Why do historians and filmmakers say different things about Alexander the Great?
Learning objectives
Pupils should learn:		 Possible teaching objectives Learning outcomes
Pupils

Resources
Who was Alexander the Great?
  • To examine an overview of Alexander the Great’s life in order to identify events that may have led to him being considered ‘Great’.
     
  • To explore what being ‘Great’ might mean.
     
  • To understand that historical figures can be represented in very different ways.
     
 Starter (initial stimulus material):
  • Display three contrasting images of Alexander the Great, eg. A movie still of Colin Farrell from the 2004 film Alexander depicting him as a fierce warrior; a contemporary coin issued after his death showing him with horns, suggesting descent from the horned god Zeus Amman; the romantic painting “Alexander enters Babylon” by Charles Le Brun etc. (two of the three resources are listed in the resources column, the final as a link to a website)
  • As a starter (initial stimulus material) display the three images deliberately with holding knowledge of who they are and particularly that the images are of the same person. Distribute copies of the adjective cards (listed in the resource column) with definitions on the back (“Great”, “butcher”, “hero”, “warrior”, “thoughtful”, “legendary”, “adored”, “brave”,” important”…). Against the clock, ask pupils in pairs or groups to match adjectives to the images.
  • Lead a class discussion, drawing out how individuals have chosen words with reference to what they see.
  • Finally ask “Are all these the same person” “who do you think these people are?” Reveal it is Alexander the Great.
Alex Film Clip 1
  • Reveal his crime and then ask the pupils what punishment he should
    receive. Take a selection of answers.

Definitions and Chronology

  • Ask pupils “what does GREAT mean? What have you seen here that might mean that he is great?” Distribute copies of the list of definitions of Great from the resources column. In pairs and against the clock, pupils should highlight the aspects of greatness that they feel applies to the images they have seen so far. Lead a class discussion from this activity, displaying a copy of the list.
  • Then ask, “How did these people who made these images get the idea that he was “great”? “What else do we need to know”? Pupils should suggest an answer ie. the facts.
  • Display the living graph (the power point slide labelled “Living graph on sugar paper” (listed in the resources column). Explain that the horizontal axis represents the Chronology of Alexander’s’ Life and the vertical axis “greatness”, (the top of the axis represents the height of greatness).
  • Distribute sugar paper copies of the living graph to groups. Also distribute copies of the Chronology cards which summarise Alexander’s’ life from the resources column. Ask pupils to organise the cards in chronological order along the horizontal axis and then plot them in terms of “greatness” against the vertical axis.
  • Lead a class discussion focusing on such questions as “why did you position it there?” “what aspect of greatness does the event reveal etc”.
  • Refer back to the earlier list of definitions of “great”. Ask pupils to highlight aspects of “great” evident in from the chronology cards. Head discussion on the question “How far was he great?”
Alex Film Clip 2
  • Summarise the main points of the previous activities by displaying a transitional question: “We have found evidence of greatness and we have decided how far it is true using facts about Alexander’s life BUT did the three images we started with show all aspects of his greatness? Why did they choose to show different parts of his greatness?”

Creating interpretations: tableaux

  • Divide the class into 6 groups, issue each group with a different (listed in the resources column) instruction card – two groups are historians writing a children’s book, two are filmmakers and two are Arabic chroniclers. Each group has to create a tableaux (a still) showing Alexander doing something from the timeline. Students must consider; number of people, position of people, gestures, expressions, objects, clothing, actions, event, background image (have a selection available – desert, battle, storm, Greek building etc.) Take a photo of this to use on the SmartBoard.
  • In turn the rest of the class should analyse the image of the tableaux in order to work out what event is being portrayed and who might be representing Alexander (feed options if necessary). Pupils might also question the “creators” of each tableaux.
  • Finally discuss “Why is there not one answer to the question ‘Who was Alexander the Great?’ Why might different people choose to say different things? What methods and techniques do they have to represent this?”
Alex Film Clip 3
  • Describe images of Alexander the Great and offer adjectives to describe what kind of person he was.
  • Identify aspects of Alexander’s character and career that have led to him being called ‘Great’.
  • Using fact cards they reach a simple conclusion about how far he was ‘great’.
  • Make use of different techniques (clothing, action, expression, etc) in order to put across an interpretation and therefore show understanding of how different views can be represented.
  • Peer and self assess their work and suggest improvements

Resources: