Alexander's Legacy

   
         Alexander the Great or Alexander III was a brilliant military tactician and general. He's inspired leaders such as Hannibal the Carthaginian, Pompey, Caesar, and Napoleon and for good reason too. At its peak, his empire has stretched from Greece and Egypt to as far away as India. Although his leadership decisions might not have been the best, there is no doubt that Alexander can be considered great.

         His path to greatness started long before he was a king, when he was still a boy at Philip II court in Macedonia. Even at a young age, it would have seemed that Alexander was destined for greatness. Plutarch writes that at the age of 12, Alexander tamed Bucephalus, a horse none of Philip's men could tame, simply by using his powers of observation. (Mercer, 16-18) Alexander realized that the horse was afraid of its own shadow, and quickly after he moved the horse from the sun, he was able to tame it. Alexander would then go on to ride Bucephalus to all of his major battles. Then, at the age of 13, his father wanted Alexander to get an education so he got Aristotle to teach the young prince. From Aristotle, Alexander learned to think logically which led him to becoming a military genius. (Mercer 18-20) All of these adventures during Alexander's upbringing help him become the leader he is known as today.

        His path to greatness then resumes at the age of 21 when Alexander becomes king after his father's death. Alexander had large plans to fulfill his father's dreams of conquering Persia, and after two years of preparation he began his conquest. He plunged into Persia and after crushing the Persian at the battles of Granicus and Issus he moved into Egypt. He moved through Egypt in likewise fashion and was actually welcomed by the Egyptians for freeing them from the rule of the Persians. They even made him the Pharaoh and called him the son of Zeus. He feels pretty powerful at this point and decides to keep on going. He takes over Babylon and continues into India. In India, he still continues to fight until 326 BC, where his army mutinies at the Hyphasis River after harsh weather conditions. He is forced to turn back and when he does, he is at the height of his power. He believes he is so divine that the Macedonians should worship him. Ironically though, it is at this height of power where Alexander dies, not by a sword or a spear, but by a fever.  Thus ends the eventful but brief life of Alexander III.

        Alexander's last (and perhaps his greatest) accomplishment was his legacy. Part of his legacy was the creation of the Hellenistic culture. The Hellenistic Culture was a fusion of different cultures from regions that Alexander took over. While Alexander was still alive, he was spreading his culture to the places he went and he also adopted some aspects of the other cultures. For example, while he was in Persia, he married a Persian woman and encouraged members of his army to do the same. This helped spread cultures and also created a bond between the two regions. The creation of the Hellenistic culture was important because it allowed unified cities and it allowed people to communicate and travel throughout the Hellenistic world. Another part of Alexander's legacy was the way people viewed him, and in his case it was quite great. He managed to do the unthinkable. He conquered near all of Europe and a large part of Asia. He was even able to create a culture to unify his empire. After all of his adventures and accomplishments there's no wonder people call him the Great.

        This leads to another question, what does it mean to be great?, and more specifically, what can one learn about the values of Society based on their views of greatness? In Macedonia's case, the people were tired of being looked down upon by the other city states. Macedonians knew that the only way to get the other regions to respect Macedonia was to take action; to make Macedon great. So that's exactly what Philip II did. Philip II used this proudness to turn a group of peasants into a highly trained group of soldiers and together they took over most of Europe. After his father died, Alexander continued this philosophy as he conquered Persia and it led him to be seen as great in the eyes of the Macedonians at the time period and for many years to come.

        For Macedonians back then, being courageous in battle and taking over new lands instilled a new sense of nationalism for them which made rulers like Philip II and Alexander III seem so great, but war isn't exactly as well received in all societies. For example, think back to everyday life now. If the president of the United States announced that we would be invading Canada, just because we can, there would be mass rioting all over the US. Not to mention all the uproar that would come from other countries as well. That just goes to show that how great something appears to be is directly depended on the values of the society looking at it, and that one can learn a lot about a society based on what they view as great.

        Another thing that can affect society's view is time. Time plays a major in how people see things. Time can distort or even rewrite history altogether, and that's just what happened to Alexander's legacy. After he died, many writers took it upon themselves to write down the actions of Alexander the Great. In these works, many of Alexander's life goals and achievements become fantasized. For example, one writing titled Alexander Romance featured fantastic adventures such as getting carried around in a basket flown by eagles, encountering a tribe of headless men, and becoming a mermaid just to name a few.

        Another way time has distorted peoples' views on Alexander is by his credibility. Almost all of the works about Alexander the Great focus on how he was such a great leader and general when in reality he wasn't all that perfect. According to an essay by Ian Worthington, Alexander "was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of his own men and for the unnecessary wholesale slaughter of native peoples". On top of that, he is a "megalomaniac, who believed in his own divinity". Perhaps Worthington's account of Alexander was a little more accurate and could possibly shed some light on how great "The Great" really was. Whatever the case is though, there is no doubt that time has greatly affect Alexander III image today. As Winston Churchill once said, "History is written by the victors." and for Alexander that is exactly what happened.

Works Cited
"Alexander the Great (Alexander of Macedon) Biography." Alexander the Great (Alexander of Macedon) Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.
Emmons, Jim Tschen. "Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2014
Mercer, Charles E. Alexander the Great. New York: American Heritage Pub.; Book Trade Distribution by Meredith; Institutional Distribution by Harper & Row, 1963. Print.
Robertson, John, Joshua Cole, Thomas M. Saftley, and Carol Symes. "The Greek World Expands, 400-150 B.C.E." Perspectives from the Past: Primary Sources in Western Civilizations. By James M. Brophy. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 142-45. Print.
Worthington, Ian. "How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]." How "Great" Was Alexander? [P.1]. N.p., 1999. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.