Pronunciation is true that we cannot truly be certain about. But there’s written history, and that doesn’t change. There’s no uncertainty about what Alexander’s name was, or how it was spelled.

I don’t see how him saying Iskander was the “true” name can mean anything but that this was what he was called when he was alive, his real name, and “Alexander” being a corruption of that name that survives today. And while I would normally disregard it as a mistake, or ignorance, in this case, considering that this is not a regular name or person, but a purely political subject for certain people, I am more suspicous.

And I’m not offended, just buffled that someone would choose here of all places, to spread their propaganda.

I’m not directly involved, but it’s a well-known issue regardless. I’m not going to discuss this here, it would be hypocritical of me to complain about someone else and then go ahead and do the same. You can search for the Macedonian dispute if you care.

I wasn’t dodging the question, but I didn’t want this to go back-and-forth. I didn’t come here to discuss world politics. Anyway, here goes.

It’s not just the name of Macedonia, it’s a claim on the history of the region, and on the land there, including that owned by neighbouring countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Albania). Alexander and his empire being the apex of ancient Macedonia, he is unavoidably involved in the conflict. As a result, you have statues of Alexander being erected, airports and stadiums named after him and his father Philip, symbols of the royal family (like the Vergina sun) used in the flag and other national symbols, etc.

So, the narrative is that ancient Macedonians were not ethnically or culturally related to Ancient Greeks, they were a different people, speaking a different language, etc, that were systematically oppressed by them. And of course, you can’t have that story with Alexander having a Greek name, so Alexandros is the supposedly hellenized version, and not the “true” name.

Depending on what sites you visit, these issues thnd to come up a lot when there are related matters being discussed, with both sides getting quite agitated. Maybe my reaction seemed excessive and was misunderstood, but this was the last place I expected to find shit like that, and I’m only making it worse, so I hope we can end this discussion here.