Was Alexander the Great Greek? What was the relationship between Macedon and the city states?

by by_whom

I recently heard an off handed comment that Alexander wasn't Greek, but part of a separate culture. To what extent and in what ways did Macedon differ from Greece, and how did the Greeks of the city states feel about Alexander? Did this view have any influence on the ban of the word Macedon until 1990 in Greece?

Searocksandtrees

hi! not discouraging further responses, but do check out these earlier threads:

Classicists, do you consider Alexander the Great to be a Greek, or a Macedonian- a nationality that should remain distinct from Greece?
Was alexander the great greek or not? What's your final decision you historians???! :P
Any thoughts on this? Napoleon wasn't French. Stalin wasn't Russian. Hitler wasn't a German. Alexander wasn't Greek. Is there some reason outsiders become the conquerors?
Did Alexander the Great really say that "whoever has been educated as a Greek is Greek"?
How "Greek" was ancient Macedonia?
Were the ancient Macedonians culturally and ethnically distinct from the Greeks, or were they a Greek society operating independently of the city-states in the south?