That said, between the recent attention on his life -- seen on both the large and small screen -- I thought it might be interesting to look up the Macedonian marvel. So here are sites about Alexander the Great recommended by Jan -- the absolutely ordinary.

• www.archaeology.org: This is a first-rate site produced by the Archaeological Institute of America. Following a similar means of inspiration as this column, the well-researched articles listed here are as interesting as they are informative. They're bright and brainy without being boring.

• http://wso.williams.edu/~junterek: I love a site with a sense of humor, especially when the subject matter is non-fiction and can be somewhat serious. While these pages are filled with well reasoned writing, there are still light moments and side comments intended to induce a smile. You have only to look to the credits. The site was created in 1996 by Jed Untereker, James Kossuth and Bill Kelsey, who are listed under a heading titled "Who to Blame."

• www.hackneys.com/alex_web: This site was created for the 1997 Wisconsin State History Day project. The theme was "Triumph or Tragedy" and clearly, Alexander had his share of both. I have included it because there is much here to be commended but I should mention, since it was written by students, you'll find some charmingly jarring sentences like this one: "When he was a grown man he killed many people, including killing friends while he was in drunken rages who had saved his life."

• www.1stmuse.com/frames: This site was created by John Jan Popovic, whose personal scholastic credits might be enough to scare a non-intellectual or anti-academic into a fast pass on his pages. But the truth is, for all of Popovic's credentials (and he's got a ton of them), his writing style is wonderful; there is an easy flow to it that is nicely accented with beautiful works of art, illustrations and maps. It's clear that the author of this extensive project is wise as well as intelligent.

• www.isidore-of-seville.com/alexander/11.html: I know enough to know when a Web site is way smarter than I, and this is such a case. However, I also know many of you are way smarter as well, so I am including this for the history buffs and "A the G" scholars who can appreciate it.

• www.imdb.com: This is the Internet Movie Database site. Although I've mentioned it before I still get requests for the address whenever someone wants to look up a movie from his or her childhood or they can't remember who starred in a particular film from the past. I'm including it here because if you search for Alexander the Great you'll discover more than a dozen films and several television productions based on his life. Even more interesting are two entries still listed as "in production," including one starring Steven Stratos as Alex and another, set for a 2006 release, with Leonardo DiCaprio tapped for Alexander and Nicole Kidman named to play his mother, Olympias.

Jan Perry is a Kentucky-based freelance writer who invites your questions, requests and comments. Send them to SiteSeer2K@aol.com.