BATMAN AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT
Zack Snyder’s Symbolism
Have you watched Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? You may have. Let me ask that question in another way. Did you live inside of that movie and see beyond the scenes? You may have or you may have not. If you watched it closely enough you might see how cleverly written that movie is. And you might see some secrets buried deep within, like how Batman can relate to one of the greatest emperors in the history of mankind. Wait, what is that? Is this movie not just fiction? Well, we will see!
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (BvS, as called by fans) is a movie written and directed by the visionary director Zack Snyder based on DC comics characters. This is not a typical superhero movie. It has secrets and symbols buried deep within it. This tale of the emperor is one of those secrets that Zack Snyder hid inside his much underrated movie. Did you notice it? Sheraz Farooqi the creator of cinemadebate.com noticed that and Zack Snyder confirmed it on Vero.
Do you remember the scene where Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince talk about how Diana stole from Bruce the device containing Lex Luthor’s data? That scene at the party where Diana was shown an ancient sword by a certain gentleman. Would you believe if I told you that the sword predicted the end of the movie that early? Let us recall the scene again.
In that scene Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman was talking with some people when a certain gentleman approached her with a glass of champagne and escorted her to show her an ancient sword on display at the convention. The gentleman told Diana that the sword belonged to Emperor Alexander the Great and that he cut the Gordian knot with it. The gentleman adds that some believe that the whole story is a myth but he actually believes that it happened. Then he leaves and let Diana see the sword for herself.
That is when Bruce Wayne aka Batman appears out of nowhere and says Diana that the sword is a fake. Well, when you casually watch the movie just for pure entertainment you would consider that scene is pretty normal and was only added for the purpose of not jumping into the conversation of the device straightaway. But thanks to the close observation by a fan it has been now revealed that the scene and sword were added with a special purpose. Zack Snyder has confirmed it himself.
That scene might look like an ordinary scene but it shows the main theme and the ending of the movie at once. How is that? Through Symbolism. To understand how it happens we must first understand the story behind the sword, the symbol. What is that sword actually?
As it is mentioned in this scene the sword belonged to Emperor Alexander the Great, one of the most important individuals in the history of humanity. He ruled a large empire from Macedonia to Western India and it even extended to Egypt. He was even considered a Pharaoh of Egypt. One of his coolest accomplishments was the cutting of the Gordian knot. Wait, what knot?
According to the historical sources, in the year 333 BC, Alexander arrives in Gordium, the capital of Anatolia with his army. That is the present day Turkey. There he sees a knot tied to a wheel. Usually when we want to untangle a tangled roll of thread or something like a knot we try to find loose ends to start with. But this very knot had no loose ends. It even baffled great scholars. This knot was called the Gordian knot.
What is the connection between Alexander and a knot? Why would an emperor with a great passion to conquer the whole world bother solve a knot? Well he had his reasons. There was a prophecy about this Gordian knot. It said that whoever manages to solve the Gordian knot would become the ruler of whole Asia. There Alexander’s dream of uniting the whole Asia under one rule persuaded him to try and solve the unsolvable Gordian knot.
Alexander tries his best to solve the knot. But how are you supposed to solve a not with no loose end? Now Alexander is no ordinary guy. He was 23 years old but very wise and ahead of his time. So he does something highly unconventional. He thinks out of the box and cuts the knot in half with his sword.
As per some historical sources he outs a lynchpin through the knot and the wood and loosen the knot first. However this 23 year old young emperor manages to solve the unsolvable knot beating all the scholars present that day. Funny thing is that the prophecy did not state that the knot should be solved with conventional methods. And that is how an idiom was born to associate the Gordian knot with unconventional solutions to conventional problems.
Now how is that connected to the movie and Batman? As I told before that scene with Alexander’s sword and the mention of the Gordian knot was no mere scene. Remember Lex Luthor who created a master plan to use Batman in order to get rid of Superman? DC fans are familiar with his full name. “Alexander (Lex) Luthor”.
Seen that first name? There’s the name of our emperor. Alexander! You might question that even though the names are identical it was not Zack Snyder who named Luthor that way. So what’s the big deal here?
I’ll put it this way. Imagine that Lex Luthor is Alexander. So what is the knot that he has to solve in order to fulfill his prophecy of power? Superman! Lex Luthor, like Alexander the Great is a very intelligent man. So he thinks outside the box and finds an unconventional solution.
That is not the only occurrence. We have seen that this movie is perfectly timed and has many themes and storylines connected to each other. There are many scenes and ways the legend of Alexander and the Gordian knot can be applied to in the movie. Here are some.
- Superman — Gordian Knot
Lex Luthor — Alexander
Batman — The Sword
2. Superman — Gordian Knot
Batman — Alexander
Kryptonite Spear — The Sword
3. Doomsday — Gordian Knot
Batman — Alexander
Kryptonite Spear — The Sword
4. Superman — Gordian Knot
Lex Luthor — Alexander
Doomsday — The Sword
According to some historians the behavior of Alexander the Great in his final months before his untimely death was very unconventional and had a stroke of rage. He punished those that betrayed him cruelly with an iron fist. According to some opinions he became mad with his conquest for power of Asia. And when faced with the death of Hephaestion, his platonic best friend Alexander ordered the Temple of God Apollo in Babylon to be burned down as revenge.
Now let us take a look at the two characters that are associated with Alexander in the four scenarios above. Lex Luthor and Batman. Throughout the movie Lex Luthor sounded like Alexander in his final days. But Batman? One of the most sane and calculating characters in the DC comics universe.
Well that is the Batman we know in many of his comic books and movies. But in the SnyderVerse the Batman is not the Batman we are familiar with. He suffers heavily from the murders of his parents and his adopted son, Robin. This is not the ordinary Batman we have seen so far. Just like Alexander who went mad by the death of Hephaestion, we can assume that Batman went mad by the death of Robin. And this only worsens at the climax of the movie.
Now all this sounds so dramatic, right? Could these be just simple scenes taken and interpreted too seriously? No! Zack Snyder has confirmed that this scene, the Gordian knot and the Sword of Alexander were added with a reason. And if you have watched his previous movies then you might notice that he is a master of Symbolism. So this is not a coincidence.
Now when you are reading this article you might not feel this symbolism to the heart. So keep this information in mind for when you watch this great movie again. And then you will be marveled at how an ordinary looking scene that lasts no more than few seconds could convey a message that can take hours to explain in words.
