''Alexander the Great'' (german: Terra X: Alexander der Große; french: Alexandre le Grand : de l'histoire au mythe) is a 2014 documentary miniseries about

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

, a co-production of

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

and

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

for ZDF's brand

Terra X ''Terra X'' is a brand used by the German public broadcaster ZDF since 2008. Between 1982 and 2008, the brand name was ''ZDF Expedition''. Some topics under the brand ''Terra X'' are documentaries about history, nature, archaeology and science. ...

. The series premiered on 25 October 2014 on Arte as a 90-minute film, and later broadcast on ZDF as a two-part series. It has been dubbed into English and Spanish.

Synopsis

Over the centuries, the myth of Alexander the Great, an illustrious conqueror of antiquity, has been enriched. History retains from him the image of a fine strategist and an ambitious monarch who managed, in little more than a decade, to constitute an immense empire going from Greece to India. But what man was he really? Based on reconstructions, the documentary attempts to unravel the legend of historical reality, looking back on Alexander's journey, from his birth in 356 ʙᴄ to his presumably illness-related death in 323 ʙᴄ.

Cast

David Schütter David Schütter (born David Schütter-Wieske in 1991) is a German actor who has appeared in numerous films, television series and theatres. He is known for his portrayal of Pepe in ', Adrian Schimmel in '' Never Look Away'', Ralph in '' Charlie's ...

* Vladi Georgiev as child Alexander * as

Hephaestion Hephaestion ( grc, Ἡφαιστίων ''Hephaistíon''; c. 356 BC – October 324 BC), son of Amyntor, was an ancient Macedonian nobleman and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. He was "by far the dearest of all the ...

* Teodora Duhovnikova as

Olympias Olympias ( grc-gre, Ὀλυμπιάς; c. 375–316 BC) was a Greek princess of the Molossians, and the eldest daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the sister of Alexander I of Epirus, the fourth wife of Philip II, the king of Macedonia a ...

* Andrei Slabakov as

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

* as

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

* as

Philotas Philotas ( el, Φιλώτας; 365 BC – October 330 BC) was the eldest son of Parmenion, one of Alexander the Great's most experienced and talented generals. He rose to command the Companion Cavalry, but was accused of conspiring against Alexa ...

Alexander Demandt Alexander Demandt (born 6 June 1937 in Marburg, Hesse-Nassau) is a German historian. He was professor of ancient history at the Free University of Berlin from 1974 to 2005. Demandt is an expert on the history of Rome, Late Antiquity Late antiqui ...

as himself *

Hans-Joachim Gehrke Hans-Joachim Gehrke (born 28 October 1945, Salzgitter-Lebenstedt) is a German archaeologist. From 1987 until 2008 he was professor of Ancient History at the Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, having previously taught at the Universities of G� ...

as himself * as herself

Episodes

Production

The shooting started on 21 February 2014 and ended on 17 June of the same year. Filming locations took place in Greece, Iran, and a studio in Bulgaria.

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Television, Germany ZDF original programming ORF (broadcaster) 2010s German television miniseries 2010s biographical drama films German docudrama films Docudrama television series Films about Alexander the Great German biographical films German historical films German documentary television series 2014 German television series debuts 2014 German television series endings Films set in ancient Alexandria Television series set in ancient Greece Television series set in Ancient India Films shot in Bulgaria Films shot in Greece Films shot in Iran 2010s German films