Was Alexander Great?

1 In my opinion Alexander of Macedonia does not deserve to be called great.  He is often perceived as great because he had a lot of military success conquering Greece, Persia,and parts of Asia and Africa, but some of his success can be credited to the other empires being weak at the time.  Also Alexander’s army was very technologically advanced, they had huge phalanxes each person armed with a 18 foot spear. This allowed him to easily weaken an army and then send his cavalry in to finish them off.  Alexander was often seen as a brave leader in battle but I believe some of his foolishness was mistaken for bravery. I say this because according to the article "How Great was Alexander" many of his decisions were made thinking of romanticized figures such as Achilles and Heracles, and in real life some battles may not turn out like the legends. According to Encyclopedia Britannica Alexander tried to enforce racial fusion in order to create a Persian-Macedonian master race. However this plan did not work and his empire split into three empires right after his death. Alexander's personal life was thought to be one of a hero but actually he was just full of himself. "The first 3000 years states that Alexander saw himself not as the son of Philip of Macedonia but actually the son of a demigod. Alexander also was very paranoid about assassinations according to Encyclopedia Britannica Alexander would execute anyone he did not see as trustworthy without a fair trial. After Alexander conquered Persia he pursued after Darius th eking of Persia and once he had learned that someone else had killed Darius he killed them for stealing his opportunity. In reality Alexander was a self absorbed, greedy leader.

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2 Society views greatness as making an impact on the world.  Most of the time people are considered great for doing good deeds but sometimes the moral of the action is forgotten and only its impact is remembered.  A good example of this is Alexander the Great, he took his army through Asia and Africa defeating any army that stood in his way, but along the way he slaughtered natives and burned cities yet he is still called Alexander the Great. I believe Alexander is called great because he became famous for conquering lots of land and history books, biographies, and novels focus more on Alexander the great general and less on Alexander the self absorbed, money spending king.

3 Often popular perception is affected by time and distance.  As time goes on it seems that insignificant events are forgotten and significant events are embellished.  A lot of times people get information through stories being told, but sometimes people add things to the story that may not have actually happened in order to make the story more interesting.  One common way this is done is through movies and plays.  According to “How Great was Alexander” a great deal of exaggerating was done in Plutarch’s “On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander” and in “Alexander Romance”.  One story in “Alexander Romance” even suggested that he turned into a Mermaid.

Distance can also affect someone’s perception of a person or event.  If someone is too far away from an event to witness it for themselves the only way they could know about it is to hear it from someone else. When someone tells a story sometimes their information is incorrect and as the story gets told over and over again the information gets farther and farther from the truth. This happened in Macedonia while Alexander was away at battle.

 

                                      Work Cited

"Britannica School." Britannica School. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.       

Falls, C. B. The First 3000 Years: Ancient Civilizations of the Tigris, Euphrates, andNile River Valleys, and the Mediterranean Sea. New York: Viking, 1960. Print.

"How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]." How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

Sienkewicz, Thomas J. Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2002. Print.

"Alexander the Great." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.