ALEXANDER THE GREAT
ALEXANDER the Great conquered the known world 2,400 years ago. He got as far as India but never quite made it to Australia ... until now ....
Now Alexander (whom we honor as a Gay Saint of Antinous) has made his triumphal entry into the largest city on the seventh continent.
Some 400 priceless artefacts are being shown outside Europe for the first time at the AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM in Sydney, drawing rave reviews and large crowds of visitors to the unprecedented exhibition, which runs through April 28, 2013.
Alexander was born in 356 BC and became king of Macedon at 20 and ruler of the civilized world at 30. His body was interred in a crystal sarcophagus at the city in Egypt named for him, Alexandria.
It is the first time the collection "Alexander the Great: 2000 Years of Treasure" from the State Hermitage in St Petersburg, Russia, is on display outside of Europe.
The only other place to host the exhibition is the State Hermitage in Amsterdam.
Australian Museum director Frank Howarth said the collection was a major coup for Australia.
"It's a vote of confidence from the State Hermitage that we can look after and tell the amazing story of a truly amazing man," he said.
A team of 29 curators accompanied the exhibition from Russia.
The collection explores what the world looked like when Alexander took over as King of Macedonia in 336 BC, as well as tracing his campaigns and influence on western civilisation.
In one of his first battles, before becoming king, the young Alexander proved himself by defeating the Sacred Band of Thebes, the army of homosexual lovers who were the most famous and courageous warriors of their time.
Alexander is said to have wept at their destruction, and buried them with honor, erecting a statue of a Lion over their graves.
He would later go one to conquer the entire Eastern world, Asia Minor, Syria, Judea, Egypt, and all of Persia, as far East as India. The Empire of Alexander spread Greek culture throughout the world, and made the communication of far-distant ideas possible so that the new Hellenistic culture that he created, was a combination of classical Greece and of the exotic cultures that were imported from every corner.
After the death of Alexander, at only 33 years of age, he was deified by his generals who divided his great Empire among themselves.
The Religion of Antinous praises the glorious warrior Alexander of Macedonia, and we elevate him, and worship him as a God, an example of the greatness of homosexuality, and a heroic protector of the Divine Antinous.