Philip II and Alexander the Great: Father and Son ... - Historia Antigua

8 FATHER, SON, AND COURT
uncle and guardian Attalus drunkenly proposed that the Macedonians
pray that Philip and Cleopatra would produce a legitimate successor.
Philip had tried to attack Alexander after his outraged son had cursed
and thrown his cup at Attalus. Alexander then fl ed Macedonia along
with Olympias, leaving her in her native Epirus and himself continuing
to Illyria (Plut. Alex. 9.4–5; cf. Ath. 557d–e; Just. 9.7.2–5).
Plutarch does not say how long Alexander’s Illyrian sojourn lasted,
writing only that Alexander “passed time there.” According to Plutarch,
ultimately Philip was persuaded to bring Alexander back to
Macedonia after Demaratus, the Corinthian xenos (guest-friend) of
the Argead house ( Artax. 37.3), admonished Philip for having fi lled
his house with such great stasis and troubles. Demaratus himself
seems to have journeyed to Illyria to accomplish Alexander’s return
(Plut. Alex. 9.6).
Having reported Alexander’s return from Illyria, Plutarch turns
next to the Pixodarus affair, starting with the notice of Pixodarus’
(supposed) marriage proposal ( Artax. 10.1–3). Plutarch presents the
arrival of Aristocritus, the troubling reports to Alexander by his
friends and mother, Alexander’s offer of himself as bridegroom,
Philip’s discovery of this, and Philip’s angry and punitive response as
a quickly unfolding sequence of events. The culminating scene—
Philip’s confrontation with Alexander in Alexander’s chamber—
clearly took place at Pella, and at fi rst glance it seems natural to infer
that the whole sequence of events took place at Pella and thus only
after Alexander returned from Illyria. 15 Closer consideration, however,
suggests that this was not the case. The proposed marriage might
indeed have been a splendid one, but if there had been reconciliation
between Philip and Alexander, it certainly included affi rmation of
Alexander’s status as heir apparent, so it is impossible to understand
in these circumstances Olympias’, Alexander’s friends’, and ultimately
Alexander’s belief that Arrhidaeus’ and Ada’s proposed marriage
meant that Philip planned to settle the kingdom on Arrhidaeus.
Beyond this, if Alexander was at Pella, it is hard to understand why
he depended on reports from his friends and his mother to alert him
to developments at court.
However, on the assumption that the Pixodarus affair (meaning
both Philip’s and Alexander’s dealings with Pixodarus) unfolded
while Alexander was alienated from Philip and in residence in Illyria,
16 Alexander’s reaction and his actions are perfectly plausible. If
the wedding which precipitated Alexander’s (and Olympias’) fl ight
occurred in late summer or early autumn of 337, 17 Alexander may
have been in Illyria for many months. 18 Philip was concerned with
preparations for his Persian War during this time. This was planned