Alexander the Great...Hero or Villain

VILLAIN!!!

In conclusion, Alexander the Great was in fact not so great because of the way he did things. He did not respond well to resistance because he was hungry for power and once he set his mind to something, he took it. The worst part about the things that he did is that he was killing inocent people and just throwing away their cultures and religions. He also made people that even agreed with him outcasts if they weren't part of the Greek culture (EX: Egypt). Alexander was just an all around bad guy.

Alexander at Thebes

Alexander The Great...

Hero or villain?

The first incedent with Alexander was when he came to power. Thebes feared that he would be just like his father, a tyrant, so they tried to isolate themselves from his rule. Alexander would not have it and instead of trying to reason with them he sent 30,000 troops to reconquer the city. Together, he and his soldiers slaughtered 6,000 Thebans, sold 20,000 Theban women and children into slavery, and destroyed almost every building in the city.

Background

There were some incedents where people didn't like him but were too afraid to stand up and do anything about it. In 332 BC Alexander arrived in Egypt and while some Egyptians willingly welcomed him with open arms, some people were just afraid of him and they thought tha there was no other choice. Alexander had a meeting with an oracle in Egypt and although it was not confirmed, he said that he was told he was the son of Zeus and encouraged people to honor him as a god. Alexander later created a city near the Nile called Alexandria. Even though it was on Egyptian soil and they helped build it, Egyptians were not welcome there because it was meant to focus solely on Greek culture.

By 327 BC Alexander had conquered all of Greece, Egypt, and the Persian empire. Still hungry for more power, Alexander and his men spent the next three years in India (Hindu Kush Mts. and Plain by Indus River) and fought many battles with resisting Indian leaders. Many of the places they went to fought ruthlessly so they developed a tactic: Kill all males and enslave all women and children. Luckily, before he could finish conquering India, his men refused to go on any longer and they headed back home.

Alexander the Great became king of Macedonia in 336 BC at the age of 20. During his rule, Alexander went on to conquer most of the known world of his day and because of this, some people call him a hero. Do not be fooled by all of the things that he accomplished because once you come to find out the horrible things he did to get what he wanted, your thoughts will soon go from hero to villain.

This page is meant to portray Alexander as a villain because that's exactly what he was. I believe this because, yes he was a great conquerer and yes he did accomplish a lot of things but, when you look at all of the horrible things he did just because he wanted power, it really starts to click in your mind that this man was very brutal and ruthless.

Alexander the Great: Pharaoh of Egypt and "son of Zeus"

Alexander was now done conquering the last of the Greek city-states and now he set out for the Persian empire in 334 BC. He was driven by the Greek revenge of the persian wars and his own desires to rule vast lands. He was very brutal with the Persians and treated people and territories in a cruel and disrespectful manner. In Tyre the people held him off for 8 months and by the time he made it in he was so angry that he sold 30,000 people into slavery. He went on to conquer the entire Persian empire including the capital of Persia, Persopolis. He stole all the city's riches for himself and he got drunk and had the Great palace burned down. By doing all of this he showed a total disregard for traditions, customs, and beliefs of different people.

Alexander at Persopolis