Cleitus the Black Cleitus the Black ( ) ( ca . 375 BC – 328 BC ) was an officer of the Macedonian army led by Alexander the Great . He saved Alexander ' s life at the Battle of the Granicus and was killed by him in a drunken quarrel several years later . Cleitus was son of Dropides and brother of Alexander ' s nurse , Lanike . Battle of the Granicus . At the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC , when Alexander was personally under attack by Rhoesaces and Spithridates , Cleitus chopped off Spithridates ' s arm before the Persian satrap could bring it down on Alexander and saved his life . The death of Cleitus . In 328 BC Artabazus resigned his satrapy of Bactria , and Alexander gave it to Cleitus . On the eve of the day on which he was to set out to take possessions of his government , Alexander organized a banquet in the satrapial palace at Maracanda ( what is now the town of Samarkand ) . At this banquet an angry dispute arose , the particulars of which are disputed by various authors . Most of the members were rather drunk , and Alexander announced a reorganization of commands . Specifically , Cleitus was given orders to take 16 , 000 of the defeated Greek mercenaries who formerly fought for the Persian King north to fight the steppe nomads in Central Asia . Cleitus knew that he would no longer be near the king and would be a forgotten man . Furious at the thought of commanding what he saw as second - rate soldiers , fighting nomads in the middle of nowhere , he spoke his mind . To make matters worse , when Alexander arrogantly boasted that his accomplishments were far greater than that of his father , Phillip II , Cleitus responded by saying that Alexander was not the legitimate king of the Macedonians , and that all of his achievements were due to his father . Alexander called for his guards , but they did not want to intervene in a quarrel between friends . Alexander threw an apple at Cleitus ' s head and called for a dagger or spear , but the party near the two men removed the dagger , restrained Alexander , and hustled Cleitus out of the room . The Hypaspists had conveniently left the vicinity of Alexander . Alexander then called for his trumpeter to summon the army , the alarm was not sounded . Nevertheless , Cleitus managed to return to the room to utter more grievances against Alexander ( it is possible that Cleitus had not left the room ) . But sources agree that at this point Alexander got hold of a javelin and threw it through Cleitus ' heart . In all of the four major texts we possess , it is shown that Alexander grieved for the death of Cleitus . Alexander may have genuinely not wanted to kill Cleitus . However , Cleitus was a member of the generation of Philip II and Alexander had been systematically killing off that generation to keep his generation in power . The motives of Cleitus in this quarrel have been interpreted in various ways . Cleitus may have been angered at Alexander ' s increasing adoption of Persian customs . After the death of King Darius III Alexander was legally King of the Persian Empire . Alexander was now employing eunuchs such as Bagoas ( not to be confused with another Bagoas , who was a contemporary high Persian official ) and was tolerant of such Persian customs as proskynesis , a sort of kow - tow thought to be degrading by many in the Macedonian army . According to the biography of Alexander by Plutarch , there is a quote attributed to Cleitus , which is very relevant . A group of Macedonians had lost in a fight with " barbarians " , and Alexander joined in the laughing at those who had lost , whereupon Cleitus spoke up , and then Alexander insulted him using the word coward . Cleitus then gave a very relevant short speech , reminding Alexander that he , Cleitus , had saved Alexander ' s life ( battle of Granicus ) and what the latter now enjoyed was the result of blood and sacrifice of the Macedonians . The argument escalated leading to Alexander running Cleitus through with a spear . Plutarch uses many good sources but cannot be trusted entirely due to the fact of how many centuries passed between his writing and the events that took place . In culture . Cleitus , as Clito , appears as a character in Handel ' s opera " Alessandro " . In popular media . The death of Cleitus at Alexander ' s hand is depicted in a scene of the film " Alexander " . The scene was intended to be the " turning point " in the campaign , when the Macedonian generals began to insist ( more quietly than Cleitus ) that Alexander return home . The film , however , erroneously depicts the death of Cleitus ( played by Gary Stretch ) as taking place in India .