Why is  Alexander   the Great   still,  today,  the subject of  heated  controversy?

Recommended for Further Reading

Athenian Political Oratory: 16 Key Speeches, translated by D. D. Phillips (New York and London
2004): a good, representative selection of political oratory from the late fifth and fourth centuries bc in
clear, accurate translations with helpful notes.

Bosworth, A. B. Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great (Cambridge 1988): a thorough
and tough-minded attempt to reconstruct the reality that lies behind the romanticized and often idealized
ancient evidence for Alexander and his conquests.

Edwards, M. The Attic Orators (London 1994): an excellent brief (under 100 pages) introduction to the
Attic orators and their work, with suggestions for further reading.

Freeman, P. Alexander the Great (New York 2011): a reliable, well-written, up-to-date biography by
another in the long line of ancient historians who have fallen under the spell of Alexander.

Ober, J. Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens: Rhetoric, Ideology, and the Power of the People
(Princeton 1989): an important study of the way in which elite Athenians of the fourth century negotiated
through oratory their relationship with the mass of Athenian citizens, preceded by an excellent survey of
the development of Athenian democracy.

Plato, The Republic, edited by G. R. F. Ferrari and translated by Tom Griffith (Cambridge 2000): Plato’s
masterpiece, embodying his developed thoughts on education, the arts, and the state, in an excellent
translation with valuable notes and introduction.

Plato, Symposium and Phaedrus, translated by Tom Griffith (New York and Toronto 2000): two of
Plato’s most dazzling dialogues, in the very best translations available.

Szlezák, T. A. Reading Plato, English translation (London and New York 1999): the most sensible brief
introduction to Plato’s thought and writing.

Suggested Internet Resources

Richard Kraut’s article on Plato (plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato, accessed March 29, 2016) in the
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an outstanding introduction to the thinking of “one of the most
dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition,” with up-to-date bibliography.

Jonathan Miller’s 1965 film version of the Symposium (youtu.be/Al9u1lal6KY, accessed March 29,
2016) is a brilliant dramatization of Plato’s dialogue on eros as a picnic organized by an Oxbridge don
for his students.

There is an excellent four-part entry for Philip II (livius.org/phi-php/philip/philip_ii, accessed March 29,
2016) by Jona Lendering on the web-site of Livius, with links to maps, texts, images, and other entries.

Aigai: The Royal Capital of Macedon (aigai.gr/en, accessed March 29, 2016), the web-site of the
Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aigai, contains stunning images of some of the remarkable finds in the
royal tombs, although navigation and documentation on the site leave something to be desired.