Author Bio: The speaker of this piece was Alexander the Great. Alexander was the king of Macedon. He is mostly known for having a strong military and his attack on Persia. The author of this document is PLUTARCH. He was a Greek historian known for his biographies.
Date/Context: The documents time period ranges around 330 BC. During this time Alexander the Great decided to expand into Persian land which created a lot of tension. Also during this time Alexander was trying to gain power and keep his reign over the Greek people. He did this because he had a goal to have the strongest army in the land.
Summary: Alexander treated all Greeks as barbarians and wanted all people to live under his rule. His kingdom became full of banishment's and many things shady things happening within the people with power. And those who didn't follow his rules or his whims he overpowered with the army. He saw all wrong doers as aliens in his society. Alexander tried to make everyone a single people under one government rule.
Key Quotation:
- "He had done so his kingdom would have been filled with warfare, banishment's and secret plots."
- " And to regard their clothing, food, marriages and manners as common to all, blended together by their blood and their children
You have very good placement of date and the context of Alexander's explorations as well as identifying Plutarch as Greek historian. The second quote illustrates very well the melding of cultures as Alexander expanded his empire and had his soldiers marry Persian women. You also make the very good point that Alexander wanted to unite the people under one ruler.
ReplyDeleteHowever, perhaps it would be good to read the primary source over a couple of times. There are a couple of errors in your interpretation of the source. I believe it stems mainly from the misinterpretation of your first quote. It says that "Had he done so [treated Greeks as leaders and barbarians as masters] his kingdom would have been filled with warfare, banishments, and secret plots." So instead of discriminating against the people he invaded, he instead (after having captured it) regarded the foreign lands as his native lands and melded Greek and barbarian cultures and peoples together. This, in fact, prevented there from being chaos and constant wars.
Also, I would make sure to clarify the author. In this case, it is not Alexander the Great, but rather Plutarch telling the story of Alexander the Great's conquests. Perhaps some reference to his own bias would be helpful?
Finally, I would suggest researching the subject a little more closely, which might help you catch anything you're not sure about. For example, further research of Alexander the Great shows that he was a student of Aristotle and a king of Macedon, one of the Greek states. So, instead of "treating all Greeks as barbarians", he in fact was a Greek ruler set on spreading the Greek culture and power.
Good job! The document is attributed to Plutarch (ca. 46-120 CE), a Greek essayist and historian, who has been described by some as the most influential writer to ever live. His biographies served as moral and political guides. In this excerpt, he describes the admirable qualities of Alexander's rule, focusing specifically on his greatness, the cultural intermingling he encouraged, and how his methods encouraged loyalty.
ReplyDeleteAnother quote to consider: "For he did not cross Asia like a robber, nor did he have it in mind to ravage and despoil it for booty and loot...instead he conducted himself as he did out of a desire to subject all the races in the world to one rule and one form of government."