What was the religion of Alexander The Great?

Answer 1

I suppose you could say he believed in himself, seeing as he considered himself to be one of the gods:

"Therefore, to conclude there is enough evidence to support the claim that Alexander the Great genuinely believed in his own divinity. First of all there was a cultural context in which a man could sanely support such a belief. It has been shown that there was a growing tradition in the ancient Greek world of living men receiving divine honours in their own life times, including Philip II. It has also been shown that in the religious context this tradition could flourish through the Greek belief of daimons, and that syncretism between Persian, Egyptian and Greek religious beliefs would have probably further facilitated its development.Moreover, the later ancient sources themselves, although somewhat troubled by it, illustrate that Alexander believed in his own divinity. However, the sources would have preferred that his divinity was in the context of heroic mythology, and not as a god. Nevertheless, the evidence shows that Alexander believed the nature of his divinity was derived through his true father, Zeus Ammon, and that this divinity was as a god and not as a hero; which would have been inconsistent with the belief of the age. Furthermore, it seems that the tradition of worship surrounding Alexander the Great was as an aspect of Dionysus, and this seems to be compatible with Alexander’s personal background, character and the continuing cult as illustrated by Ptolemy IV. Therefore, just as Alexander superseded Philip II politically in conquering the Persian empire; he also superseded Philip in religion and made the great leap from ‘like a god’ to a god; if not through his action, then through his belief."


The religions in dominance at the time of the event must be viewed from a past perspective, not a modern one. Religious texts and beliefs are the results of centuries of revision. Many are interpreted erroneously from a completely modern perspective. Current 'new age' spirituality clouds the issues further by incorporating myth and folktales as reality.

Alexander was raised in a polytheistic culture which for many people today is just impossible to understand. The monotheistic beliefs of the modern Western world - developed from Jewish and Christian origins - have provided us with a rather harsh concept of what religion ought to be: there is one single true God. Reverance of any other gods is pagan and should be avoided. There might be tolerance towards other religions, but there can not be fusion.

This concept was totally alien to Alexander and his contemporaries. In the ancient world the flexibility of the pantheon of gods made them interchangable with foreign gods. The religious beliefs of Alexander's time can never be fully understood through modern eyes. Our concept of religion prevents us from grasping what it meant to Alexander to promote himself as divine."

Answer 2

As a Macedonian king, he worshiped the gods of the Greek Pantheon. He was believed to be the son of Zeus; Another popular legend linked the arson of the temple in Ephesus with Alexander's birth~ancient Greek folklore said that Artemis (patron goddess of the Ionian city) was at the time helping queen Olympias to deliver the semi-god child.

After liberating Egypt (which was at that time under the rule of the Persians), the priests from the Siwah Oracle officially named him the son of Zeus-Amun.

Answer 3

It was a polytheistic religion.

It is perhaps misleading to speak of "Greek religion." In the first place, the Greeks did not have a term for "religion" in the sense of a dimension of existence distinct from all others, and grounded in the belief that the gods exercise authority over the fortunes of human beings and demand recognition as a condition for salvation. The Greeks spoke of their religious doings as "ta theia" (literally, "things having to do with the gods"), but this loose usage did not imply the existence of any authoritative set of "beliefs." Indeed, the Greeks did not have a word for "belief" in either of the two senses familiar to us. Since the existence of the gods was a given, it would have made no sense to ask whether someone "believed" that the gods existed. On the other hand, individuals could certainly show themselves to be more or less mindful of the gods, but the common term for that possibility was "nomizein", a word related to "nomos" ("custom," "customary distribution," "law"); to nomizein the gods was to acknowledge their rightful place in the scheme of things, and to act accordingly by giving them their due. Some bold individuals could nomizein the gods, but deny that they were due some of the customary observances. But these customary observances were so highly unsystematic that it is not easy to describe the ways in which they were normative for anyone.

Answer 4

Alexander the great was unitheistic. He believed in many gods, but he only worshiped one of them, himself.

Answer 5

Being Greek, and educated in the Greek traditions, Alexander was well aware of the hundreds of gods that his people both respected and hated.
He was made to believe that he was part-god by his mother.

Answer 6

He belived the Greek mythology but after he started conquering places he's religion mixed with the Egyptain and the Hindu and other eastern religions.

Answer 7

He observed the Greek polytheistic religions and that is noted since he had made sacrifices to the gods (apparent in both primary and secondary resources about him).

Answer 8

I would just like to add....

He was told by his mother that he was a descendant of Achilles. It was later when he went to the oracle in Egypt that he was formally told he was the son of Zeus.

Answer 9

i think greek