Alexander the Great in the Quran River in the Punjab in 326 BC, his army nearly mutinied and refused to march further east, exhausted by years of campaigning. Alexander's desire to reach "the ends of the Earth" was instilled by his tutor Aristotle: Alexander derived his concept of `Asia' from the teaching of Aristotle, for whom `the inhabited earth' was surrounded by `the Great sea' Ocean, and was divided into three areas – `Europe, Libya and Asia.' Thus the earth was not round but flat, and `Asia' was limited on the west by the Tanais (Don), the inland sea and the Nile, and on the east
Alexander the Great in the Quran However, it is clear that the historical Alexander the Great was a Greek pagan (for example, Alexander's mother Olympias is said to have been a devout member of the orgiastic snake-worshiping cult of Dionysus, and may have slept with snakes). Such historical facts about Alexander the Great became well known only after the Renaissance period (1300–1600 AD) when the "Anabasis Alexandri" of Arrian (AD 86–160) was rediscovered. In light of the modern view of Alexander the Great, his identity as Dhul-Qarnayn has become a matter of great controversy for Muslims. In reaction, alternative theories about the identity of Dhul-Qarnayn have