The following gobbet is from Plutarch's Alexander (c. 50 BC - c. 120 AD). It narrates Alexander's journey to the Libyan Oracle of Siwah in 332. The purpose of this essay is to draw out the possible reasons why Alexander turned to this specific oracle and to question the reliability of Plutarch's account. Plutarch describes the conversation between the priest of Ammon and Alexander. Alexander asked if all of his father's murderers had been punished to which the priest replied that Alexander was not the son of a mortal. Plutarch also records that the priest incorrectly pronounced "Opaidos" (O son of Zeus) instead of "Opaidon" (O my son). Although Diodorus and Justin report the same event and agree that the priest who spoke to Alexander referred to him as the son of Zeus, our most reliable source on Alexander, Arrian, whose account is generally well detailed, does not mention This . In fact, the only mention of what was said to Siwah was that Alexander "heard what was in accordance with his desires." So why doesn't Arrian mention the account of Alexander's speech with the priest? One possibility would be that this talk never happened. The deification of Alexander was an important event in his life, in the years preceding his death he was deified. Although speculation exists as to how Alexander was deified; meaning whether or not it was self-deification. Roberts suggests that Alexander encouraged many Greek cities to "offer him divine worship", which they permitted. Plutarch being a biographer and moralist had a tendency to romanticize his subject and consequently to be subjective. One of Arrian's main sources was Ptolemy, who was a key figure during Alexander's campaign and later pharaoh of Egypt...... middle of document ......: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Vol.8 , No 3, pp 349-355 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/4434623 (accessed 22 February 2010) • Robert J. (2007), 'ruler-cult' in the Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World , Ed. Robert, Oxford Reference Online:Oxford University Press.at http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?entry=t180.e1947&srn=1&ssid=1247856200#FIRSTHIT (accessed 22 February 2010)• Robison C. (1943), 'The Deification of Alexander' in The American Journal of Philology, vol. 64, No. 3, pp.286-301 at http://www.jstor.org/stable/291013 (accessed 22 February 2010)• Russell D. (2010), 'Plutarch' in The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization , Ed. Hornblower and Spawforth. Oxford Reference Online:Oxford University Press.at http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?entry=t133.e497&srn=1&ssid=1128506243#FIRSTHIT (accessed 22 February 2010)