9/29 /14
G Block
1) Does Alexander Deserve to be called "Great"?
Many People are called "Great" today, but Alexander truly does deserve to be called great. Someone who is great means that they can do stuff that no normal person could ever do, and Alexander did many things that nobody had ever done before.Alexander took over his father's throne when he was only 20 years old. Alexander Showed determination managing the succession of his father, quashing the Greeks(Maggi, 162). He showed that he had more sweeping power and more penetrating plans in his mind(Maggi, 162). One of the examples of Alexanders greatness was that he conquered the Persian empire, which nobody in history had ever done before, which is definitely above any normal military general or king. After defeating the Persians, Alexander kept on moving, conquering more land than anyone ever. Alexander kept moving East for 13 years never losing a battle to anyone, taking over areas in modern day Asia Minor, Egypt and entire areas of modern-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Alexanders plan from the beginning was to spread Macedonian domination of the entire Greek world, but he far reached his expectations(Maggi,162). After Conquering all of this land, Alexander wanted to spread the greek culture from back home everywhere across the ancient world. He founded over 70 cities, most of them named "Alexandria" after him. The main purpose of these cities were to spread Greek culture everywhere. Alexander did things that no normal king would do, he conquered an empire that nobody had ever conquered, he conquered more land than anyone in history, he was a fierce military general never losing a battle, and he also spread greek culture throughout the ancient world. With all of these things that Alexander accomplished, he deserves the title of "Great."
2) What can one learn from the values of society based on their views of greatness?
One can learn many values from a society based on their views of greatness. In Mesopotamia people thought Alexander was "great", he was a fierce war general who wanted to conquer anything he could and spread greek culture throughout the ancient world. If the Mesopotamian society viewed Alexander as "great" with all of the things that Alexander did, than a value of that society could be Power. People see that Alexander is conquering all of this land, so the more that he conquers, the more land that the Mesopotamians will want him to conquer, meaning that they want more power. Today society has much different views of greatness meaning that they will have much different values. A person who is viewed as great today such as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, are great because they created a new generation of technology. A value of society one can learn if these people are viewed as great is speed. Everything today is becoming faster with technology, it is becoming so much easier to do things that 30 years ago, would take several hours or even days. Speed is a value in society today because of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates technology that makes doing tasks faster.
3) Do time and distance impact someone's popular percepection?
Someone's popular perception can be greatly affected by time and distance. An example of this is when Nelson Mandella was thrown in jail by South Africa for sabotage, treason and violent conspiracy against the South African regime during the Apartheid. He was hated by South Africans as they called him "Black Danger." He was released from jail on a journey to achieve fair and just society. He then became the first black president in South Africa, ended the apartheid, and was universally loved by everyone in the world. This concept also applies to Alexander over two thousand years ago. He was viewed as "great' by the mesopotamians because of his amazing war successes and his ability of being able to conquer vast areas of land. Artists showed this in their sculptures of Alexander. They made his head be turned, have an upward gaze, and thick touseled hair showing that he was "great."However, today some people view him as not so great. People today understand that he was great because of his war accomplishments, but today people look at the big picture. Alexander was responsible for tens of thousands of deaths of his own men and for unnecessary wholesale slaughter of native peoples. He also was an alcoholic, paranoid, and megalomaniac. In todays standards we dont view this as "great", no world leader today would do things that Alexander did or act like Alexander did. People's popular perception can change of periods of time and distance.
Works Cited
"Alexander the Great." Britannica School.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 29 Sep. 2014.
"Alexander's Legacy (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.
Maggi, Stefano. Greece: History and Treasures of an Ancient Civilization. Vercelli, Italia: White Star, 2007. Print.
"Was Alexander Really Great?: Key Question." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.
"Nelson Mandela Dies: Man Who Reinvented South Africa as a 'rainbow Nation'" The Conversation. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.
"How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]." How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.
in first sentence you said quashing i think you meant squashing, i like how you used so many facts, it really backs up your argument. don't forget to indent your last towo answers, or don't indent the first one, i don't know what Mr.Ward wants.
ReplyDeleteIn last sentence i think you meant People's popular perception can change OVER periods of time and distance.
I think you could have focused more on Alexander's moral greatness in the first paragraph, but you had some good points about him as a commander. I didn't even think about using Nelson Mandela as an example so good job there
ReplyDeleteI really like how you had facts to back up all your opinions. In the first questions you had all the things he had done that you considered great. in the second question you used a real life example of bill gates and steve jobs. And in your third question you used another real life example of Mandella.
ReplyDeleteIn your first paragraph one of the main reasons you listed for him being thought of as great was the land he conquered and his power. Do you think that power and control makes things automatically right or good?
ReplyDelete