Historian Peter Green proposed in 1974 that Alexander the Great covered up an initial defeat at the Battle of the Granicus. What do other historians think of his proposal?

by Evan_Th

Some time ago, while I was studying Alexander the Great, I came across Peter Green's 1974 book Alexander of Macedon. Among other things, he tries to explain the discrepancy between our two sources on Alexander's first battle against the local Persian forces (at the River Granicus) by proposing that Alexander's first assault was defeated, and he tried to cover up this defeat. On the other hand, this defeat in itself isn't even suggested in either of the records.

It's been several decades since Green made this proposal; what have other historians thought of it?

coffeeatpemberley

I've been working on this topic, too, and to be honest, I didn't find anyone agreeing with his point of view. The discrepancies between the three more important sources (Diodorus, Arrian, Plutarch) mostly derive from the ancient authors' general intentions and from the lines of tradition they and their (now lost) material come from. Discrepancies like the Memnon episode might be topoi that serve discourses on the person of Alexander or on ethnic points, rather than hinting to a concealed defeat.