Abby Schmidt
1&2. Alexander the Great might not be considered so great by today's standards, but he certainly met the criteria for greatness during his era. As a twenty year old, he accomplished way more than what most rulers twice his age could have done. For example, he became the king of Macedonia in 336 B.C. Alexander subdued Persia, Egypt, and part of India by the age of thirty-two. As a soldier in Alexander's army, I can personally attest to the strength of the entire military that fell under his command. It was our strength that played a big part in how Alexander came to be known as great. Alexander was able to overturn many cities with the help of our strategic army, and we never lost a battle. Although this left cities with thousands of fatalities, many people still looked up to him as a god on earth. All of his men looked up to him in the same way that many citizens of the newborn Hellenistic culture did. They saw him as a great man who conquered and blended together Persian, Egyptian, and Indian influences. Koine, the dialect that arose from the blending of these cultures, was widely spoken by Alexander's new Hellenistic settlers and was spoken by most all of his soldiers, including me. With Koine being the common language, it improved our trade and communication across the East and the versatility throughout the Hellenistic world.
3. Like Alexander the Great, Ulysses S. Grant may not be considered great in modern times, but he was the "Alexander the Great" of his age. Grant and Alexander were both two strategic and determined military generals. Grant even continued on to become President of the United States in 1868. Although many people today disregard these two men and their greatness, they both conquered vast amounts of established land that sculpted continents and cultures of the world into what they are today. While Grant was General-in-Chief, he cut the Confederacy in half after fighting a battle at Vicksburg, took control of the Mississippi Valley, and won countless other battles that molded the backbone of America after the Civil War. Like Grant, Alexander conquered many countries in the East and was able to mold a new culture out of the many that he conquered during his time. Both of these men are great because of their contributions to the military and their strategic attitudes, even if they may not be considered great according to today's standards.
Works Cited:
Beck, B. Rodger
<http://my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=9780547521084>.Watkins, Thayer. N.p.. Web. 25 Sep 2013.
<http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/alexandergreat.htm>.
Cohane, Krista, Gustafson, Stefanie, and Lazaridis, Zinovia ed. N.p.. Web. 25 Sep 2013. <http://faculty.fairfield.edu/rosivach/cl115/people/alexander.htm>.
Freidel, Frank, and Hugh Sidey. "Ulysses S. Grant | The Presidents of the United States of America." The White House. White House Historical Association, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/ulyssessgrant>
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