Obviously, a lot of the rhetoric here is a matter of interpretation or opinion: to what extent would Alexander fit the modern category of "alcoholic," to what extent was his violence socially justified, etc. Some things in it struck me as definitely too much of a reach: the assumption that he had killed neither a boar nor a man by the time he was put in charge of an entire wing at Chaeronea strikes me as much more far-fetched than the idea that, like much of his young life, those events simply weren't recorded or haven't survived. Likewise, I cannot for the life of me figure out what the charge of "necrophilia" refers to, as it's never brought up again. The only thing I can think is maybe it refers to his refusing to let embalmers take Hephaestion's body away? Which, although I suppose technically linguistically accurate, "necrophilia" does seem like a grossly unfair way to characterize "crying over your dead friend."
Okay, anyway, with that out of the way, I am curious about the insinuation in this article that Alexander essentially "skipped" a long-established tradition of schooling for Macedonian boys. It says,
The sons of Macedonian nobles attended the Royal Page School, the Macedonian West Point. Cadets entered at age 14 and graduated at 18; about 200 were enrolled at any one time. Besides receiving a typical Greek liberal arts education, the students were put through rigorous military training. Rough living, horsemanship, fasting, endurance training, hunting, and weapons proficiency were required.
I was under the impression, though admittedly a very general impression and not something I've looked too deeply into, that the royal pages were a much more informal institution than this; that Phillip had noble Macedonians send him their sons both for training but also for safekeeping, so that they would grow up loyal to him instead of to their own clans. In that light, there would be no good reason to expect Alexander to participate. Which is closer to the truth, and which ancient sources actually discuss the pages at Pella?Instead, he was sent at 14 from the court at Pella, the capital, to a private academy set up by Aristotle at Mieza, several miles away. There, Alexander studied poetry, philosophy, literature, and learned to play the lyre—a skill his father belittled because the lyre was an instrument of the Athenian aristocracy. Military studies at the academy were limited to a reading of the Iliad; the historian Plutarch tells us that Alexander carried a copy of the work with him throughout his campaigns. [...]
By attending Aristotle’s academy, Alexander missed the opportunity to mix with the young warriors and royal princes who would become Macedonia’s military elite. Students at the Royal Page School typically formed bonds of comradeship, trust, and loyalty with their classmates—bonds that later served them well in war. When Alexander assumed command of the Macedonian army in 336, he was in essence an outsider, a soldier as unknown to his officer corps as they were to him.