Alexander the Great (July 356BC – June 323BC) was King of the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedon. By the age of thirty he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world. He remained undefeated in battle and is considered one of history’s most successful Military commanders. Historians’ have offered theories which could explain Alexander’s motivation to conquer so much of the known world. Some suggest that Alexander was an idealistic visionary who sought to unite the world, whereas others argued that he was a fascist whose hunger for power drove him. The Ancient Greeks were driven by love of honour (philotimaea) and their desire for greatness. They were competitive, always striving to better one another. Phillip encouraged his son’s …show more content…
Alexander was brought up admiring Homeric heroes, and was inspired by their emotional impulses. Alexander wanted to be seen as braver than brave, the mostly kingly of kings, and the greatest of all generals. Alexander wanted to identify with mythical and divine conquerors, such as Dionysus. Anaxarchus, a Greek philosopher whom accompanied Alexander at the school of Democritus, said that Alexander had better claims to be a god than Dionysus and Heracles, due to Alexander’s grand accomplishments. Alexander was inspired by Homer’s hero Achilles, and his aspiration for greatness – he even saw himself as a reincarnation of this Homeric hero. Alexander’s desire to explore west Egypt hailed from his mystical belief in his destiny, whereas others argue that it was an attempt to strengthen his position with his new subjects. Callisthenes – the official historian – said that it was due to Alexander’s “thirst for glory because he heard Hercules and Peruses had gone there before him” 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. …show more content…
Plutarch’s Life of Alexander speaks of Alexander’s father telling him “my son, seek thee out a kingdom equal to thyself; Macedonia has not room for thee” (Plutarch, 6.1). Aristotle tutored Alexander where he encouraged his ambition, and taught him that bravery in a man was an admirable quality. Alexander’s birth was associated with great signs; Plutarch writes “Alexander was born the sixth of Hecatombeon … the same day that the temple of Diana was burnt while its mistress was absent, assisting at the birth of Alexander” (Plutarch, Lives). The ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus said “During the twenty-four years of his [Phillip II] reign as King of Macedonia, Phillip built his own kingdom up into the greatest power in Europe … he bequeathed a military establishment of such size and quality that his son Alexander was enabled to overthrow the Persian empire … these achievements were not the work of fortune but of his own force of character, for this king stands out above others for his military acumen, personal courage, and intellectual brilliance.” Despite this, Alexander believed that his success was the work of divine forces. He called himself the son of Zeus, and likened his bloodline to that of Achilles and Heracles, modeling his behavior after them. Alexander’s success was also due to the methods
In the countries who believed Alexander was the son of the devil or the devil himself, will say he is not ‘great’ but a demon who did evil. The countries who were on his side would say he was the greatest conqueror to live. He began as a Macedonian cavalry commander at eighteen, king of Macedonia at twenty, conqueror of Persia at twenty-six and explorer of India at thirty [Foner and Garraty]. The amount of large scale accomplishments he managed to finish in a span of six years is astonishing. Alexander’s tomb was the largest tourist attraction in the ancient world. The tomb was even visited by Julius Caesar, Pompey, Caligula, and Augustus. Alexander the Great’s accomplishments set a bar in which provided a standard that all other leaders would match their careers too. Many leaders after Alexander could not reach the standard left by him [Foner and
The author’s thesis argues that Alexander became who he was based on the society he grew up in. Green describes Alexander’s surroundings as “loud, clamorous professional soldiers, who rode or drank or fought or fornicated” (pg. 40). These were the male examples that he had in his life and his father was no different. He was also surrounded by the planning and strategy of war, treachery and conspiracies. His mother Olympia’s which is so popularly known for poisoning young Alexander’s mind against Philip, the author believes is nothing more but a psychological myth. Alexander and Olympia’s did not turn against Philip till 338 BC, when Alexander...
Alexander the Great is hailed, by most historians, as “The Great Conqueror” of the world in the days of ancient Mesopotamia. “Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BCE. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Philip was assassinated in 336 BCE and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire” (Web, BBC History). It is important to note, which will maybe explain his brutal actions, that Alexander was only twenty years old when he became the king of Macedonia. “When he was 13, Philip hired the Greek philosopher Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. During the next three years Aristotle gave Alexander training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance in Alexander’s later life” (Web, Project of History of Macedonia). “In, 340, when Philip assembled a large Macedonian army and invaded Thrace, he left his 16 years old son with the power to rule Macedonia in his absence as regent, but as the Macedonian army advanced deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia rebelled and posed a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and with swift action defeated the Maedi, captured their stronghold, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropolis. Two years later in 338 BC, Philip gave his son a commanding post among the senior gener...
Alexander's motivation for success was driven by glory. He wanted to be remembered and be seen as a God by all who knew of his name. Alexander's favorite tutor was Lysimachus. This tutor devised a game in which Alexander impersonated the hero Achilles. Achilles was a heroic Greek warrior from a famous ancient poem called the Iliad. A Achilles became the model of the noble warrior for Alexander, and he modeled himself after this hero. This game delighted Olympia's because her family claimed the hero as an ancestor. He also wanted to exact his revenge on the Persians who had invaded 150 years prior to his
Alexander was born in Pella, the capital of Macedon, on July 20, 356 B.C. He was the son of King Philip II and his fourth wife Olympias, an Epirote princess. Alexander was bred to be a warrior; his father was a great commander and king, and his mom’s second cousin, Pyrrhus of Epirus, was a celebrated general. So there were noteworthy examples of military genius on both sides of his family. As a child, Alexander’s mother would tell him stories of how he was a descendant to Achilles and Hercules. Achilles was his favorite hero growing up, as he read of his adventures in Homer’s Iliad. From an early age Alexander was practically raised by everyone but his parents. He was originally educated by a strict teacher named Leonidas. Alexander’s father wanted Alexander to become a great man, so he acquired the famous philosopher Aristotle to become his tutor. Aristotle trained him in rhetoric and literature, and stimulated his interest in medicine, science, and philosophy. Aristotle is credited for Alexander’s fasci...
Alexander the Great has been considered for centuries as a military genius and influenced conquerors such as Hannibal the Carthaginian, the Romans Pompey, Caesar and Napoleon. Although, he inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army, Alexander was capable to display his leadership and military capabilities. In 338 B.C., his father, King Phillip II, gave Alexander a commanding post among the senior generals as the Ma...
Alexander is the son of King Philip of Macedonia and Queen Olympias. We see Alexander's daily life and the strained relationship between his parents. Alexander grows up with his mother Olympias and his tutor Aristotle, where he finds interest in love, honor, music, exploration, poetry, and military combat. Young Alexander impresses his father by taming an intractable horse, but both mother and son are banished from the kingdom, Olympias advising her son to seize the throne before Philip has him murdered. As things work out, Philip is murdered, and Alexander rules Macedonia. (BBC)
Alexander the Great was born in Pella, Macedonia on July 20, 356 B.C. He was the son of King Philip II of Macedon and Queen Olympia, daughter of King Neoptolemus. Alexander’s mother was a dominant role model in his life, because his father was never around due to military campaigns and extra-martial affairs. Alexander was mainly influenced by his mother;
Before Alexander even took his first breath, there was already a lot of pressure for him to succeed and become the next great conqueror. King of Macedonia Phillip II was great a military leader, but according to Hugh Bowden’s “Alexander the Great, A very short introduction” he was known for having multiple wives to build alliances, but was one particular wive was different from the rest, Olympias. They had a child named Alexander who was destined to be the heir to Philip II. Alexander would go on to learn from the best as one of his tutors and teachers was Aristotle, one of the greatest minds the world had ever seen. From an early age he showed great promise as he would do extradionary things to impress his father. According to Peter G. Tsouras’ “Alexander: Invincible King of Macedonia,” he describes one of the legendary stories about Alexander, which is about the wild horse he was able to tamed, which he would name Bucephalus and would later name a city after it (Tsouras 17). Phillip II had one of the great military forces in the world, which allowed him to expand and dominate other armies. Phillip wanted to take control of all of Greece, but he needed to defeat the military forces of Athens and Thebes. Phillip decides taht Alexander is ready for
Even if some tend to assume that Alexander truly was great, one cannot fully argue with the fact that Alexander had a huge ego, and he could barely maintain it himself. He was only twenty years old when he launched his invasion of the Persian Empire, and he could have had such a bright future that allowed him to deserve the title of great. Yet even Alexander’s army turned back after eight years of marching due to the fact that his ego could not wrap around the idea that all of these battles remained useless. Conquering so much land for personal pleasures just demonstrates how power hungry Alexander truly was. The city name Alexandria appears eleven times on the map of his empire. He was so conceited that he wanted people to know how much land
Alexander the Great was the ruler of Macedonia from 334 B.C to 323 B.C. By the age of thirty he conquered the entire known world and had an undefeated battle record. At the age of thirteen, Alexander started his schooling with the philosopher Aristotle, and learned from him until the age of sixteen. While his father was away at war, Alexander was Regent of Macedonia. While he was the regent, Alexander stomped out the revolt of Madei, a small tribe, and renamed it to Alexandropolis. Two years later his father gave Alexander a Commanding spot among the senior generals as Macedonia invaded Greece. The Greeks were defeated and Alexander proved hi...
Alexander the Great might be by far the most impressive conqueror of the ancient world. He adopted the progression of an empire that his father Philip II started and then created a cross continental empire. Heavily influenced by his father’s success Alexander the Great adopted many of the skills, mental and military, that King Philip II had. During his thirteen years of rule he achieved more as a conqueror than any man before him was ever able to accomplish. Although his short-lived reign was great and effected many societies massively he didn’t have an heir that lived to adopt his empire from him to continue the domination of the world. This lead to him saying one of his most well known quotes “I leave it to the strongest”, which started a power struggle between his generals that lasted for years. All of these events were very significant and heavily influenced the following era.
Through the ages, historians have praised the reign of Alexander III of Macedonia, more popularly known as Alexander the Great. In his short years of reign as king of Macedonia, Alexander the great conquered a vast majority of territory garnering him as one of the most powerful kings of his time. Alexander the great was an intellectual man who used his knowledge to expand his kingdom. Through his military conquests of Asia, Persia, Egypt, and other nations, the Macedonian empire flourished. In addition to that, in Alexander’s reign he established the Hellenistic period which single-handed changed the nature of the ancient world. Moreover, the reign of Alexander the great integrated Greek and Macedonian way of living, established an impact that
Alexander the 3rd of Macedon (Alexander the Great). Son the king Phillips the 2nd. Alexander was a man who thought himself to be a god, famously known for never losing a battle. A king Idolized by many throughout history and for millennial his name still alive as a result of his greatness. The Macedonia king was Born in the classical Greek period, in 356 B.C.E and his death marked the end of that same time period in 323 B.C.E. Alexander created the largest empire in the ancient world and lastly he was indeed what every conqueror would’ve ever wanted to be, a military genius, a warrior, a Pharaoh, a king, a real legend. The legacy of Alexander represents the real idealism of true greatness which can split into different parts. There is a fascinating
Have you ever wondered why Alexander from Macedonia is called Alexander the Great. According to history, it is because he is the most glorious general in the history who conquered Persia, Greece, Egypt and Babylon in a very inexperienced age. He became the commander of Macedonian armies at age eighteen and the king of Macedonia at age twenty. After six years of preparation, he conquered the great Persian empire. Unfortunately, he died at age thirty-three. He would have conquered many lands if he hadn’t died at a such young age. He was a legend and an icon for great kings like Charlemagne, Julius Caesar, and Pompey. World’s most famous generals tried to compete with him but they couldn’t accomplish. After years, his tomb