The story begins 40 years after 323 BC, around 283 BC, with Ptolemy I Soter, who narrates throughout the film. Alexander grows up with his mother Olympias and his tutor Aristotle, where he finds interest in love, honor, music, exploration, poetry, and military combat. His relationship with his father is destroyed when Philip marries Attalus (general)'s niece, Cleopatra Eurydice of Macedon. Alexander insults Philip after disowning Attalus as his kinship, which results in Alexander's banishment from Philip's palace.