Essay, Research Paper
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Alexander the Great, born in 356 BC, was the boy of Philip
II and his queen Olympias.1 Tradition maintains that he was
taught about Greece civilization and doctrine by Aristotle.2
Alexander fought many runs on his male parent s behalf but after a
wrangle was sent into expatriate with some of his companions.3
Alexander returned after the slaying of Phillip in 336 and was
hailed as male monarch although he was careful to extinguish any possible
challengers to the throne.4 Alexander undertook the invasion of Asia
which Philip had already begun and went on to take over about the
full known universe at that time.5 On June 10, 323 BC, while
returning from a recent expedition, Alexander became sick and
died.6
Alexander was one of the greatest military leaders in
history but he besides brought together the sharing of thoughts and
traditions on a much larger graduated table than had of all time taken topographic point
before.7 In modern times, this has caused people to be misled
about Alexander s motivations behind his actions.8 By western
faculty members, Alexander has been hailed as the laminitis of a
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brotherhood of adult male while at the same clip he was being the
culprit of a gyrating reign of panic. 9 Alexander was a
cruel and bossy swayer whose strong belief of his ain
indomitability led to megalomaniac purposes and pretenses to
deity. 10
Alexander s defects can be traced to his young person where he
inherited many qualities of his parents.11 Alexander s
male parent Philip was the boy of the Macedonian Amyntas, but his
female parent Eurydice was an Illyrian. 12 Therefore, by blood,
Eurydice was a pure barbarian.13 Consequently, Alexander s male parent
was half a barbarian.14 So Alexander wasn t a pure Macedonian
but had barbaric blood in his veins.15
Both Philip and Olympias were remarkably strong and
impulsive in disposition. 16 Philip showed marks of
recklessness which can be seen in his organic structure, which was covered
with cicatrixs demoing his courage and delectation in battle.17 Philip s
Acts of the Apostless, nevertheless, bear informant to a tireless energy and strength of
will, and to an never-say-die doggedness in following out his
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secret intents. 18 On the other manus, Olympias had a diabolic
passion, in whom the quality was magnified to its highest
extent.19 These traits assuredly rubbed off on Alexander, for he
besides showed these qualities, possibly even to a higher degree.20
When Philip died in June 336, marks of Alexander s lecherousness for
power and celebrity began to show.21 He rapidly killed his half-
brother and cousin, the lone possible challengers to the throne.22
Then he gained support of the ground forces and named himself king. 23
Black lovage was merely 20 old ages old at the time.24
Alexander s megalomaniacal nature combined with his thirst for
power finally led to force and cruelty.25 Alexander would
chiefly utilize his harsh inhuman treatment in penalizing people. On one
juncture, Bessus, the leader of a motion to force out Darius, was
captured by a Alexander and brought before a full meeting of his
officers.26 They accused Bessus of perfidy to Darius and
Alexander so gave orders that his olfactory organ and the tips of his ears
should be cut off, and that therefore mutilated he should be taken from
Ecbatana to endure public executing before his ain countrymen, the
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Medes and the Persians. 27 Another clip, Alexander had
Glaucias, the physician, crucified for non being at that place to give
Hephaestion a medical specialty to bring around his illness.28 Furthermore,
after the decease of Alexander s friend Hephaestion, it is believed
that Alexander did something unfitting non merely for a great
dictator like Alexander, but for any male monarch. 29 Black lovage
flung himself on the organic structure of Hephaestion and put at that place about the
full twenty-four hours in cryings, and refused to be parted from him until he
was dragged off by force by his Companions.30
However, in some cases, Alexander would concentrate his
inhuman treatment on a larger scale.31 An illustration of this would be in
Ephesus, a town which had been taken over by a fort of Iranian
mercenaries.32 Alexander s work forces easy took over the town and
so recalled everyone who had be expelled for back uping him.33
Alexander, after recognizing that the soldier of fortunes ransacked the
temple and helped nail up the statue of Philip which stood at that place,
continued in the Hunt for the guilty work forces and indulging his lecherousness
for retaliation, would, out of personal hatred or greed, kill many who
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were guiltless every bit good, steadfastly called a arrest, with the consequence that
his popularity ne’er stood higher than it did on this juncture by
his handling of the state of affairs at Ephesus. 34 Alexander s usage
inhuman treatment for political addition was clearly apparent on several
occasions.35
Another one of Alexander s chief mistakes was that he was, what
could be described as, a barbarian drinker.36 Often, he would
imbibe to a great extent and for a drawn-out periods, doing him to hold
hapless opinion and to be angered at minor incidents.37 One
state of affairs where Alexander s inebriation got the best of him was at
Marakanda in the fall of 328.38 Cleitus, who had already
imbibe excessively much, spoke some rough words against Alexander, shouting
that Alexander was a coward and that it is the blood of these
Macedonians and their lesions which have made you so great. 39
Cleitus s words made Alexander ferocious and unable to command his
rage.40 Alexander seized a lance from one of his guards and
ran him through.41
The last major defect in Alexander, and by far his most
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noticeable one, was his claim to divine origin.42 Because of
this, Alexander was really spiritual and believed that he was
invincible.43 He would offer forfeits day-to-day and took about
all prognostications seriously.44 This is clearly shown in
April/May 323 when Alexander was have oning a chapeau with a crown, a
set which signified royalty.45 Suddenly a blast of air current blew
the crown off his chapeau and one of the crewmans swam after it.46
Not desiring to acquire the set moisture, the crewman wore it on his caput
and swam back to the ship.47 Upon reaching, Alexander gave the
adult male a endowment for wages of his willing service, so had him
beheaded in obeisance to the prognostication which warned him non to
go forth untouched the caput with had worn the diadem.48
Overall, Alexander was a superb general who was admired
and emulated in antiquity as in modern times. 49 By no agencies did
his mistakes outweigh his parts. Alexander the Great had
brought together the blending of two civilizations on a larger graduated table
than of all time before.50 The full impact of Alexander s world-
determining workss were non obvious until after his death.51
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However, it is of import to cognize the his purposes were non
entirely to distribute Hellenism, as modern faculty members suggest, but to
pacify his megalomania.52 Although he founded many metropoliss,
these were for strategic grounds instead than for the spread of
Hellenism. 53 Furthermore, his expedition had a black
consequence upon the population and economic system of Macedon.54
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Notes
1Graham Speake, erectile dysfunction. The Peguin Dictionary of Ancient
History ( New York, New York: Penguin Group, 1995 ) 23.
2Peter N. Stearn, and Barry K. Beyer. World History: Traditions and New Directions ( Menlo Park, California: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1991 ) 98.
3Speake, 23.
4Ibid.
5Larry S. Krieger, Kenneth Neil, and Steven L. Jantzen. World History: Prospectives on the Past ( Lexington, Massachusetts: D. C. Heath and Company, 1992 ) 123.
6Shepard B. Clough. A History of the Western World ( Chicago: D. C. Heath and Company, 1964 ) 76.
7Stearn and Beyer, 100.
8Speake, 23.
9Robin Lane Fox. The Search for Alexander
( Boston: Small Brown and Company, 1980 ) 46.
10Speake, 23.
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11Ulrich Wilcken. Alexander the Great
( New York, New York: W. W. Norton & A ; Company, Inc. , 1967 ) 53.
12Ibid.
13Ibid.
14Ibid.
15Ibid.
16Ibid.
17Ibid.
18Ibid.
19Ibid, 54.
20Ibid, 53.
21Speake, 23.
22Stearn and Beyer, 96.
23Ibid.
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24Jacques Legrand. Chronicle of the World
( New York, New York: History Communications Ltd, 1989 ) 145.
25Speake, 23.
26J. R. Hamilton. Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander
( New York, New York: Penguin Group, 1971 ) 212.
27Ibid.
28G. T. Griffith. The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives By
Plutarch. ( New York, New York: Penguin Group, 1973 ) 329.
29Hamilton, 371.
30Ibid, 370.
31Ibid, 78.
32Ibid.
33Ibid.
34Ibid.
35Ibid.
36Ibid, 214.
37Ibid, 215.
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38Griffith, 307.
39Ibid, 308.
40Ibid.
41Ibid, 309.
42Speake, 23.
43Ibid.
44Hamilton, 387.
45Ibid.
46Ibid.
47Ibid.
48Ibid.
49Speake, 23.
50J. M. Roberts. A Concise History of the World
( New York: Oxford University Press, 1995 ) 134.
51Ibid.
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52Speake, 23.
53Ibid.
54Ibid.
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Bibliography
Clough, Shepard B. A History of the Western World. Chicago:
D. C. Heath and Company, 1964.
Fox, Robin Lane. The Search for Alexander. Boston: Small Brown
and Company, 1980.
Griffith, G. T. The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives By
Plutarch. New York, New York: Penguin Group, 1973.
Hamilton, J. R. Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander. New York,
New York: Penguin Group, 1971.
Krieger, Larry S. , Neil Kenneth, and Steven L. Jantzen. World
History: Prospectives on the Past. Lexington,
Massachusetts: D. C. Heath and Company, 1992.
Legrand, Jacques. Chronicle of the World. New York, New York:
History Communications Ltd, 1989.
Roberts, J. M. A Concise History of the World. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1995.
Speake, Graham, erectile dysfunction. The Peguin Dictionary of Ancient History.
New York, New York: Penguin Group, 1995.
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Stearns, Peter N. , and Barry K. Beyer. World History: Traditions
and New Directions. Menlo Park, California: Addison-Wesley
Printing Company, 1991.
Wilcken, Ulrich. Alexander the Great. New York, New York: W. W.
Norton & A ; Company, Inc. , 1967.
