Alexander the Great may have actually been conscious when pronounced dead (1 Viewer)

[Ahsoka]

Just want to preface this saying this is a theory, and not a fact that can be confirmed. There is debate over his cause of death, especially as his body is still lost, if it still exists. But this is a theory that’s gotten some attention.

The theory is that he suffered from Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). This is a neurological condition that causes paralysis. It can be received from various infections, including typhoid fever, which many historians think he had regardless of this newer theory. If he had this, it is fully possible that he was aware and conscious, but paralyzed, even by the point where he was declared dead.

There are a few ways this lines up well with what is known. Prior to his death, Alexander is known to have been suffering for an ailment of some kind, which could be typhoid fever or another ailment that can cause GBS. As his illness progressed, he got weaker. This is also consistent with GBS, which causes gradual paralysis rather than immediate. By the end of his life, he couldn’t move or talk, but still showed signs that his mind was functioning properly (GBS can cause someone to be paralyzed without causing mental degradation). One unique thing about his death is that his body is reported to have survived 6 days before showing designs to degrading. If true, this is significantly longer than would be expected of a dead body in that climate. Typically you would expect noticeable signs of decay 24-72 hours for a dead body. But if he had GBS, it could appear that way because he could still have been alive for some of that time.

What would it have been like for him if he actually was paralyzed? It’s hard to say for sure due to lacking knowledge about his last days. But some things he may have experienced are listed below (grosser ones are in inline spoilers):

• May have heard people talking about him being dead/declaring him dead.
• He may have died due to paralysis of his respiratory system eventually.
• He could have been mummified (not necessarily Egyptian style though, Greek mummification typically wasn’t very invasive. But Egyptian is possible, and he could die from that process if so).
• He could have been buried alive, if he wasn’t dead by then
  
  As with all Alexander the Great death theories, it’s pretty difficult to verify this information with the knowledge available. But I thought this was an interesting possibility, though gross and horrifying at times. There’s still so much we don’t know in both history and science, but maybe one day we will know. Who knows?

 

[velvet]

You should make a taglist with these histroical and lingustic posts, I eat them up everytime

 

[velvet]

Yeah this is one of those things historians will always fight about. It's like how there are many theories for why Caligula was like that, insanity or he just knew he could do jack shit and get away with it

 

[Ahsoka]

Yeah this is one of those things historians will always fight about. It's like how there are many theories for why Caligula was like that, insanity or he just knew he could do jack shit and get away with it

Looking at leaders historically, the second seems to be pretty realistic

 

[Selfmate]

You should make a taglist with these histroical and lingustic posts, I eat them up everytime

I was about to tag you knowing your preclivity with the romans and greeks and such lol

 

[lexus]

Just imagine them talking mad shit about you and you're conscious for the whole thing

 

[dark_tranquility]

Interesting to say the least

keep em coming

 

[StirFriedPanda]

I guess I've never actually had a bad day....

 

[DaisySkies]

I'm a history buff only when I want to be, but your history threads have gotten me more interested

 

[DaisySkies]

You should make a taglist with these histroical and lingustic posts, I eat them up everytime

i'd join

 

[Boyo]

You should make more histroical threads, it's really fun.