Famous Men of Greece · Ch. XXV, part 2 · Unit 8: Macedon and Alexander
31. Alexander the Great (III): India and the end
Goal: Your child can tell how far Alexander went, how he treated Porus, and how his life ended.
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)
- The route map from last time
What's in the book
Section III: Alexander conquers Bactria and marries Roxana, crosses the Khyber Pass into India, defeats King Porus at the Hydaspes and treats him "like a king." Bucephalus dies. His tired soldiers refuse to go on; the march home is terrible. In Babylon Alexander dies of fever in 323 B.C., aged thirty-two.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find the Khyber Pass (between today's Afghanistan and Pakistan) and the Indus River. Notice how far that is from Macedonia.
Read the chapter together
Read pages 222–226 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names. Read section III to the end of the chapter.
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 was Roxana?
- How did Alexander enter India?
- What did Porus answer when asked how he expected to be treated?
- Why did Alexander turn back?
- What did he say when asked who should rule after him?
Finish the route map
Add Bactria, the Khyber Pass, the Hydaspes, the Indus and the way back to Babylon. Trace the whole route in one color. Your child tells the story of Alexander's life with the map.
Talk it over
Ask:
1. What do you think of Alexander's answer to Porus?
2. Was Alexander a good man, or only a great soldier? Find reasons both ways in the two chapters.
3. What do you think "To the strongest" led to? (We'll find out in the next chapters.)
Remember it
"Like a king," replied Porus.
"That you certainly shall be," said Alexander.
Add "323 B.C.: death of Alexander, aged thirty-two" to the timeline.
Afterwards
Your child writes three sentences: one thing Alexander did that was kind, one that was cruel, one that was brave.
Answers to the book's problems
1. Any answer; the book says it was his habit to treat honorably all he conquered. 2. Good reasons: kind to Darius's family, honorable to Porus, shared his men's suffering. Bad: destroyed Thebes, sold people as slaves, gave his life up to pleasure. 3. His generals divided the empire among themselves (Ptolemy's chapter).
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.