1) Does Alexander deserve to be called Great?Yes, Alexander did accomplish a lot in his lifetime. He studied under Aristotle, he founded the library of Alexandria which is one of the largest and most significant libraries in existence. He perfected the Phalanx, and even assumed his father's throne in record time (103, Freeman) But if anyone is going to call Alexander "Great" it should not be for this. It should be for the great amount of innocent people he killed. Or maybe his certainty that he was greater than all other humans, that he was like a god. Looking at Alexander's life portfolio, it seems that he accompolished more than any normal human could, but if you read deeper you would see that how he did it was unethical, and should in no way be praised.
When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian empire (Moultan, 22) he didn't do it by negotiation. He threatened to kill, and the majority of the time he followed up with those threats. But he didn't just kill members of the Persian military, he killed innocents in their homes who Alexander deemed "in the way", meaning they wouldn't let Alexander rob them of all their possessions, and their take there house. The more Alexander killed, and the more land he acquired, the more his ego would grow. He would abuse the power he knew he had into ordering his men around with brute force, and killing them if they defied him. Alexander turned into an arrogant megalomaniac.
I don't think being great is defined by the amount of people you killed, or made homeless just for you own satisfaction. Being great is how you helped other people, or what you did to make something in the world a little bit better. When people refer to Alexander as "the Great", they are referring to what he accomplished, and not how he got there, which is what is really important. Alexander, in my opinion, in no way deserves the title Great.
2) What can one learn about the values of society based on their views of greatness?
Seattle, Washington -Bill Gates' home town- has produced many great software designers after Bill, the founder of Microsoft had been recognized for his great accomplishments. A large amount of teens from Bill's home town have entered national Intel and robotics competitions, and believe it or not, these teens from Seattle have brought home the most wins. This is because of Mr.Gates, whose accomplishments have made many Seattle societies -along with the rest of the world- who believe him to be great, look up too him, and strive to be more like him. Values change by each society. Some societies may value education because of a well recognized figure that came from that town, or some may value sports for the same reason.
Although I don't believe Alexander to be great, the majority of Greece and Macedonia did. This is because the values of most Ancient Greek societies were way different than ours are today. For example, in Greece, the more land you had, the more powerful you were, and the more powerful you were, the greater you were seen to be. And although Alexander's methods were completely ludicrous and overall very brutal, he was believed to be great at that time, since he was very powerful.
3) Do time and distance impact someone’s popular perception?
The debate over whether or not Alexander was truly great is a perfect example of popular perception being warped by time and distance. During Alexander's reign over Greece, he was believed to be one of the greatest rulers, but why is that being questioned now?
First of all, I am not from the Ancient Greek era, and I do not believe that mass murder to acquire land makes you a powerful king. Today, that would be highly frowned upon in most modern countries believe it or not. Over the course of 3,300 plus years, and a distance of over 5,800 miles, different stories about Alexander the Great have been twisted and tampered with, some leading us to believe Alexander was Great, and some leading us to believe he was the opposite. The popular perception of Alexander the Great has definitely changed.
Bibliography:
Staff, LiveScience. "Top 10 Reasons Alexander the Great Was, Well ... Great!" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 10 Dec. 2004. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://www.livescience.com/11315-top-10-reasons-alexander-great-great.html>.
"How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]." How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://www.utexas.edu/courses/citylife/readings/great1.html>.
"Alexander the Great." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/alexander-the-great>.
Gagarin, Michael, and Elaine Fantham. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
Freeman, Philip. Alexander the Great. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print.
"Home." Seattlepi.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.seattlepi.com/>.
I don't think being great is defined by the amount of people you killed, or made homeless just for you own satisfaction. Being great is how you helped other people, or what you did to make something in the world a little bit better. When people refer to Alexander as "the Great", they are referring to what he accomplished, and not how he got there, which is what is really important. Alexander, in my opinion, in no way deserves the title Great.
2) What can one learn about the values of society based on their views of greatness?
Seattle, Washington -Bill Gates' home town- has produced many great software designers after Bill, the founder of Microsoft had been recognized for his great accomplishments. A large amount of teens from Bill's home town have entered national Intel and robotics competitions, and believe it or not, these teens from Seattle have brought home the most wins. This is because of Mr.Gates, whose accomplishments have made many Seattle societies -along with the rest of the world- who believe him to be great, look up too him, and strive to be more like him. Values change by each society. Some societies may value education because of a well recognized figure that came from that town, or some may value sports for the same reason.
Although I don't believe Alexander to be great, the majority of Greece and Macedonia did. This is because the values of most Ancient Greek societies were way different than ours are today. For example, in Greece, the more land you had, the more powerful you were, and the more powerful you were, the greater you were seen to be. And although Alexander's methods were completely ludicrous and overall very brutal, he was believed to be great at that time, since he was very powerful.
3) Do time and distance impact someone’s popular perception?
The debate over whether or not Alexander was truly great is a perfect example of popular perception being warped by time and distance. During Alexander's reign over Greece, he was believed to be one of the greatest rulers, but why is that being questioned now?
First of all, I am not from the Ancient Greek era, and I do not believe that mass murder to acquire land makes you a powerful king. Today, that would be highly frowned upon in most modern countries believe it or not. Over the course of 3,300 plus years, and a distance of over 5,800 miles, different stories about Alexander the Great have been twisted and tampered with, some leading us to believe Alexander was Great, and some leading us to believe he was the opposite. The popular perception of Alexander the Great has definitely changed.
Bibliography:
Staff, LiveScience. "Top 10 Reasons Alexander the Great Was, Well ... Great!" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 10 Dec. 2004. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://www.livescience.com/11315-top-10-reasons-alexander-great-great.html>.
"How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]." How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://www.utexas.edu/courses/citylife/readings/great1.html>.
"Alexander the Great." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/alexander-the-great>.
Gagarin, Michael, and Elaine Fantham. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.
Freeman, Philip. Alexander the Great. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print.
"Home." Seattlepi.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.seattlepi.com/>.
I love all of your ideas! Especially how you included the thoughts of greatness compared from today to the Greek era. I also liked how you pointed out the actions of Alexander, such as the killing of people to grow the empire to boost his ego. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteI liked your points about how the values of society change and grow over the years - using different examples of what is admired and what's looked down upon was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteIn your answer to question 1, couldn't you have argued that Alexander did great for the Macedonian empire?
ReplyDelete