Women and Masculinity in the Life of Alexander

In Plutarch's The Life of Alexander Alexander embodied and yet sometimes disregarded a conventional Hellenic understanding of masculinity. Plutarch explicates Alexander's arete as man and king by comparison to two other male rulers, his father Philip II and Darius III, but Alexander's dealings with women also play an important role in defining Alexander's masculinity. The vivid picture the Life paints of Alexander's parents and their literally fateful union casts a shadow over the entire biography, complicating any understanding of masculinity in the Alexander and contributing to its tragic feel.