Alexander and Olympias
Alexander the Great and his mother Olympias were very fond of each other, but they were also two very violent people who literally walked over dead bodies.
Both did not shy away from having personal rivals and competitors killed by the dozen.
"The destruction of Thebes [by Alexander] left a very deep and lasting impression on Greece. It was perceived not only by contemporaries but for centuries (even in the Roman imperial period) as an outrageous cruelty that Alexander was blamed for and cited as a historical example of a horrific catastrophe."
While Alexander had been leading the Balkan campaign to secure his power in 335 BC after taking power, "the Greeks in the south decided that this was the time to free themselves from Macedonia. Their spokesman was Demosthenes, who tried to convince the Greeks that Alexander had fallen in Illyria and that Macedonia was rulerless. The inhabitants of Thebes were the first to rise up and drive the Macedonian occupying soldiers out of the city.
Alexander reacted immediately and marched southwards to Thebes directly from his Illyrian campaign. The phalanx of his general Perdiccas captured the city, where Alexander had all the buildings destroyed as punishment, with the exception of the temples and the home of the poet Pindar. Six thousand inhabitants were killed, the remaining 30,000 were sold into slavery. The city of Thebes no longer existed and was to be rebuilt only twenty years later, but never regained its former importance.
[...]
The ancient orators in particular were keen to speak [of these atrocities] and used this opportunity to arouse strong emotions in their audiences. It was said that Alexander acted like a wild animal and as an inhuman (apánthrōpos). This tradition of interpretation was still being received in Byzantine times." Later it was obviously lost.
The quotes come from de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_der_Große
They and my own words were translated with the help of www.deepl.com/de/translator
Sculpture group in the Schönbrunn Garden
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculptures_in_the_Schönbrunn_Garden
Alexander and Olympias
Alexander the Great and his mother Olympias were very fond of each other, but they were also two very violent people who literally walked over dead bodies.
Both did not shy away from having personal rivals and competitors killed by the dozen.
"The destruction of Thebes [by Alexander] left a very deep and lasting impression on Greece. It was perceived not only by contemporaries but for centuries (even in the Roman imperial period) as an outrageous cruelty that Alexander was blamed for and cited as a historical example of a horrific catastrophe."
While Alexander had been leading the Balkan campaign to secure his power in 335 BC after taking power, "the Greeks in the south decided that this was the time to free themselves from Macedonia. Their spokesman was Demosthenes, who tried to convince the Greeks that Alexander had fallen in Illyria and that Macedonia was rulerless. The inhabitants of Thebes were the first to rise up and drive the Macedonian occupying soldiers out of the city.
Alexander reacted immediately and marched southwards to Thebes directly from his Illyrian campaign. The phalanx of his general Perdiccas captured the city, where Alexander had all the buildings destroyed as punishment, with the exception of the temples and the home of the poet Pindar. Six thousand inhabitants were killed, the remaining 30,000 were sold into slavery. The city of Thebes no longer existed and was to be rebuilt only twenty years later, but never regained its former importance.
[...]
The ancient orators in particular were keen to speak [of these atrocities] and used this opportunity to arouse strong emotions in their audiences. It was said that Alexander acted like a wild animal and as an inhuman (apánthrōpos). This tradition of interpretation was still being received in Byzantine times." Later it was obviously lost.
The quotes come from de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_der_Große
They and my own words were translated with the help of www.deepl.com/de/translator
Sculpture group in the Schönbrunn Garden
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculptures_in_the_Schönbrunn_Garden