Alexander_the_Great

Of the many men in world history there has been one figure who stood above them all. One who is the most well-known and legendary on Earth. This man is no other than Alexander the Great. Tutored by the great philosopher, Aristotle. Conqueror of the seemingly unstoppable Persian empire. Alexander alone has accomplished many great feats in all recorded history. He was brave, arrogant, and overconfident in himself. He shares these same personal characteristics as the character Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Alexander the Great was born in the city of Pella, which was the capitol of Macedonia. His father, King Philip II, was the King of Macedonia (Alexander). His mother, Olympias, was a princess of Epirus. Alexander was tutored by the great philosopher Aristotle, who had set down many scientific theories in physics (Alexander). Aristotle taught Alexander in many disciplines, such as Literature and rhetoric; he was very interested in science, philosophy, and medicine. In the summer of 336 B.C. King Philip II was assassinated. Alexander took his father’s throne(Alexander). After Alexander disposed of all domestic threats he set out on a military campaign against the Persians, originally planned by his father. In the spring of 334 BC, Alexander attacked an army of 40,000 Persians and Greek mercenaries with an army of only 35,000 men(Conquerors). This shows Alexander to be extremely brave. Alexander shares this trait with Caesar when he says, “Cowards die many times before their deaths…The valiant never taste of death but once” (II.ii.32-33). Continuing on his campaign, he stopped at Phyria and untied the Gordian knot. The Gordian knot was a knot tied by king Gordius, that in legend was tied so intricately tied that the one who was able to untie it would be ruler of all Asia (Gordian). Alexander encountered the main Persian army commanded by king Darius in 333 BC. He succeeded, and pushed Darius north abandoning his family. Alexander laid siege to the fort of Tyre after seven months(Alexander). Next Alexander went into Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria in 332 BC. Alexandria became one of the most important cities in the Mediterranean. It was the literary, scientific, and commercial center of the Greek world (Alexander). Alexander made a pilgrimage to the great temple and oracle of Amon-Ra (Write 34). Alexander wanted the Egyptian god, Amon-Ra, who the Greeks connected with Zeus, to acknowledge him as his son (36). Alexander continued on his campaign and won more battles and took more cities such as: Babylon, Sãsa, and the capitol city of Persepholis, which Alexander looted and burned in a drunken binge (39). It took only 3 years for Alexander to conquer most of the Persian empire. He went on to completely take over the remnants of the Persian empire. He crossed the Indus river, invaded Punjab to the Hyphasis. In one battle in what is now India, Alexander made an attempt to take a fortified city. He was displeased and impatient with his troops and grabbed a ladder and was the first to climb the city wall. He was separated from the rest of his army, who frantically tried to catch up with Alexander broke the siege ladders. By the time Alexander was reunited with his troops an arrow pierced his side. His army retreated and Alexander never fully recovered from his wounds. This act demonstrated that Alexander was over confident, and headed into battle extremely exposed, and Alexander my have believed the he himself was immortal. Caesar shows to have this very same mentality when he says “Danger knows full well/ that Caesar is more dangerous than he./We are two lions littered in one day,/ And I the elder and more terrible:/Caesar shall go forth” (II.ii.44-48). He spent a year in the Persian gulf surveying the area and coordinate his territory(Conquerors). He returned to Babylon in spring 323 BC. He then contracted a fever and died. He left his vast empire, “to the strongest” (Alexander). Shortly after Alexander’s death, he ordered all Greek cities to worship him as a god. This displays Caesar’s most notable characteristic, arrogance. “I could be moved, if I were as you…But I am as constant as the northern star,/Of whose true fixed and resting quality/There is no fellow in the firmament.” (III.ii.58-62. Page 540). Alexander was known for his brilliance as a tactician and as one of the greatest generals of all time (Write 45). He adopted Persian manners and married Eastern wives, Roxana, daughter of Oxyartes of Sogdiana, and Barsine, the elder daughter of Darius (Alexander). Alexander was well respected by his officers, troops, and by those whom he conquered. Alexander let the people keep their values, beliefs, traditions, and religion, which made them content and their lives had not changed much. Alexander also founded about 70 cities in his conquest, most of them named Alexandria (Alexander). His conquest spread Greek language and culture. Greek would be the language scholars would speak and write in for many centuries.