Alexander The Great: Idealist To Despot

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Jamin Contreras Mr. Kostelny Ancient History 22 March 2015 Alexander the Great: Idealist to Despot Nearchus, a commanding officer and loyal warrior of the Great Conqueror Alexander, spoke these words moments before the Macedonians first foray into the Asian territory of India, “They (Alexander’s Army) had always believed in Alexander’s extraordinary good fortune. Now, they felt there was nothing that he would not risk and still achieve.” Robin Lane Fox darkens the valiant tone and bright outlook of this quote with the bold statement, “But the next three months would give them cause to think again.” (345). At the brink of death, Alexander the Great was a disillusioned conqueror who had devolved into a paranoid dictator, a far cry from…show more content…
His father, known as Phillip of Macedon, was a man of vision, who desired to expand the Macedonian empire to the far reaches of the earth, a goal his son would later set out to achieve, which unfortunately resulted in failure. Phillip however, was by no means an amicable individual and created numerous enemies throughout his reign, with the passage of time though, Alexander would mend these blemishes and would turn these old foes into reliable allies (Fox 366). In Alexander’s early life he was taught by the famous philosopher Aristotle, who greatly utilized the writings of Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, in young Alexander’s teaching. Little did he know, Alexander would be exceedingly inspired by these books and would come to see himself as the new Achilles. This infatuation with the classic hero from Homer’s time-honored writings grew into the driving force behind Alexander’s dedication to the spread of Hellenic culture. At the age of sixteen, Alexander was thrust into battle as a commanding officer in his father’s army. He displayed incredible skill on the battlefield and immediately became a well-respected individual…show more content…
There is hardly an ancient city standing today from Babylon to the borders of China, that does not claim Alexander as its founder. He took unusually many and careful measures to ensure that remembrance of his feats were available as far and as widely as possible, and he was wildly successful in this goal. But Alexander was a paranoid man, executing anyone who showed the slightest bit of treachery, whether or not these executions were unfounded is left to deliberation. What can’t be argued however, is the hard factual evidence that he, Alexander the once great and noble Macedonian champion, was no longer great or noble by the arrival of his untimely death. This hero to the Greeks was in many cases tyrannical towards his men and often lacked mercy. He lost touch with his original vision of a worldwide Hellenic culture, and fell victim to prideful ideology. It is for this reason that he faltered in India and was betrayed and assassinated in cold blood by his
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