The answer to this question all depends on what you consider to be great. Greatness by definition is the quality of bing great, distinguished, or eminent. Alexander was both distinguished and eminent, he was commanding, successful, and authoritative. As well as being famous and greatly respected in his profession.
Alexander III of Macedon was capable of feats nobody else of his time could possibly complete. At an early age he thought of himself as nothing less than a king and he always wanted to accomplish great things. Even when he was young, he was able to ride a wild horse that no other people had been able to tame and ride. Once he gained control of the Macedonian army they became unstoppable. Despite the fact that he was very young, he showed extreme intelligence on the battlefield. He led the army to conquer Greece as well as Persia and then he continued to conquer more land towards modern-day Turkey. He was far more intelligent than any of his military adversaries. The Thessalonians attempted to ambush him and lost the battle with casualties of 3000 to 51. Alexander wanted to accomplish great things and that's exactly what he did. Even though he lived a very short life he did things that no other people were able to do. Plutarch, a Greek Author, wrote about him "as if it were not enough to be always victorious in the field, unless places and seasons and nature herself submitted to him." Alexander does deserve to be called great because we remember him to this day for the things that he was able to do and the impact that he had on our world.
Question #2 What can one learn about the values of society based on their views of greatness.
People think of greatness very differently now then they did in the time of Alexander the Great. Today, people think that great people are people who are either amazing at things that entertain us. Such as athletes, performers, and actors. People also admire people who can achieve amazing things, like inventing a machine that makes life easier. In Alexander's time however, greatness was being able to obtain everything you possibly could. The great people of that time were kings, and the great kings were the kings who conquered the most.
One can obviously see that the values of society have changed greatly from our day to the days of Alexander. The things the current society considers to be most important are the things that determine how great people are. In the time of Alexander it was conquering more land, for Christopher Columbus it was discovering new lands, and today it would be something such as discovering a new energy source. Whatever a society values the most will determine what that society thinks of as great.
Question #3 Do time and distance effect a person's popular perception.
Time and distance absolutely have an enormous effect on popular perception. If time didn't have any effect then our societies version of popular perception would be the same as it was in the time of Alexander the great and even before his time. Also, if distance had no effect on people's popular perception then the entire would would agree on what is popular no matter what is causing trouble in their part of the world. For example, the people in the United States do not have the same views of popularity as people in China. The people in China have different views on what is popular than the people do in the united states. In things like food, music, art, military, and other ideas the United States are different from the ideas of people in other parts of the world such as China because of many things including distance.
Works Cited
Emmons, Jim Tschen. "Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
Bialo, Ellen. "career of Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
Sienkewicz, Thomas J. Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2002. Print.
1) Does Alexander deserve to be called "Great"?
2) What can one learn about the values of society based on their views of greatness?
3) Do time and distance impact someone's popular perception?
I really like how you Alexander's story as well as answered the questions at the same time as well.
ReplyDeleteGood job comparing how people see greatness through the times
ReplyDeleteI like how you talked about cultural differences in what is great and how distance is hugely important in terms of greatness
ReplyDeleteI like how you explained how people can have different views from us based on where we live.
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared the greatness to athletes and inventors to the greatness of Alexander. I never thought of it that way. Also, I like how you compared people's views of popularity in different countries. Very nice job, Sam!
ReplyDelete