Alexander The Great
Alexander’s “aim was to combine the wisdom and splendour of the East with the clear thinking and vitality of the Greeks, and so create something entirely new and wonderful.” Why was this such a different approach than those of previous empires? What might have led him to develop the idea? How successful was he in meeting this goal?
Alexander wanted to create a new world and to conquer. Previous rulers, for example the Egyptians, had a ruler named King Akhenaton who changed the way of doing things, but when he died, the Egyptians went back to the same old things that they always did. Alexander’s approach was different because he wanted to create a new culture that had many influences, and not just destroy other civilizations or make a captured territory have to be exactly like Greece.
Perhaps the reason Alexander developed this idea was because he was tutored by Aristotle, one of the wisest and deepest thinkers in history. The idea of perserving a conquored culture’s traditions while adding some Greek influence was likely to keep those people happy. Another influence might have been Diogenes, who appreciated the simple things and wasn’t caught up with becoming wealthy.
Alexander was very succesful with his plan. He conquered many cities and empires, and was becoming one of the greatest rulers of all time. He conquered Egypt, Persia, the Phonecians, and parts of the Indian Empire. Alexander also ruled over a ton of land in Europe and Asia. As the book said when Alexander’s father conquered a new Greek city, Alexander would cry and say “father won’t leave anything for me to conquer when I’m king.” This shows his incredible desire to conquer. The fact that those new lands stayed within his control and remained loyal, meant his methods worked.
How could Alexander have better prepared for his successor? Why do you think he failed to do so?
Alexander could have prepared for his successor by selecting a few highly capable leaders and teaching them the skills of being a successful ruler, so that they could later be a great ruler themselves. Alexander failed to do so because he was so focused entirely on a campain of conquering, and on himself.
What is the importance of establishing a library like those that the Greeks established? How are we creating similar systems today without actually building more traditional libraries?
It’s very important to establish libraries like the Greeks did, because without all of these books about history, science, etc., we wouldn’t know a lot about the Greeks or any of this history or knowledge. What the Greeks did is they wanted to preserve history and knowledge and that has helped us a lot with our knowledge of them and the cultures of their time.
We have created systems like the internet where a person would be able to go on a website like amazon.com, and find a book that he wants to buy. This system is kind of like a library, it’s just online. We still have traditional libraries where you go in and check out a book. As Ted said today, there is a new library that he has been to in Indianapolis, so that tells us that were are not done building traditional libraries.
