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Alexander The Great Research Paper

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Alexander The Great: Not Just a Title Throughout history, many figures have been deemed “great”, especially among the ancient Greeks. What makes a figure worthy of being classified as great depends not only on the actions of the individual and their impact on history, but also the qualities they possessed which allowed them to achieve greatness, not by chance, but by their own power. A prime example of this is Alexander the Great, a man who was worthy of his title. Some historians subscribe to the “Great Man Theory”, which states that history can be explained by the accomplishments and influence of notable individuals, instead of concentrating on events. Specifically, it focuses on the “event-making man” as a great individual, whose individual …show more content…

He built upon his father’s success and advanced the Greek empire beyond anything Philip had imagined, not only completing his father’s goal of conquering the Persian Empire, but expanding it even further. His empire grew to include Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, and even parts of India, totalling an area of 22 million square miles. He was able to do this despite being very young, ruling between the ages of 20 to 33, and achieved all of this in the span of an 11-year campaign. Alexander was undeniably a brilliant military commander, as evidenced by his careful planning, flawless operations, and superiority in both sieges and set battles. Yet, Alexander’s greatest accomplishment was not militaristic. Through his conquest, he spread Greek language and culture as a uniting force across the vast empire, in a process called Hellenization. As Greek citizens migrated to the foreign lands Alexander conquered, Greek knowledge, including philosophy, physics, mathematics, and more, spread across the empire, while knowledge from other …show more content…

Alexander was certainly not the only ancient Greek worthy of being labelled great. Consider Archimedes, one of the greatest mathematicians and physicists in ancient times. His numerous achievements include determining the ratio of circumference to diameter in a circle, which he called pi; creating a method to calculate the volume of a sphere; and discovering that the difference in an object’s weight when submerged in water is equal to the weight of the water displaced, a principle known as the Archimedes’ principle. These concepts are incredibly important to modern fields of mathematics and physics. Archimedes even invented the Archimedes screw, a device used to raise water, which is still used in developing countries today. Like Alexander, Archimedes’ achievements were made possible by the extraordinary abilities he possessed, namely superior intellect and reasoning. They significantly impacted history and continue to impact the modern world, thus earning him the title of greatness. Yet, the accomplishments of Archimedes were entirely different from those of Alexander, making them great in different respects. Archimedes was a great academic, while Alexander was a great leader. This shows that greatness is not limited to a certain type of feat. It is a broad term that can include many individuals, so long as they possessed qualities that allowed them to accomplish something which left a mark on

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