It takes a great leader to accomplish unheard-of things for their nation, and an example of such a leader is Alexander the Great. He is widely known as one of the greatest kings and military commanders of all time for blending cultures and conquering nations in three continents. But is he really deserving of such accolades? His numerous ground-breaking achievements point to yes.
One widespread stance is that yes, Alexander is great. Historically, people in and around his time period, such as Plutarch, looked up to him for his ambition and drive for victory. His known greatness began as a child at age thirteen when he tamed a supposedly untameable horse named Bucephalus. When hearing of his son’s feat, his father reportedly exclaimed, "My son, seek thee out a kingdom equal to thyself; Macedonia has not room for thee," (Philip II). When Alexander’s father was killed in year 336 B.C., Alexander became King of Macedonia at only the age of twenty. From there, the young king would conquer territories of the Persian Empire. This land included what is now Syria, parts of Lebanon and Iran, Egypt, and many more cities and territories. Alexander is famous for never losing a battle, making him one of the most successful and brilliant military leaders in history.
Alexander’s brilliance includes book smarts as well as military knowledge, as he was tutored by the famous philosopher Aristotle, whom Alexander loved very much. “Aristotle he admired at the first, and loved him, as he himself used to say, more than he did his father,” (Plutarch). Alexander was interested and capable of understanding philosophy, and when meeting the philosopher Diogenes, he said, "If I were not Alexander, I should wish to be Diogenes," (Alexander the Great). This shows evidence that although Alexander was aggressive and ambitious in battle, he was not an emotionless tyrant.
Another standpoint is that Alexander was a harsh, reckless leader. Proof to support this belief mainly consists of Alexander’s harsh dealings with civil uprisings and his irresponsibility concerning the governing of his vast empire. Almost immediately after Alexander became King of Macedonia, he tried to suppress the uprising that was occurring in Thebes. However, the Thebans refused to back down, so Alexander used force to stop the uprising. Though destroying the city was harsh, Alexander used it as an example for all the other cities that supported Thebes and did not do anything nearly as harsh to them. This effectively taught the other cities a lesson and prevented further uprisings..
It is a matter of opinion as to whether Alexander the Great was really that great. He conquered more land in a shorter amount of time than any Macedonian king before him, making him great to the Macedonians. However, Alexander was the opposite of great to Persian citizens. He claimed their land and absorbed their cultures. Alexander also kept Persian women captive, supposedly saying once, “that Persian women were torments to the eyes,” (Plutarch). While such treatment was unfortunate and unfair to the Persians at the time, modern European and Asian cultures would likely not be the same varied and interesting ways they are today if Alexander had not conquered so much land. This makes Alexander the Great a wonderful leader regarding the advancement and merging of cultures.
All in all, Alexander had faults like any king, but was overall a great leader in the long-run. He managed to make his nation one of, if not the, most powerful empires in the world during his lifetime. Alexander revolutionized military strategies, pushed his men to master endurance, and taught the world how much a person can accomplish with just 13 years of power.
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Works Cited
Emmons, Jim Tschen. "Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-
CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/575648. Accessed 28 Sept. 2016.
"Bucephalus." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-
clio.com/Search/Display/586792. Accessed 28 Sept. 2016.
Bialo, Ellen. "Career of Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-
CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1185181. Accessed 28 Sept. 2016.
"Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016,
ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/613520. Accessed 28 Sept. 2016.
"Alexander the Great: Quote on Meeting the Philosopher Diogenes." World History: Ancient and
Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/654893. Accessed
28 Sept. 2016.
Plutarch. The Parallel Lives. Vol. VII ed., Public Domain, penelope.uchicago.edu/
Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alexander*/3.html. Accessed 29 Sept.
2016.
1. I found it really interesting how you showed both sides of Alexander. Some people only focused on good or bad, but you had a nice balance of both.
ReplyDelete2. Since I focused mainly on the negative aspects of Alexander, all of your negative research matched what I read. I did not have as much on the positive aspects but I researched some similar trends.
3. I wish you had mentioned more about if history supported your opinion or not. You mentioned Plutarch and Aristotle, but there was not a lot of concrete support. Since you had a positive and negative view of Alexander it would have been cool to see one person that thought he was great and one person who did not think he was great.
1. I liked and thought it was interesting how you talked about some of the places he conquered.
ReplyDelete2. My research said he tamed the horse around 9 or 10 not 13.
3. I wish you would have mentioned how Alexander didn’t force his culture on the people and places he conquered.
1. I like how you incorporated Bucephalus into the essay, it really makes the point that he was strong even better.
ReplyDelete2. My research was the same compared to yours we both had the same information and nothing contradicts my research.
3. I wish you maybe could have talked about how he integrated all the different cultures and people to integrate one big empire.