Was Alexander the Great superstitious

Answer 1

Yes, he was.

There was a lot of superstition surrounding his birth, and his mother Olympias was part of a cult, so Alexander of Macedon grew up to be very superstitious. It even influenced some of his policies- He began his Coastal Policy when an eagle landed on the shore opposite his boat on the coast off Miletus and stayed there for many hours. Alexander defied his soothsayers by taking his own meaning from this and interpreted it to mean that he would defeat the Persian Naval Fleet, but from the land instead of the sea, and went on to conquer as many towns as possible on the coast of Persia to stop the fleet from docking and fetching more supplies and fresh men.

Also, Alexander took a huge detour through the Egyptian Desert to go to an Oracle instead of advancing further into Persia. He was greeted by a Priest who said ''O Pai Dios'' which means ''Son of God''- Alexander took this to mean that he truly was the son of Zeus Ammon, when it probably the Priest not being fluent in Greek and meaning to say ''O Paidion'' which is a traditional greeting.