Alexander’s Character
Romans thought that a persons character does not change, so an incident that occurred in childhood would reflect theat person’s character throughout their life. Alexander was arrogant even at a young age we know this as he would not compete with other athletes . Also when he is asked to compete in the Olympics , as he was a good runner, his reply was “ if kings are intending to compete, yes” this shows that he did not have other interests surrounding his position, he was intent on ruling. Alexander was driven and determined asx he was not halpy when his father conquered a place as he says there would be nothing left for him to conquer. He also wanred to learn the way of leaders and conquerors . Alexander did not want riches, but to inherit, wars, contests and ambitions that he could complete. Alexander was eager to achieve great things. When his father was away he had to entertain Persian ambassadors they were impressed by him. He wanted to know about Persia, he wanted to learn from Alexedaer is also portayed as brave as he attempts to tame the horse who no one else could tame, and succeeds. He also shows his intelligence here by turning the horse towards the sun. Another sign of his determination is the Gordian Knot. He is determined not to leave without intieng the knot so he cuts it, this scene also shows that Alexander was conscious of what others said about him and that he was ambitious as it was said whoever undid the knot would rule over Asia. Alexenander also wants to be the best and special as he doesn’t let Aristptotle publish his doctrines to the public. He says what will distinguish me from other men” He is worried about standing out from the other men The fact that Alexander kept the Illiad as a bible shows his dedication to military exploits and great literature. Before he set out on his conquest he went to Troy on a Pilgrimage and when he arrived he thrust his sword into the ground , just like Achilles. He also sleeps with a dagger under his pillow which shows that he may be slightly paranoid. Alexander also shows his persistence on several occasions, one example of this is the siege of Tyre, which lasted 7 months. He was not able to defeat the Tyrians by naval exploits so he decided to build a mole to connect the mainland to the island. Even when his first mole was destroyed he decided to build a bigger and better one. This also shows his arrogance, even though he had to use ships to beat the Tyrians in the end. He was forgiving to those who came over to him, an example was Mithrenes. He was Persian and the ruler of Sardis. Alexander was generous towards him and later rewarded him with AArmenia in 331 BC. Alexander was also harsher to those who resisted. For example Memnon who was in charge of the Persian Navy. Memnon was based at Halicarnassus , Alexander disbanded the navy and sacked Halicarnassus. Alexander must have had to be brave if he wanted to go up against Darius. “ Alexander knew that Darius would not stop fighting through lack of weapons or men since he had such great an army and such great an empire” – Plutarch from Gaugamela. Alexander had Hellenistic views, one his aims on his conquest was to spread the idealism of Hellenism. This shows that
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