Alexander and Achilles

[Nathan]

I would love to have some specific information regarding the connection between Alexander and Achilles. Any recommended readings, criticism, analysis? Thanks for your time.
Nathan
ngoodwyn@collegiate-va.org

[Susan]

Alexander believed that he was descended from Achilles through his mother, Olympias. His first tutor, Lysimachus, gave him the nickname of Achilles, Hephaestion was compared to Patroclus; Aristotle taught him the Iliad & the Odyssey and helped him to prepare a special version of the Iliad. He used to sleep with a dagger and this book beneath his head, calling it his 'journey-book of excellence in war', and used Darius' most precious casket-box to store it, after Issus. Also, he started his Asian expedition with a pilgrimage to Achilles' tomb at Troy, swapped armour and carried Achilles' shield to India.
There are several other anecdotes about this. There is a quote, which I don't know the source of, that 'Alexander was emulous of Achilles with whom he had a rivalry since his earliest youth'.RegardsSusan