Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy

by John Maxwell O'Brien

`O'Brien has combined faultless scholarship with poetic vision to penetrate the events of Alexander's extraordinary life and reveal the tragic pattern obscured by these tumultous events. This is not only biography; it is art.' F Salvidio

Genres: History, Greece, Ancient History, Biography

360 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 1992

About the author

John Maxwell O’Brien was an emeritus professor of history (Queens College, CUNY)) who had written numerous articles on ancient history, medieval history, and the history of alcoholism. His best-selling biography, Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy (Routledge), has been translated into Greek and Italian, and he authored the article on alcoholism in the Oxford Classical Dictionary. Professor O’Brien’s second life had been devoted to his first love, creative writing, and he had published a variety of poems and short stories in literary journals. Aloysius the Great was his debut novel and was inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses. He died in 2022.

Reviews

[Anna Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great biography of the life of Alexander the Great. It explores Alexander's conquests, triumphs and failures as compared with facets of the mythical Greek God of wine and revelry, Dionysus (with whom Alexander has a lot in common). Sounds wacky, but it works in context.

I felt like I learned so much more about Alexander's personality with this one - I'm a big fan of the semi-silly (but I still love it) movie "Alexander" directed by Oliver Stone with Colin Farrell starring, and I felt like I gained a lot of knowledge from that movie. This built upon that knowledge, and also taught me new things I hadn't known before, not only about what a heroic wonder Alexander was, but also the less sympathetic parts of his personality and ego.

I enjoyed the device the author uses of referencing relevant lines from both Euripides' "Bacchae" and Homer's "The Iliad" where appropriate, because at times it almost made it seem like Dionysus and Achilles themselves were breaking in like a Greek Chorus to make commentary on events in the timeline. It did get old toward the end, although I didn't have much time to complain about that as the book is only 230 pages. The only thing I disliked was how many times the author used the phrase "Alexander had a longing (pothos)." Like, I remember from the first couple of times that "pothos" is Greek for longing or yearning, so you can just go ahead and use that word by itself now. It was annoying when I would come across that phrase like that, and it's inserted so many times. Give me some credit, John Maxwell O'Brien; I think if I can read and understand this stuff about Alexander's battles and all the names of these near-unpronounceable Greeks and Macedonians and Persians, I can probably learn one vocab word. I bet I can handle that.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Alexander the Great's life and legend, anyone who loves that Colin Farrell movie like I do, or anyone who is interested in how our vices can serve to destroy us if they are too often indulged. Bravo.

Backlist Bump: Also read "Ghost on the Throne" by James Romm. One of my favorite history books I read this year, about the "Game of Thrones"-style infighting and court intriguing and battling that went on between key players to determine who would be Alexander's successor to his empire when he fails to adequately name one at his death. That book is a five-star read.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rating is for a book I read back in the 1990s. As I recall, I really liked it. Author’s thesis is that Alexander basically died from alcoholism, and he did a good job of presenting his case.

[Jess ✩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to write a paper on this D;

[teohjitkhiam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I personally find it highly amusing that Alexander's conquests permitted him an unparalleled degree of veneration from many whom virulently oppose homosexuality, as Alexander's relationship with an eunuch by the name of Bagoas can attest, or public drunkenness in form of a "Dionysiac comus— an ancient, tipsy, Conga line" after bouts of imbibing uncut wine.

[Nick Nite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read a book or two adjacent to Alexander, but this was my first biography of him. Using the lens of Dionysus and alcoholism to analyze the influences on the Great as well as the deterioration of his mind was an insightful way to view the king. Alexander himself was especially fond of the stories whose quotes are often interjected quoted in Obrien‘s biography; scenes from the Bacchae and the Iliad punctuate moments in a way the one could imagine Alexander doing personally.

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book some years ago for my (Leaving Cert/A Levels) in 2008. Therefore, I am sort of going off memory here, from what I recollect it is one of the first biographies I have read pertaining to the topic of Alexander The Great and his Empire. It was a recommended read by my Classics teacher Ian, but by no means a compulsory one. However, it really helped put the Classical sources in context. The Classical sources can be less accessible due to their direct transliteration from the original Greek, and, as a result, the phraseology is often clunky and difficult to follow.

Conversely, however, John Maxwell O'Briens' style was accessible and real brought the historical narrative to life.

The book covers Alexander life from his conception to his death. The book covers the height of his achievements with pitched battles such as The Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela featuring prominently, alongside sieges such as those of Halicarnassus, Tyre and Gaza. It also, covers Alexander less heroic moments such as the drunken torching of the Palace at Persepolis, which arguably one of the wonders of the Ancient World, and ancestral seat of the Persian King of Kings. The book concludes with an in-depth discussion about the various hypotheses which have been put forward in both antique and contemporary scholarship as potential causes for Alexander's sudden passing at Babylon in (323 B.C.).

In all, a terrific introduction to the life and conquest of Alexander The Great. The book is well worth picking up if you have the time.

Happy Reading,
Gavin

[Don LaVange · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read about Alexander. The author concentrated on Alexander's legendary excess with drinking uncut wine and his devotion to Dionysus. I felt the text might be somewhat theoretical, rather than historical. Still, an interesting read.

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very comprehensive and entertaining biography that analyzes the transformation of Alexander's personality during the years, with special attention to the figure of Dyonisus.