My sons have told me many things after finally coming back from Alexander's army. They showered praises upon Alexander's greatness. They retold tales of Alexander's heroics and benevolence- and his military genius. He defeated what was previously thought unbeatable, such as the battle at the Sogdian Rock, when Alexander ordered all the men who could to climb the rock at night to defeat the Sogdians on top of it. Not only that, but Alexander also treated these new cultures fairly, by going to their ceremonies and adhering to their traditions. He even ordered his men to do he same!
My son also told me that there was also one time when the army was traveling through the desert. Most of the men were thirsty and tired, and thought Alexander to be a slave driver for working his men so hard in the desert. Here my son proudly told me, "I did not doubt King Alexander for a second. Even without water, I kept on following him." Later on, when one of the generals next to him urged Alexander to drink some water, Alexander refused, saying that he would not drink water if his men were thirsty. My son had heard this, and immediately after had decided to follow Alexander wherever he went.
323 B.C.
Our king, Alexander, has died.
Alexander, perhaps, really is great. His experiences must have taught him much in the way of handling different cultures and people. He treated everyone fairly, whether or not they were nobles or peasants.
Not only that, but Alexander managed to conquer the whole of the Persian Empire. Only a man with the greatest drive and intelligence could do that without damaging the other cultures.
Looking at the empire now, one could say that Alexander beautifully unified the Persian empire while still keeping the cultures separate. There was a little merging of cultures, such as the city of Alexandria in Egypt. The fact that Alexandria was in such an ideal location made the merging of cultures easier. This merging probably aided Alexander's empire through academics and record storage. The great library at Alexandria was a place for scholars form all around the Persian Empire to add to.
The library itself was also caused by the merging of cultures. There were records from Greece and Macedonia. There were many scholars from Greece who also lived in Alexandria. Egyptian scholars, Greek mathematicians, and Persian philosophers all gathered in Alexandria. Here, they would need a way to communicate- so why not use that blending of cultures for help in learning each other's languages? The culture mix helped Alexander's army much like the way the world works now- by sharing information to help make the world smarter.
My son also told me that there was also one time when the army was traveling through the desert. Most of the men were thirsty and tired, and thought Alexander to be a slave driver for working his men so hard in the desert. Here my son proudly told me, "I did not doubt King Alexander for a second. Even without water, I kept on following him." Later on, when one of the generals next to him urged Alexander to drink some water, Alexander refused, saying that he would not drink water if his men were thirsty. My son had heard this, and immediately after had decided to follow Alexander wherever he went.
323 B.C.
Our king, Alexander, has died.
Alexander, perhaps, really is great. His experiences must have taught him much in the way of handling different cultures and people. He treated everyone fairly, whether or not they were nobles or peasants.
Not only that, but Alexander managed to conquer the whole of the Persian Empire. Only a man with the greatest drive and intelligence could do that without damaging the other cultures.
Looking at the empire now, one could say that Alexander beautifully unified the Persian empire while still keeping the cultures separate. There was a little merging of cultures, such as the city of Alexandria in Egypt. The fact that Alexandria was in such an ideal location made the merging of cultures easier. This merging probably aided Alexander's empire through academics and record storage. The great library at Alexandria was a place for scholars form all around the Persian Empire to add to.
The library itself was also caused by the merging of cultures. There were records from Greece and Macedonia. There were many scholars from Greece who also lived in Alexandria. Egyptian scholars, Greek mathematicians, and Persian philosophers all gathered in Alexandria. Here, they would need a way to communicate- so why not use that blending of cultures for help in learning each other's languages? The culture mix helped Alexander's army much like the way the world works now- by sharing information to help make the world smarter.
In hindsight, my research has led
me to believe that no human could ever be “great”. This concept is so affected
by opinion that really only a majority vote among the world’s population could
decide on how great a person is. Alexander, in my eyes, really isn’t great. His
rise to power was shrouded in mystery and murder and his empire collapsed soon
after he died, making it believable that he didn’t really care about his empire
and only controlled it through fear. Hitler is almost the same. He oppressed the people and controlled soldiers in the streets. Punishments were meted out often. But, Hitler did manage to
defeat France, Poland, and other countries and occupy them, much like Alexander’s
quest to conquer the Persian Empire. Hitler controlled Poland, France, the
Netherlands and Norway all through fear as well, Just like what ALexander probably did. Likewise,
Alexander did not trust many of his men and executed troublemakers, or even
suspects. He also killed his own general Parmenio. These men could be
considered great, but only for their ruthlessness and effectiveness in getting
to their goals. Hitler was very close to taking over all of Europe. Alexander
was able to conquer the Persian Empire. To achieve these goals, each went through numerous amounts of bloodshed and warfare.
Back during World War II, many
Americans knew Hitler to be a tyrannical leader with no mercy and humanity. Now,
after many years, several experts and ordinary people have analyzed Hitler’s
actions and ideas. School now can teach that Hitler was a very smart man who
was well-versed in politics and could draw support, not by using fear, but by
giving good speeches and great ideas. Alexander is now known as a great
conqueror. But, since there aren’t detailed records about the common people of
Alexander’s time, we don’t know how others viewed Alexander. Was he viewed as a
tyrannical leader who only thirsted for blood? Or was he viewed as an honest
man with great ambitions who had the means to achieve them?
With all the best,
Works Cited:
historyofmacedonia.org, . N.p.. Web. 20 Sep 2013. <http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat.html>.
Adkins, Leslie, and Roy Adkins. "Biographies." Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece. Oxford: 1997.
"Alexander the Great." Changing Minds. Straker, David. N.p.. Web. 26 Sep 2013. <http://changingminds.org/disciplines/warfare/commanders/alexander_great.htm>.
"Adolf Hitler." Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitler.html>.
"Chart: Summary of Alexander's Life." Alexander the Great. U of Houston, n.d.
Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://www.class.uh.edu/mcl/classics/hti/Alexander.sum.html>.
Wright, W. R. "Great Alexandria." History of Alexandria. Wichita State U, n.d.
Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/topics/
alexandria.html>.
"Chart: Summary of Alexander's Life." Alexander the Great. U of Houston, n.d.
Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://www.class.uh.edu/mcl/classics/hti/Alexander.sum.html>.
Wright, W. R. "Great Alexandria." History of Alexandria. Wichita State U, n.d.
Web. 27 Sept. 2013. <http://www.math.wichita.edu/history/topics/
alexandria.html>.
First off, I really like the point of view you came from. I would have never thought of writing it as a mom, but it worked perfectly with what you were saying. What really stood out to me was the part about the merging of cultures. My research took me the completely opposite direction, and I did not even know about the library. In my research, for instance, I got that there was a lot of culture blending in areas such as philosophy and art. It's interesting how the different areas had a different mixture.
ReplyDeleteThe point of view was really unique. I think the point of view that you took on Hitler was very effective. In my research, I found that most viewed Hitler as good at the time and bad now. But the fact that you did it the other way around and supported it made it stand out. The point where you stated that we don't truly know what others thought of Alexander and compared that to Hitler was really good! Awesome points and well written!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Jia Jia! I really liked how you did this from the point of view of a mother of a soldier. Also I admire how much detail you went into. I especially like the line "'I did not doubt Alexander for a minute. Even without water, I kept following him." It really suck out to me because it summed up Alexander's army wonderfully.
ReplyDeleteI love the view point of being a mom! Your blog is really put together and easy to
ReplyDeleteread, and I also used the Alexandria library and museum in my post too!
While I don't think Hilter was a great military leader, you did a good job of backing
That opinion up. Good job!