Famous Men of Greece · Ch. XXV, part 1 · Unit 8: Macedon and Alexander

30. Alexander the Great (I–II): Bucephalus and the conquest of Persia

Goal: Your child can retell how Alexander tamed Bucephalus, cut the Gordian knot and conquered the Persian Empire.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • A map or globe (a free online map works well)
  • A notebook or paper and colored pencils
  • Your timeline (a long strip of paper on the wall, or a notebook page)

What's in the book

Sections I and II: Alexander, taught by Aristotle, tames Bucephalus by turning him toward the sun. As king he crushes Thebes, crosses the Hellespont, wins at the Granicus, cuts the Gordian knot, defeats Darius at Issus, takes Tyre, founds Alexandria in Egypt, and wins the last great battle at Arbela (331 B.C.). Babylon, Susa and Persepolis fall.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Set the scene

    Have the map ready for the whole lesson: Macedonia, the Hellespont, Troy, Gordium (central Turkey), Issus, Tyre (Lebanon), Jerusalem, Egypt and Alexandria, then Babylon, Susa and Persepolis (Iraq and Iran). Your child points to each place as it comes up.

  2. Read the chapter together

    Read pages 215–222 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names. Stop at the end of section II, "his life was given up to pleasure."

  3. Narration

    Close the book. Ask your child to tell the story back in their own words, from the beginning. Don't correct as they go; just listen. If they get stuck, use a prompt:

    - Who taught Alexander, and what could he recite?

    - How did Alexander tame Bucephalus?

    - What did Alexander do about the Gordian knot?

    - How did he treat the family of Darius?

    - What city did he found in Egypt?

  4. Talk it over

    Ask:

    1. Why was Alexander worried when his father kept winning?

    2. What does it mean to "cut the Gordian knot" today? (To solve a hard problem in a bold, simple way.)

    3. The book says "the East had also conquered him." What does that mean?

  5. Remember it

    "Why," he cried one day, "my father will leave nothing for me to do!"

    Add "331 B.C.: battle of Arbela" to the timeline.

  6. Something extra

    Draw Bucephalus with his shadow falling behind him and the sun in front.

Afterwards

Start a route map for Alexander and mark each city with a dot. Finish it next time.

Tip

Section I says Alexander destroyed Thebes and sold its people as slaves. Read it plainly; it helps your child see Alexander was not only a hero.

Answers to the book's problems

1. He feared his father would leave nothing for him to conquer. 2. To solve a hard problem in a bold, simple way. 3. He gave up his simple Macedonian ways and lived for pleasure, like a Persian king.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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