1.
Does Alexander deserve to be called “Great”?
I
believe that Alexander the Great deserves to be called Great because he
conquered many Empires, blended many cultures, and was a role model for some
historical figures. When he was 12 he tamed an untamable horse named Bucephalus
who supposedly devoured the flesh of all that failed to tame him. This showed
his father, Philip II, that he had equestrian skills and was fit to be a leader
if he could lead a horse like that. He rode Bucephalus into battle after he became
king and went to conquer many empires. When he was thirteen he became tutored
by Aristotle himself, Aristotle is a very well known Greek Philosopher.
When
his Father left to fight in war against the Greeks Alexander was left in charge
at age 16 as King of Macedonia while he was gone. This let the Macedonians gain
trust in him as a leader and also show his father, again, that he has very good
leading skills. When he was 18 Philip II let Alexander fight as one of the lead
Macedonian Generals against the Greeks along side him. “In the spring of 336
BC, with Philip’s Persian invasion already set in motion, the king was
assassinated by a young Macedonian noble Pausanias, during the wedding ceremony
in Aegae, the old capital of Macedonia.” (Section 2 Paragraphs 1, Link Here). After this
Alexander’s close friends killed him shortly after before he could be put in
front of the Macedonian Assembly. He also created a new empire called the
Hellenistic empire after he died in 323 BC that blended Indian, Persian,
Egyptian, Greek, and Macedonian cultures into one whole condensed empire.
How
this makes Alexander Great is the fact that he follows the definitions almost
to the word. The definitions of Great are: 1. Great (adj.) - of an extent,
amount, or intensity considerably above the normal or average, 2. Great (adj.)-
of ability, quality, or eminence considerably above the normal or average. He
did things men of higher strength, mind, and will couldn’t do at all; he did
before the age of 20. He conquered more empires in only 13 years that most
leaders could have never done in their entire lifetime. He conquered some of
the largest, and strongest empires such as Egypt, Persia, and Greece, and
blended those cultures together, and was known as the “ Lord of Asia, King of
Macedonia, Son of Zeus, and Pharaoh of Egypt.
2. What can one learn about the values of society based on their
views of greatness?
One can learn many things about a
society based on its view of greatness. An example of this would be Nazi
Germany during WWII. During WWII Nazi Germany was led by a dictator named Adolf
Hitler who believed in: “Lebensraum - the need for 'living
space' for the German nation to expand. A
strong Germany - the Treaty of Versailles should be
abolished and all German-speaking people united in one country. Führer - the idea that there
should be a single leader with complete power rather than a democracy. Social Darwinism - the
idea that the Aryan race was superior and Jews were 'subhuman'. Autarky - the idea that Germany
should be economically self-sufficient. Germany
was in danger - from Communists and Jews, who had to be destroyed.”(Paragraph
1, Link here). All these beliefs were
considered great and true by the citizens of Germany and therefore they had
full faith in Hitler that he would rebuild Germany.
What they
didn’t know however is what was going on behind the scenes. Almost none of the
citizens, except for highly trusted and highly ranked generals, knew about the
concentration camps for the Jewish. These concentration camps killed millions
of Jewish people. After this had been going on for a while and as WWII began
people began to notice the Nazi’s taking some Jewish citizens and started to
wonder where they were taking them. After a while into the war people began to
learn that they were taking them to camps where they would be killed or
prisoned just because they were Jewish or of small ethnic groups.
What we can
learn about Nazi Germany is that when they think they are the superior race
they generally are egotistical and very proud to be a German. This also shows
that they feel its ok to purge the Jews and small ethnic groups because they
think they are better. However, they nearly killed out all the Jews and it was
almost a complete genocide. Therefore, if you think you are great and
considered the master race you generally get so caught up in your pride that
you commit completely ridiculous and unreasonable acts.
3. Do time and distance
impact someone's popular perception?
Yes, time and distance impact
someone’s popular perception. One example of this would Issus. Issus is a
terrorist group that has recently appeared in the Middle East. They are
considered more dangerous than Alcaida, however I don’t believe they are more
dangerous. I think America considers them more dangerous just because they know
nothing about them yet. I think that over time we will learn whether they are
more dangerous or not. This shows that the current popular perception is that
they are highly dangerous when really everyone could just be assuming they are
dangerous because of Alcaida and the events on 9/11. Also, in due time I
believe we will have more information on Issus and whether they are a threat or
not to America’s safety.
Another example is Nazi Germany. At
first all considered Adolf Hitler great. He was rebuilding Germany after WWI,
Helping raise the German spirit, and was bringing many new Ideas to German
politics. Sadly, one of those ideas was that the Aryan race was in danger from
the Jewish. For a while Hitler seemed like a good person, up until WWII. What
started WWII was Germany Invading Poland to try and bring all German Speaking
countries together as one country. This was against the treaty of Versailles
and so it alerted Great Britain and France and they began to fight about
Germany breaking the treaty. After a while into WWII America joined in because
it was allied with Great Britain and France. And during WWII America found out
that Hitler was capturing Jews and taking them to camps where he would prison,
torture, and even kill them.
So the early common perception of
Hitler and Nazi Germany was that it was good, following the treaty of
Versailles, and doing almost nothing that would seem bad or inhuman. At the
beginning of WWII we learn that he was disobeying the treaty of Versailles,
which alerted some of the allied forces and began WWII. My grandma lived in
Estonia and when it was captured by Nazi Germany she said she had no idea about
the concentration camps. Partway-through WWII America joined in and began to
fight against Germany. America later found out about the concentration camps. This
shows that time and distance do matter about the common perception of a country’s
belief.
Works Cited
Alexander. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/alexandr.html>.
Alexander the Great. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/575648?terms=Alexander+the+Great>.
Alexander the Great. ABC-CLIO eBook Collection. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/575648?terms=Alexander+the+great>.
Alexander the Great Alexander of Macedon Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat.html>.
BBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2014. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/nazibeliefsrev1.shtml>.
How “Great” Was Alexander. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.utexas.edu/courses/citylife/readings/great1.html>.
Ralph, Philip Lee, et al. World Civilizations. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Eighth Edition.
The Rise of Macedonia and the Conquests of Alexander the Great. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2014. <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/alex/hd_alex.htm>.
Ward, Mr. Personal interview. 30 Sept. 2014.
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