Prometheus...

You remember

...who stole the secret of fire

and gave it to man.

It made Zeus so angry...

...he chained Prometheus

to a rock in the great Caucasus...

...and each day, his eagle pecked out

the poor man's liver.

Each night, it grew back again so that

it could be eaten the next day.

Miserable fate.

Oedipus tore out his eyes

when he found out...

...he'd murdered his father...

...and married his mother.

Knowledge that came too late.

Jason...

...he went east and brought back

the Golden Fleece...

...and married a barbarian wife, Medea.

Later, when he left her

for a younger wife...

...Medea slaughtered

their two children in vengeance.

My mother would never hurt me.

It's never easy to escape our mothers,

Alexander.

All your life, beware of women.

They're far more dangerous than men.

I'm sure you remember Achilles

from Tales of Troy.

-He's my favorite.

-Why?

Because he loved Patroclus

and avenged his death.

Because he lived without fear,

and slew Hector.

Some say he was a hotheaded fool...

...who fought for himself

and not the Greeks.

But he was a hero, the greatest at Troy.

And his fate?

That he must die young

but with great glory.

Did he have a choice?

Oh, yes. He could have a long life,

but there would be no glory.

You dream of glory, Alexander.

Your mother encourages you.

There's no glory without suffering,

and this she will not allow.

She makes you weak.

The gods have never

made it easy for man.

Look, Herakles.

Even after he accomplished

his 12 labors...

...he was punished with madness,

slaughtered his three children.

Poor Herakles.

Great Herakles.

All greatness comes from loss.

Even you, the gods will

one day judge harshly.

When I'm king like you, Father?

Don't rush the day, boy. You risk all.

My father threw me into battle

before I knew how to fight.

When I killed my first man, he said:

"Now you know. "

I hated him then,

but I understand why now.

A king isn't born, Alexander.

He's made by steel and by suffering.

A king must know

how to hurt those he loves.

It's lonely. Ask Herakles.

Ask any of them. Fate is cruel.

No man or woman can be too powerful

or too beautiful without disaster befalling.

They laugh when you rise too high and

crush everything you've built with a whim.

What glory they give,

in the end, they take away.

They make of us slaves.

Truth is in our hearts,

and none will tell you this but your father.

Men hate the gods.

The only reason we worship any of them

is because we fear worse.

What's worse?

The Titans.

If they were ever to be set free...

...it would be a darkness

such as we have never seen before.

Could they ever come back?

Can Zeus imprison the Titans forever

under Mount Olympus?

It's said that when Zeus burned them

to dust with his lightning bolt...

...they took the Titans' ashes

and, in a cold revenge...

...mixed it with those of mortal men.

Why?

Who knows these things?

One day, things will change.

Men will change.

But first, the gods must change.

But all this you'll forget, Alexander.

That's why we call them myths.

We can't bear to remember them.

I'll remember.

And one day, I'll be on walls like these.

Alexander once said to me:

"We are most alone

when we are with the myths. "

Phalanx!