Alexander believed he was a divine mediator for the world. In other words, he believed he was chosen by god to solely lead the world. Thus, Arrian wanted to emphasize Alexander's arrogance because he believed that he was god-like and should rule over everyone. Furthermore, after Alexander’s death, he still had extravagant plans for his empire. Alexanders wanted ridiculous projects to be completed
Very few reliable sources on Alexander the Great’s reign remain in existence today. Of these sources, the four major ones are histories by Plutarch, Diodorus, Arrian and Quintus Rufus. The earliest of these sources was written in the first century BC, so it is clear to see that the author’s own personal outlook may have influenced by their times and personal experiences in life that may or may not have changed since Alexander was alive since he died about three-hundred BC. In addition to the times
sources of Arrian and Plutarch Although both of these were written a couple of hundred years after Alexander’s death they are still the most complete. Plus Arrian would seem to have many sources to consult in his writing, all from Alexander’s time. His main two sources were Ptolemy and Aristobulus, both of whom were on Alexander’s campaigns. Plutarch’s account is more a biography than a history since it is full of stories and anecdotes, however it contains some information that Arrian doesn’t so
This is mainly due to Arrian’s use of the contemporary source Ptolemy, who was one of Alexander’s Generals. The representation of Alexander’s conquests, tactical genius, and overall military prowess was one of Ptolemy’s main concerns. Unfortunately, Arrian rarely directly quotes Ptolemy and therefore his account can sometimes get lost through the veil of Arrian’s account. I do truly believe that if Ptolemy’s account of Alexander’s triumphs had survived, that modern scholars and military historians would
and drank a half-gallon of chilled wine at breakfast. He died shortly thereafter. When Alexander was told of Hephaestion's illness, he rushed to be with him but Hephaestion had already passed away. Alexander was now devastated by this loss. Arrian states that "for two days after Hephaestion's death, Alexander tasted no food and took no care of his body..." (7.14.8). It is widely believed that Alexander had Glaucias executed, blaming him for Hephaestion's sudden demise. Alexander was also believed
and he wanted to emulate these Homeric heroes. He was motivated by Homeric ideals such as personal achievement and glory, accomplished largely in warfare. Alexander’s siege of Aornus was carried out because Hercules had failed a similar attempt, and Arrian wrote that Alexander crossed the Gedrosian Desert because “no one else with an army had done so successfully” (Anab.
relate the same event and agree that the priest speaking to Alexander referred to him as the son of Zeus, our most reliable source on Alexander, Arrian, whose account is generally well detailed, fails to mention this. Indeed, the only mention of what was said at Siwah was that Alexander ‘heard what was agreeable to his wishes’. So why then does Arrian fail to mention the account of Alexander’s speech with the priest? One possibility would be that this speech never happened. The deification of
What caused such a powerful, enormous empire to fall so quickly after the death of their fearless leader, Alexander. Alexander’s ruling, both excellent and negative, affected the downfall of his empire shortly after his death. The fall of this empire came about due to three key reasons. Alexander’s Empire fell apart so quickly after his death because the Macedonians, among others, were disloyal to Alexander, Alexander’s many devastating flaws of treating his enemies along with his friends with
Alexander acted brashly just to earn glory and did not consider the consequences of if he had been injured. In The Battle of Gaugamela it mentions Alexander leading his army “with Alexander himself at the head of them, vigorously pressed the assault” (Arrian, The Battle of Gaugamela). This action of his is a cry for glory, not for Macedonia, but just for Alexander. Alexander is certainly
The Macedonians under Philip II and Alexander made such significant advancements in the way they waged warfare that it is considered a military revolution. They were able to change their tactics, technology, political organization, and even change the balance of power in the world. In order to see how they changed the practice of war, we must look at battles from before Philip II, specifically battles from the Peloponnesian War, and we must also look at battles that occurred after Philip II, such
According to Arrian, Darius’ army outnumbered Alexander’s army by thousands of bodies; the Persian army even had about 200 chariots and 15 elephants (1). Elephants impulsively prefer to run through gaps rather than to run into sharp objects, therefore, the reason why
In The Manual of Epictetus, Arrian described the beliefs of Stoicism. The beliefs of the Stoics are similar to the philosophy of Saint Paul through the elements of behavior, actions and living a virtuous life. The Stoics desired to live without worry and attachments, letting their will be that events happen as they ought, not as they desire, thus sacrificing their will to Nature (Arrian 135). In a similar way, Saint Paul declared people should love rightly
There is no one description of Alexander the Great, he has become for modern and ancient writers an astonishing man from Macedon, who was a controversial, yet admirable ruler of the largest empire of the known ancient world. The fascination and relevance of Alexander in the contemporary world have proven to be a reflection of his extraordinary successes, which has led to a strong debate on whether Alexander’s epithet as “The Great” is at all an indication of his achievements. Alexander’s ability
Apr. 2014. . "The Motivations of Alexander the Great: What motivated the famous general as he was conquering the world?." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. . Plutarch, and Ian Scott-Kilvert. The Age of Alexander. London: Penguin, 2011. Print. Arrian. The Campaigns of Alexander. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1971. Print. Hamilton, J. R. Alexander the Great. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh, 1974. Print.
Greek Literature The great British philosopher-mathematician Alfred North Whitehead once commented that all philosophy is but a footnote to Plato . A similar point can be made regarding Greek literature as a whole. Over a period of more than ten centuries, the ancient Greeks created a literature of such brilliance that it has rarely been equaled and never surpassed. In poetry, tragedy, comedy, and history, Greek writers created masterpieces that have inspired, influenced, and challenged
Alexander said, “The Strongest” and thus the generals started their feud of control. Alexander’s empire would be divides up by the four generals Cassander, Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Seleucus. Although Plutarch and Arrian, would claim that Alexander passed his reign to Perdiccas the generals ignored these wishes of Alexander and thus assassinated Perdiccas. Cassander then proceeded to go after Alexander’s wife, son and mother in threat to their claim to the empire
leading his army through a desert. All if his men are already under equipped judging by how miserable they all were in the story. All of his men are agonizingly suffering from dehydration; meanwhile, a few loyal troops search for a source of water (Arrian). The soldiers finally find a miniscule source of water. They take what they can in a helmet and rather than drinking it, the devoted men bring it to their leader. Alexander takes this breathtaking gift in their miserable situation and poured it onto
Alexander the Great will forever be remembered in history as one of the greatest conquerors of all time. There are many historians that agree with the contention that Alexander’s success can be greatly attributed the legacy left to him by his father, Philip II of Macedon. Philip’s accomplishments enabled Alexander to begin his reign with a large powerful army, an established throne, a vast empire, domination over Greece and a people with a great sense of nationalistic pride (Worthington 2003, 95)
Following the conquest of the mighty Persian Empire and the death of King Darius, Alexander set out to consolidate his kingdom. However, he now has his mind on a bigger prize, India. Alexander reached the Indus River, the gateway to India, in spring 326 B.C. When he arrived, he met up with Hephaestion, whom he had sent ahead to ready the river crossing. The Indus River is one of the largest Rivers in India, second only to the Ganges. It is no small task to move an army across such a large river,
as a slave surely gave Epictetus a different and unknown picture into the human condition. The Enchiridion of Epictetus was not actually written by Epictetus himself. He never actually wrote any books of his own. He had a student under him named Arrian (who would go on to become the biographer of Alexander the great) who took all of Epictetus’s thoughts, wrote them down, and created Discourses. This was originally 8 volumes but only 4 survived over time. These 4 volumes were put together in an abridged