Adam's Alexander Blog

Alexander the Great. NOT!!!            

Adam Tyler

September 30, 2016

      

Alexander the Great's face
By Nichole Trask

Many people today and in ancient times refer to the ancient Macedonian king, Alexander III as Alexander the Great, as he was said to be a very strong and a very intelligent king who conquered Persia and ruled Greece, but some people then and now think of him as not great, like me. In my definition to be great, one must be kind, helpful, powerful, and wise. Alexander may have been very powerful, but he was not kind, helpful, or truly wise. He was the son of King Philip II, another very strong and smart king. Philip had conquered Greece and died by assassination. Alexander, at age 20, took over as king and conquered Persia and left most of it in peace, but destroyed some monuments, like the Acropolis. Alexander also didn't trust others and only relied on himself. He took out anyone who defied him. Alexander also had a drinking problem and this lead to severe consequences, like killing some people, destroying buildings, or plain lashing out. He is not deserving of his name. A more accurate version of his name should be Alexander the Conqueror instead.

Alexander kills Cleitus the Black
History Today

      The people who remember Alexander being not great remember him mainly because of his drunken rages. The people who remember Alexander being great remember his drinking problem as "one of his few flaws". Alexander had mainly co-oped with his high rage by drinking. Though when he was drunk, his rage was even higher and he lashed out mainly on his officers. Many people think that his drinking problem lead to one of his biggest mistakes. "Alexander's drinking problem eventually lead him to tragically killing one of his closest friends and the Macedonian officer who saved his life, Cleitus the Black." Plutarch. Cleitus the Black had saved Alexander's life by killing a man who was trying to kill Alexander, in the Battle of Granicus, the first of the three battles the Macedonians fought the Persians. Nonetheless, Plutarch and Arrian claimed that Alexander's drinking problem was merely an impression that developed from the King's long conversation with friends and lingering over his drink. Drinking was one of Alexander's many flaws.

Ruins of Persepolis
By Alan Smith

      People who remember Alexander as Alexander the Great think his arrogance actually lead him to victory. People who remember Alexander as Alexander the not so Great think his arrogance is definitely made him the raging conqueror he is. The night before Alexander was going to conquer Persia, he became confident with himself and drank. When Alexander conquered Persia because of his arrogance, many Persians think of the time like this, "He razed Persepolis to the ground following a night of drunken excess at the urging of a Greek courtesan, presumedly in revenge for the burning of the Acropolis by the Persian ruler Xerxes." BBC News. Alexander was drunk the time he attacked Persia and destroyed the Persepolis, but it was mainly just out of revenge on Xerxes, king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, for burning down Macedonia's Acropolis. Alexander's arrogance also lead him to take on anyone who defied his name. When a Persian refused to listen to Alexander when he conquered Persia, he had him executed. If anyone defied his name, Alexander would not stop until they suffered for bad-mouthing him.

Alexander in war on a horse
Wikipedia

Many people say Alexander the Great was a very intelligent king, including the people who think he wasn't great. Alexander the Great was very smart in battle as he was able to conquer Persia and he managed to rule Greece mainly in peace, and find those who were against him. Alexander may have been a very smart king when it came to battle and fighting, but he wasn't a wise king when it came to seeing what was best for his citizens. Alexander didn't care about starting a war, as he just wanted to win it, not caring for anyone but himself and his own army. "Alexander was a skilled tactician in battle and an intelligent king, but he mainly only cared for himself." is what people who didn't think Alexander was great have said. Alexander didn't think mainly about the side effects of drinking and he just drank without care and got mad at his army officers. Some officers attempted to overthrow him, proving Alexander was not a very kind king. He didn't trust anyone but himself which is one of the reasons that made him a jerk and what made him think he was invincible. Since Alexander thought he was invincible, he was vulnerable to big attacks like Persia, but even then he still managed to bring armies down. He rushed into battle with a good plan, but didn't stop to think about how it would go wrong, as he was so sure of himself. Alexander was not truly wise.

     In conclusion, most people of the world today and in ancient times have thought Alexander was truly great, but they were wrong, he was not great. He was not at all kind, helpful, or truly wise, as he hurt some of the people close to him by drinking and his insane rage, and he only cared for himself. By conquering Persia and ruling over Greece, he had become more and more power hungry. He had kept ruling over Greece until he eventually got very ill in June 323 BC and eventually died at age 32. Alexander was very far from "great".

Alexander's tomb
By Ann Bell

Works Cited:

Ansar, Prof Ali. "Alexander the not so Great: History through Persian Eyes." BBC News, 15 July

2012, pp. 1-10, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18803290. Accessed 15 July 2012.

Dryden, John, translator. Alexander. 1994. Internet Classics Archive, classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/alexandr.html. Accessed 4 Mar. 2011.

Sage, Henry Williams. The Anabasis of Alexander. 1884. Archive, archive.org/stream/cu31924026460752/cu31924026460752_djvu.txt.

Snyder, Becky. "Alexander the Great." ABC Clio, ABC Clio Inc., 3 Apr. 1999, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/575648?terms=alexander+the+great&sType=quick. Accessed 16 Sept. 2016.

Thayer, Bill, editor. "Quints Curtius' Histories on Alexander the Great." LacusCurtius, 7 Feb. 1999, penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Curtius/home.html. Accessed 2 Mar. 2009.

Varin, Andra. "What Made Alexander So Great?" ABC News, 24 Nov. 2004, 
abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=267330. Accessed 15 July 2016