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Season 2024 – Talk 01 – Alexander the Great
In ‘Alexander the Great’ David Simpson and Alan Freeland tell us about this legend from ancient time.
We hear about his life, his military genius, his political skills and also the effect that he has had on culture through the ages.
Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk.
About this talk:
Alan Freeland writes:
The inspiration for this topic comes from the British Library Exhibition ‘Alexander The Great – the Making of a Myth‘.
The exhibition shows me that Alexander the Great is both an historical figure and a myth. If you measure influence by the number of cultures he impacts and the duration of that influence, then he is a strong contender for the most influential person in all history. His ‘competitors’ would be those religious leaders who have given the inspiration to their followers to create durable world religions.
Alternatively if you are looking for a hero that has inspired more political and military leaders than any other then again he is a strong contender.
To find out more about the (now closed) exhibition please click here.
Alexander – the man:
David gives the first half of the talk. He focuses on the historic Alexander and Alexander the man. His part of the talk also touches on Alexander the myth and his legacy – especially from a European perspective.
Alexander – the legacy:
Alan, in his preparation for his part of the talk, finds references to Alexander for every century up to the modern day.
Alexander’s legacy extends beyond the countries he visited so we also hear about his legacy in the Roman Empire, The Caucuses, his impact on religions and other examples of his legacy in the West.
Listen to David and Alan tell the full story .
About this podcast:
This is an edited recording of a talk given to the Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Group.
Unfortunately it has not been possible to publish some of the illustrations from the original talk because they are copyright.
This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher , Vurbl , You Tube and others.
AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use with this talk.
© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Group 2018 – 2025