limped on for some fourteen or so years, before he too was killed, and Alexander the Great’s unprecedented Empire was carved up between rival successors, known as the diadochoi.

Alexander was a member of the Argead Dynasty, which had ruled Macedon since about 700 BC. While the Greeks themselves were not too sure whether the Macedonians could be classed as Greek or not, there was no doubt among the Argead line of their Hellenic credentials. They traced their origins to Argos in the Peloponnese, hence the name ‘Argead’, via their legendary founder, King Karanos. Karanos was the son of one Temenos, who was a King of Argos in time immemorial. And nobody doubted exactly how Greek Temenos was: he was, supposedly, the great-great-grandson of the archetypal Greek hero, Herakles (known to the Romans as Hercules), via his son Hullos. The Argeads, who were keen to emphasise their Greekness in order to ensure the loyalty of their newfound subjects in the Greek mainland, and to secure their place in the storied history of the Greek people. The importance of this link was underscored by repeated participation of Macedonian monarchs at the Olympic Games, stretching back as far as Alexander I, whose success at the Olympic Games of 504 BC earned him the title ‘Philhellene’ (‘Greece-lover’), according to the account of Herodotos (Histories 5.22.2), and concluding with Alexander the Great’s father, Philip II, whose horses triumphed at the 356 BC, 352 BC, and 348 BC competitions.

It is unsurprising, then, that Alexander chose to present himself in the guise of his supposed descendant, Herakles. As a young Macedonian monarch ruling a largely Greek Empire at a time of great uncertainty following his father’s assassination, Alexander had a problem of both credibility and legitimacy. He was often depicted in the lionskin of Herakles in coinage – a fine example can be found in the Art Institute of Chicago (1920.708) – and in statuary. This exquisite depiction of Alexander in bronze, executed in a sinuous, almost mannerist, style, falls into this extraordinary genre of Alexandrian depictions. The elongated arms and legs, the sinuous musculature, the clean-shaven face, and the curly forelocks, help direct the viewer towards the true subject of this portrait – Alexander – rather than evoking the usual style of Heraklid imagery, which leans on the demigod’s stocky musculature and manly beard. Alexander’s eyes are highlighted with electrum, a silver-gold alloy, which sparkles against the highly patinated blue-green bronze. The quality of the workmanship is exceptional, far beyond what was normally achieved by later Roman metalworkers, and so we can subjectively use this detail to place the piece in the Hellenistic Period, probably during the reigns of one of Alexander’s successors.

Alexander is depicted here not only as Herakles, but rather as Herakles at a very specific moment. Legend tells that Herakles was hated by his step-mother, Hera, having been born from an affair between Hera’s husband Zeus and the mortal Alkmene. Hera took a jealous interest in Herakles’ development on Earth, far from the seat of the gods on Olympus. When Herakles eventually found happiness with a wife, Megara, and their union produced children, Hera’s anger overflowed. She inspired a fit of madness during which Herakles brutally murdered his wife and children. When he came to his senses, Herakles was distraught, and went to the Oracle of Delphi to seek advice. The Oracle advised that Herakles should place himself at the disposal of his uncle, Eurystheus, the King of Tiryns. In a brutal twist, Eurystheus was Hera’s candidate to be a hero, defeating the remaining monsters of the old order and bringing about the reign of the Twelve Olympians. Herakles, Zeus’ candidate for that role, was therefore given impossible tasks by his uncle – one for each of the Olympian gods – from which he was not expected to return. Among these tasks was recovering the Apples of the Hesperides. These apples were kept in a garden at the northern edge of the world, and were guarded not only by a hundred-headed dragon, Ladon, but also by the Hesperides, the daughters of Atlas, a titan whose punishment was to hold up the sky for eternity to prevent it crushing the mortals on Earth. Herakles journeyed through Libya, Egypt, Asia, and Arabia, before he finally forced the sea-god Nereos to tell him the garden’s secret location. Along the way, he encountered another punished Titan, Prometheos, who had let slip the secret of fire to mortals and was chained to a mountain to have his liver pecked out daily by an eagle. Prometheus told Herakles that only Atlas could recover the apples, but to do so, Herakles would have to take the weight of the sky from his shoulders.

When Herakles arrived, he negotiated with Atlas. He would take the weight of the sky, in exchange for Atlas’ return with the apples. Atlas hastily agreed, glad to be rid of his burden, and went to retrieve the apples. Herakles, as strong as the Titan if not stronger, took the weight of the skies easily. However, Herakles could not move; were he to do so, all mortals would be crushed. Atlas returned with the apples and promised to take them to Eurystheus himself, if Herakles were to take the weight of the skies for the rest of time. Quick-thinking Herakles agreed, but requested Atlas’ help to take the weight of the skies for one last time, so that Herakles could adjust his lion-skin cloak. Atlas, thinking he had won, agreed; of course, Herakles took the apples and ran. It is the moment of the adjustment of the cloak which is referenced in this statue. Alexander is shown holding the apples (which were much smaller in Antiquity) in one hand. Across his forearm is draped the unadjusted cloak, a lion’s paw which would tickle his forearm, risking a wobble or sudden movement while he held up the sky. He drags his club, a common attribute of Herakles, and providing a third point of stability for the statuette.

It can readily be presumed why Alexander, or his successors, would choose for the great Macedonian to be represented as Herakles at this specific moment. Alexander’s ambition to reach the edges of the Earth was, like Herakles’, was very nearly achieved. Like Herakles, he cast a shadow over the entire globe, and like Herakles, his journey to the extreme edges of civilisation led him through Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Asia, and to places where legend and reality mixed. This was Alexander as conqueror, as explorer, and as bastion of Greekness against the barbarian outlands.