How Did Alexander The Great Influence Greek Culture

Dr. Wolfe
Hist 207: Western Civilization I
19 May 2023
Alexander the Great: An Example of Greek politics and Culture in the Ancient and Modern World.
Alexander the Great became king of Macedonia in 332 BCE as a successor to his father, Philip II. Alexander would become known throughout the civilized world as one of the greatest kings and generals of the ancient world. Within twelve years of reining over Greece, he amassed the most extensive empire known at the time through his campaigns against the Persian and Indian Empires. His conquests and later rulership over his empire caused his influence to affect both the ancient and modern world, as well as inadvertently spread the ideas that were held by Grecians throughout civilization. He impacted

As previously mentioned, Alexander conquered most of the known civilizations at the time throughout his campaign. He accomplished this by uniting his troops "under one banner" (Nick). He often led the cavalry personally, fighting alongside his men, which boosted his men's morale (Brooks). Another reason Alexander the Great won consecutively was through a swift and ruthless battle style (Nick). This often included the deployment of flanks and the striking force in the center (Nick). This strategy was crucial against the Persian empire, as while they had nearly 300,000 men enlisted, they never fought as one force, instead broken up into smaller armies that Alexander defeated (Brooks). As Alexander the Great became known as one of the first great Western generals, many future leaders and commanders looked to the Macedonian in his military tactics, as well as Grecian tactics as a whole, which are still studied today (Nick). They also studied how he led his men and what made them unified, despite a language barrier

He worshiped the gods of Olympus and sought out Oracles for the god's favor (Anson). However, this practice shifts during his campaign, as Alexander the Great began to see himself as something beyond a mortal. There is an in-between when he visits Egypt, who receives him as a "divine figure" while he attributes Egyptian gods to the Greek pantheon, such as Amun-Ra to Zeus (Brooks). Later during his campaign, he began to see himself as a god of divine nature (Brooks). Edward Anson, a professor at the University of Arkansas, states, "Alexander wanted to be recognized [by his people] with many of the honors reserved by tradition only to the gods" (Anson 69). Anson shows this through Alexander's interaction with his friend Cleitus. Both Alexander and Cleitus had been intoxicated when Alexander had compared his own achievements with those of the other Greek gods and Heracles. Cleitus was angered by the "belittlement" of the gods, and the two got into an argument, which resulted in Alexander killing Cleitus by stabbing (Anson 69). According to Anson, many of the Macedonians did not wish to "act as if they were in the presence of a divinity" as they saw themselves as "free men" (Anson 71). However, their descendants would do the opposite for an Athenian king named Demetrius (Anson 71). While Alexander did not spread Greek paganism, he affected Greek culture in how the people viewed their rulers as ordained by the