This has come down to us via the most ancient Greek manuscripts of the so-called Alexander Romance, a semi-legendary version of the king's adventures, which was compiled from still older stories in Roman Egypt.
In this city in Egypt, Alexander was particularly remembered as ktistes, the Founder, but chance has preserved an ancient formula, which gives us a more complete picture of the titles accorded to the king in what became the greatest city of the Hellenistic age. On his journey back to the Nile from the oracle Alexander founded Alexandria. This poses the question of the exact title that Alexander sought to adopt on the basis of the Siwa salutation? There are some strong strands of evidence that he actually took the opportunity presented by priestly endorsement to lay personal claim to the Homeric epithet of diogenes, considering that its meaning came so very close to "son of Zeus". Furthermore, the sun god, Re, had long been fused with Ammon in Egyptian lore. Nor was the priest's salutation surprising, since Alexander had already been acknowledged as pharaoh by the priests at Memphis and part of the formal title of pharaoh was "Son of Re". In particular, Plutarch, Curtius, Strabo and others report that the high priest greeted the king as the son of Zeus and they add that Alexander welcomed this and encouraged its acceptance among his followers. This Egyptian god was considered by the Greeks to be a manifestation of Zeus, so some of our sources simply name Zeus as the god of the oracle. The Salutation at SiwaĪ subsequent famous episode in Alexander's career was his visit to the Siwa Oasis in the Egyptian desert in early 331BC to consult the Oracle of Ammon. Himself as the new Achilles, the hero from whom his mother's family claimed descent.
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