Talk:Alexander the Great vs Ivan the Terrible/Rap Meanings/@comment-29120191-20160717231841

"I'm an immortal, you're not!" also refers to Alexander's supposed heritage. The rumour was that Alexander's father was actually Zeus, which Alexander played on massively towards the end of his reign (or here, end of his verse).

(Sorry, I'm getting into the history on this here so this you can just ignore, I just find Alexander to be a fascinating historical figure). Whether Alexander actually believed this, or just used the rumour as a way to exert his authority and dominance more is unknown, but it's certainly an interesting rumour.

It first came about when his mother, Olympias, had a dream that her womb was struck with a lightning bolt. His father, Philip already believed Olympias to be either a consort of the gods or a sorceress, as he had seen her in bed with a snake (he believed this to be a god is disguise). On the day of Alexander's birth, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus burnt down, and people believed this is because the gods chose to watch Alexander's birth instead of look after the temple.

Another notable moment was Alexander's visit to the Oracle of Ammon at Siwa - the chief priest greeted Alexander with "O pai Dios" which means "oh, child of Zeus!". Most believe this to just be a pronounciation error, as the chief priest likely meant "O paidion", meaning "oh my child!". Either way, this was quite interesting.

Either way, it makes Ivan's line "Don't even try to approach the God" quite amusing, given that many believed Alexander to have a half divine heritage back during his time. (Sorry for rambling!)