Menander was an officer in the service of Alexander the Great. He was one of those called etairoi

Companion cavalry

The Companions were the elite cavalry of the Macedonian army from the time of king Philip II of Macedon and reached the most prestige under Alexander the Great, and have been regarded as the best cavalry in the ancient world and the first shock cavalry...

, but he held the command of a body of mercenaries. He was appointed by Alexander to the government of Lydia

Lydia

Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....

, during the settlement of the affairs of Asia made by Alexander when at Tyre (Lebanon) (331 BC

331 BC

Year 331 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Potitus and Marcellus...

). Menander appears to have remained at that post till the year 323 BC

323 BC

Year 323 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Longus and Cerretanus...

, when he was commissioned to conduct a reinforcement of troops to Alexander at Babylon

Babylon

Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

 — he arrived there just before the king's last illness. In the division of the provinces, after the death of Alexander, Menander received his former government of Lydia, which he was quick to take possession of.

He appears soon to have attached himself to the party of Antigonus

Antigonus I Monophthalmus

Antigonus I Monophthalmus , son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, and satrap under Alexander the Great. During his early life he served under Philip II, and he was a major figure in the Wars of the Diadochi after Alexander's death, declaring himself king in 306 BC and...

 and was the first to give Antigonus information about the ambitious schemes of Perdiccas for marrying Cleopatra

Cleopatra of Macedonia

Cleopatra of Macedon , or Cleopatra of Epirus, was an Epirote-Macedonian princess and later queen regent of Epirus. The daughter of King Philip of Macedon and Olympias of Epirus, she was the only full sibling of Alexander the Great...

. In the new distribution of the provinces at Triparadisus (321 BC

321 BC

Year 321 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calvinus and Caudinus...

) he lost the government of Lydia, which was given to Cleitus; but this was probably only in order that he might liaise more easily with Antigonus, as we find him commanding a part of Antigonus's army in the first campaign against Eumenes

Eumenes

Eumenes of Cardia was a Thracian general and scholar. He participated in the wars of the Diadochi as a supporter of the Macedonian Argead royal house.-Career:...

 (320 BC

320 BC

Year 320 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cursor and Philo...

). The following year, Menander learnt of the escape of Eumenes from Nora, and advanced with an army into Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...

 to attack him, forcing him to take refuge in Cilicia

Cilicia

In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...

. After this, no further mention of Menander is found in history.