Megalexandros is a bandit, cut from the same cloth as many others of his ilk that were rife in Greece in the 1800s. Kidnapping a group of English nobles, Megalexandros spirits them off to a commune in the mountains where he is planning to start an old world agricultural community with some Italian anarchists. After this, he becomes a hero, and leader of the group. Donning the accoutrements of his namesake - the 15th century Alexander the Great whose legend flourished under Turkish rule - the initially socialist folk hero transforms into a tyrant who, by his silence, charisma and mystery, gains greater power. Loosely based on the notorious 1870 Dilessi murders (wherein, like the film, a group of English travelers was kidnapped and murdered by politician-backed klephts near Marathon) the story is updated to act as a study of the very modem cult of personality. Alexander the Great is an exploration of how even the best intentions can be corrupted and twisted. It is about how the resulting authority - socialist or fascist - can morph into despotism and autocracy.