Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life

E367306

historicalEvent militaryIncident

Cleitus the Black saving Alexander's life refers to the famous incident during the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC when the Macedonian officer intervened in combat to prevent King Alexander the Great from being killed by a Persian attack.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life canonical	1
Cleitus the Black severed the Persian's arm with his weapon	1
Cleitus the Black struck the Persian attacker	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3543191 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life
Context triple: [Battle of the Granicus, notableEvent, Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life]

A. Alexander the Fierce
Alexander the Fierce is the epithet of Alexander I of Scotland, a 12th-century king noted for his vigorous rule and military assertiveness.
B. Kreios
Kreios is an alternative spelling of Crius, one of the twelve primordial Titans in Greek mythology associated with the constellations and the measure of the year.
C. Orestes, prefect of Alexandria
Orestes, prefect of Alexandria, was a Roman imperial official in early 5th-century Alexandria known for his political and religious conflict with Bishop Cyril of Alexandria.
D. Neocles
Neocles was an Athenian of the late 6th century BC, best known as the father of the prominent statesman and general Themistocles.
E. Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus of Epirus was a Hellenistic Greek king and general, famed for his costly victories against Rome that gave rise to the term “Pyrrhic victory.”
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life
Target entity description: Cleitus the Black saving Alexander's life refers to the famous incident during the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC when the Macedonian officer intervened in combat to prevent King Alexander the Great from being killed by a Persian attack.

A. Alexander the Fierce
Alexander the Fierce is the epithet of Alexander I of Scotland, a 12th-century king noted for his vigorous rule and military assertiveness.
B. Kreios
Kreios is an alternative spelling of Crius, one of the twelve primordial Titans in Greek mythology associated with the constellations and the measure of the year.
C. Orestes, prefect of Alexandria
Orestes, prefect of Alexandria, was a Roman imperial official in early 5th-century Alexandria known for his political and religious conflict with Bishop Cyril of Alexandria.
D. Neocles
Neocles was an Athenian of the late 6th century BC, best known as the father of the prominent statesman and general Themistocles.
E. Pyrrhus of Epirus
Pyrrhus of Epirus was a Hellenistic Greek king and general, famed for his costly victories against Rome that gave rise to the term “Pyrrhic victory.”
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (43)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historicalEvent ⓘ militaryIncident ⓘ
actionTaken	Cleitus the Black severed the Persian's arm with his weapon ⓘ linked to: Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life Cleitus the Black struck the Persian attacker ⓘ linked to: Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life
AlexanderRole	commander of the Macedonian army ⓘ king of Macedon ⓘ
battlePhase	cavalry engagement near the beginning of the Battle of the Granicus ⓘ
CleitusRole	Macedonian officer ⓘ companion cavalry commander ⓘ
commemoratedIn	classical historiography of Alexander the Great ⓘ
commonlyInterpretedAs	example of personal loyalty among Alexander's companions ⓘ illustration of the dangers Alexander faced in front-line combat ⓘ
description	Cleitus the Black intervened in combat at the Battle of the Granicus to prevent Alexander the Great from being killed by a Persian attack ⓘ
hasAftermath	Alexander the Great was indebted to Cleitus the Black ⓘ Cleitus the Black gained great prestige for bravery ⓘ
hasContext	Alexander the Great's invasion of the Achaemenid Empire ⓘ linked to: Invasion of the Achaemenid Empire early phase of the Wars of Alexander the Great ⓘ
hasDate	334 BC ⓘ
hasLocation	Asia Minor ⓘ Battle of the Granicus ⓘ linked to: Battle of Granicus Granicus River ⓘ
hasParticipant	Alexander the Great ⓘ Cleitus the Black ⓘ Persian cavalryman ⓘ
hasSource	Arrian's Anabasis of Alexander ⓘ linked to: Arrian’s Anabasis of Alexander Diodorus Siculus' Bibliotheca historica ⓘ linked to: Diodorus Siculus Plutarch's Life of Alexander ⓘ linked to: Life of Alexander
historicalPeriod	Hellenistic era beginnings ⓘ
immediateCause	Persian cavalryman struck Alexander and raised weapon for a killing blow ⓘ
involvesPolity	Achaemenid Persian Empire ⓘ linked to: Achaemenid Empire Macedonian army ⓘ
languageOfPrimarySources	Ancient Greek ⓘ
partOf	Alexander the Great's Asian campaign ⓘ linked to: Alexander’s Asian campaign
relatedEvent	Alexander the Great killed Cleitus the Black in a drunken quarrel at Maracanda ⓘ
relatedTheme	fragility of royal favor ⓘ ingratitude of rulers ⓘ
result	Alexander the Great avoided death in battle ⓘ Alexander the Great continued to command at the Battle of the Granicus ⓘ Macedonian forces maintained leadership continuity ⓘ
significance	often cited as a turning point that could have ended Alexander's career prematurely ⓘ
threatType	attempted decapitation or killing blow against Alexander ⓘ close-quarters combat ⓘ
weaponUsedByCleitus	sword ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Battle of the Granicus → notableEvent → Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life ⓘ

subject linked to: Battle of Granicus

Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life → actionTaken → Cleitus the Black struck the Persian attacker ⓘ

linked to: Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life

Cleitus the Black saved Alexander's life → actionTaken → Cleitus the Black severed the Persian's arm with his weapon ⓘ