September 29, 2014
Block B
Alexander the Great
1. Does Alexander deserve to be called "great"?
I believe Alexander deserves to be called great, but not in a positive way. Alexander Makedonon was considered one
of the most successful military commanders of all time. Dictionary.com
defines the term great as an unusual or considerable in degree, power,
intensity, etc. Therefore, the term great is neither a positive nor a negative
term. Alexander Makedonon of Macedonia was considered bright and charismatic. How can
a ruler who was obsessed with his own power, one who was an alcoholic, a murderer of innocent people, and
someone who believes in his own religion be considered charismatic? Alexander Makedonon was far from charismatic but very great. For example, The
military expertise of Alexander cannot be ignored. Powerful rulers that came
after him such as Julius Ceaser of Greece copied his war tactics. His army defeated
Persia, India, Iran, Egypt, and Afghanistan. He was more interested in
expanding his empire then he was governing it. He might have been a ruthless
king leading an undefeated army but he was somewhat of a heartless person. When Alexander inherited the throne in 336
B.C., he executed every single one of his father’s domestic enemies. Alexander
was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of native people and he put
the life himself and his men’s life on risk many times. In 336 B.C., the
Macedonian army invaded the city of Thebes and killed everyone in sight, women
and children included. He was known for being a heavy drinker after winning
long battles too. Alexander became a megalomaniac, and anything he wanted land wise he
received by starting wars. Alexander conquered the majority of southeastern Europe and Middle
Eastern Asia. Alexander the Great deserves to be called great for these reasons. It takes a special kind of person to have land conquered on three continents, be worshipped as a living God, and be a normal person all at the same time. Alexander the Great was truly great.
2. What can one learn about the values of society based on their views of greatness?
One can learn a lot about the values of society based on their views of greatness. We can learn what they valued through the buildings they built and what they seemed to put most of their energy in to. Alexander the Great left a large mark on his society. They believed Alexander was great for many reasons. The people valued conquest. They considered him great because his large empire stretched from Europe to Africa to Asia. Alexander meet success after success in the military field. Their views of greatness were the bigger the better. The people liked to show off what they owned. They valued wealth. All of his conquests involved places that built elaborate buildings, commissioned art, built sculptures, and spoiled the women with extravagant gifts such as jewelry. Alexander was credited with creating the era known as the Hellenistic Age. Just like Alexander the Great, the kings of the Hellenistic Age wanted to be rich and rule the world. They built statues that resembled Greek Gods and they painted paintings of real people. They imported ivory, gold, ebony, pearls, cotton, spices, sugar, furs, iron, linen, glass, olive oil, dates, prunes, silver, and tin. They had a Hellenistic religion which was based on the belief of worshipping monarchs and emperors as Gods or demi-gods. The people during and after Alexanders time valued everything wealthy and grand. Just by looking at these facts, you can learn all about what the people during and shortly after Alexander's time valued. You can learn that the values of society were based on wealth, empowerment, and military success, all on which they viewed as great.
3. Do time and distance impact someone's popular perception?
Time and distance do not impact someone's popular perception. Way back when Alexander Makedonon was alive, the people under his empire followed what he did and believed in what he believed in because he was a man of great power who was confident in what he did. When Alexander was confident, the people were confident in him because he seemed to know what he was doing. When people are ruled by a person who has control over the country or region, they're perception is to follow the leader because he seems to know what he is doing and he looks like he is doing the right thing. Back in Alexander's time, the people wanted to rule the world because of Alexander. He conquered vast majorities of land and he himself also wanted to be ruler of the world. They wanted to be wealthy because Alexander the Great was very wealthy and showed off his wealth in many different ways. Alexander the Great had popular perception because he was powerful and that would not change if he were to live today.
Many years ago when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he slowly rose to power by pretending to be a fair ruler who wanted to unite the people. He basically brainwashed most of the Germans into thinking he was amazing and he had complete control over Germany. He lead them to believe he could rule over all of Europe and beyond because he had popular perception. Hitler's popular perception was that the people of Germany believed in him because he had such a rule over them that they thought his actions were wise and would help the Germans out. Therefore, popular perception would not change over time and distance because these events are thousands of years apart but both rulers had equal amounts of strong power.
2. What can one learn about the values of society based on their views of greatness?
One can learn a lot about the values of society based on their views of greatness. We can learn what they valued through the buildings they built and what they seemed to put most of their energy in to. Alexander the Great left a large mark on his society. They believed Alexander was great for many reasons. The people valued conquest. They considered him great because his large empire stretched from Europe to Africa to Asia. Alexander meet success after success in the military field. Their views of greatness were the bigger the better. The people liked to show off what they owned. They valued wealth. All of his conquests involved places that built elaborate buildings, commissioned art, built sculptures, and spoiled the women with extravagant gifts such as jewelry. Alexander was credited with creating the era known as the Hellenistic Age. Just like Alexander the Great, the kings of the Hellenistic Age wanted to be rich and rule the world. They built statues that resembled Greek Gods and they painted paintings of real people. They imported ivory, gold, ebony, pearls, cotton, spices, sugar, furs, iron, linen, glass, olive oil, dates, prunes, silver, and tin. They had a Hellenistic religion which was based on the belief of worshipping monarchs and emperors as Gods or demi-gods. The people during and after Alexanders time valued everything wealthy and grand. Just by looking at these facts, you can learn all about what the people during and shortly after Alexander's time valued. You can learn that the values of society were based on wealth, empowerment, and military success, all on which they viewed as great.
3. Do time and distance impact someone's popular perception?
Time and distance do not impact someone's popular perception. Way back when Alexander Makedonon was alive, the people under his empire followed what he did and believed in what he believed in because he was a man of great power who was confident in what he did. When Alexander was confident, the people were confident in him because he seemed to know what he was doing. When people are ruled by a person who has control over the country or region, they're perception is to follow the leader because he seems to know what he is doing and he looks like he is doing the right thing. Back in Alexander's time, the people wanted to rule the world because of Alexander. He conquered vast majorities of land and he himself also wanted to be ruler of the world. They wanted to be wealthy because Alexander the Great was very wealthy and showed off his wealth in many different ways. Alexander the Great had popular perception because he was powerful and that would not change if he were to live today.
Many years ago when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he slowly rose to power by pretending to be a fair ruler who wanted to unite the people. He basically brainwashed most of the Germans into thinking he was amazing and he had complete control over Germany. He lead them to believe he could rule over all of Europe and beyond because he had popular perception. Hitler's popular perception was that the people of Germany believed in him because he had such a rule over them that they thought his actions were wise and would help the Germans out. Therefore, popular perception would not change over time and distance because these events are thousands of years apart but both rulers had equal amounts of strong power.
Works Cited
"Alexander the Great (Alexander of Macedon) Biography." Alexander the Great (Alexander of Macedon) Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.
"Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age." Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
"Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia." Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
"Alexander the Great." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.
"Charismatic." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
"Hellenistic Greece." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
"Hellenistic Greece." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
N.p., n.d. Web.
The last sentence in your first paragraph, " It takes a special kind of person to have land conquered on three different continents, be worshipped as a living God, and be a normal person all at the same time" was a very great sentence for you, I thought. This sentence said a lot about Alexander, as well as let everyone know exactly what you were talking about and what you thought about Alexander the Great. Your blog, was very in depth and really showed us your perspective about Alexander.
ReplyDeletei appreciate it
DeleteThis blog post is my favorite so far! i love how in depth it is and how in the first paragraph you put the meaning of great and compared it to Alexander. I also loved in your second question how i could tell you put thought into it and how you out more facts then opinions in it! Great Job Mere!
ReplyDeletethx!!!
DeleteYou shed some light on both Alexander's good side, and bad side, and that's pretty impressive. This was an informative essay.
ReplyDeleteI like how much detail you used and how you showed your oppinion clearly while being able to state the other side of the spectrum also. I liked when you said " It takes a special kind of person to have land conquered on three continents, be worshipped as a living God, and be a normal person all at the same time"
ReplyDelete