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Past present: Alexander, the great?

Mubarak Ali
http://dawn.com/news/1039824/past-present-alexander-the-great
Published 2013-09-01 08:21:44
Alexander, the King of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire (356323 BC ) has
fascinated historians, novelists and film makers, who spent their creativity, time and money to project
him as a great hero. Why have historians invariably created a great image of a conqueror and
placed him on a high pedestal?
Sometimes a conqueror becomes a hero because of the nations quest for an idol to worship. On the
other hand, racism can make a hero out of an invader who defeats or crushes inferior races. At
times religion idealises a victor who fought for the glory of his faith.
In the same way perhaps, Alexander qualifies for his historic fame and glory. It depends on the
various interpretations of historians who wish to create an infallible image and make him a great
hero. For the Greeks, he is a national hero. The racist and cosmopolitan who believe in a
multicultural and multi-religious society regard him as racially superior.
Historians writing about the greatness of conquerors attribute to them diverse qualities. The
conqueror would be like a military general, perfect in the art of warfare, innovative in tactic and
victorious in wars with his faultless strategy. They do not tire of praising his bravery, boldness and
courage displayed in the battlefield as a skilful warrior. However, there is no condemnation of killing,
bloodshed and its impact on the life of those families who lost their loved ones, belongings and
homes. Neither is there disapproval of the slaughter of civilians, enslavement of women and
children, burning of cities, and the plundering and looting of war booty. There is no comment on how
the title of great was earned and what price did the common people pay for victories of these
conquerors.
Traditional historians regard Alexander as one of the greatest generals, who built a vast empire after
achieving military success. The question remains as to why he invaded the Persian Empire? He
became a great emperor by conquering and occupying land on which he had no claim. A study of his
life and career shows that he was somewhat deluded about his greatness, and was perhaps an
alcoholic and a megalomaniac. He traced his ancestry to Achilles and Hercules, the Greek heroes,
based on which he claimed divinity.
After his conquest of Egypt, he assumed the title of pharaoh, who was regarded no less than a god
by the Egyptians. He was determined to model his life on that of the glorious Achilles. It is said that
while marching towards Persia to fight a battle, Alexander paid homage to Achilles by visiting his
tomb in Troy and running up to it to lay a wreath. When the Persians were defeated, he occupied the
cities and burned Persepolis, imitating the Greeks burning the city of Troy.
Alexanders alcoholic and megalomaniac nature became evident when he killed his childhood friend
Cleitus in a drunken brawl.
COMMENTS
dada
15 hours ago
Why are Muslim BA (Hon.) and Madarassa graduates do not talk about the local heroes such as
Raja Puru, Prithwiraaj Chauhan, Guru Govind Singh Ji, Banda Bahaddur, Shivaji, the great? Why so
much mumbo-jumbo about Alexander , the Greek. We can understand enslaved ex Pagans of
Europe whose real history was wiped out by barbaric Romans and who were fed only stories of their
oppressors (romans) talking about Alexander, Ceaser etc, but why desi Muslims?
Alexander did not give the roots of most of ino-European words, they are Sanskrit roots. Alexander
did not formalized the grammar of Indo-European languages, it was sage Panini who formalized
Sanskrit grammar. Shake Shalivahan reached beyond Moscow driving out Huns. That is why even
Ukranian and Baltics are searching their roots in India. Aryan Invasion theory has been debunked on
many grounds but enslaved desis are still holding on it, though their western masters have dropped
it in dustbin.
Allexander is just a media myth like Gabbar Singh of Sholey. Good for dialogbazi.

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bobi
20 hours ago
@Badar: you are right the writer seems unclear himself like most of todays pseudo intelectuals, or
this is a pointer to what will follow......

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Tariq
21 hours ago
Let us make a vow to stop referring to any and all people using such terms as, 'the great', 'the
magnificient', 'the conquerer', 'the wise' etc. And while we are at it, let us also stop using the prefixes:
'highness', 'majesty', 'honourable', 'venerable' etc. No matter what the title or status of a person, their
excrement smells as bad or worse than that of the average fellow in the sreet.

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Dahir
September 2, 2013 11:14 pm
Very true.there is nothing great in depopulating entire cities.many cities in Sindh which did not
submit to muhammad bin Qasim were similarly treated;men bearing arms were killed and their
families enslaved including that of king dahir.large scale destruction of places of worship in India was
the reason Islamisation of the subcontinent remained incomplete but many of these people like ghori
and ghazni fill people with pride in Pakistan and Afghanistan.as amitabh bachchan sings in a Hindi
film, wo sikandar Kay tha jisne Julm se jeeta jahan pyar se jeete Dillon ko wo jhukade asman

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Rajeev Nidumolu
September 2, 2013 10:31 am
@BISWAJIT ROY: Alexander sustained his mortal wounds in battle of Multan in Punjab

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Fatima Noor
September 2, 2013 9:53 am
A well-thought of article and very beautifully narrated. It's usually boring to read history but this is a
well articulated description.

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KASHIF
September 2, 2013 9:32 am
There were even greater Muslim heroes....tell the world about them too.

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Bharat
September 2, 2013 7:55 am
@Dhanus Menon: actually if yoyu read the Iranian expat magazines, the persians actually hate the
arabs and dislike the afghans

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Akil Akhtar
September 2, 2013 5:17 am
We need to stop using the word great with his name and instead treat him the same way Europeans
treat all the conquerors of Europe, with disgust.

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Agha Ata
September 2, 2013 5:06 am
One needed to be a Diojones to handle Alexander. :)

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SRK
September 2, 2013 2:26 am
@Dasmir: You are misinformed, his real name is Zea-lander.

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SRK
September 2, 2013 2:23 am
@Dhanus Menon: What about Indonesia - the largest Islamic country at present, and Malaysia,
when were they invaded and by whom?

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Shamima
September 2, 2013 1:04 am
Alexander also appears in the Holy Book as ' Zulqarnain', Lord of the East and West who subjugated
the people Gog and Magog. I never quite understood the significance of this story. Can somebody
enlighten?

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Badar
September 2, 2013 12:17 am
Alexander embarked upon a killing spree due to his demons. Some of them discussed in this article.
However, he was no great. There is no solid conclusion by author. What exactly you wanted to
discuss?

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Raj
September 1, 2013 10:14 pm
I guess the same question can be asked of Mohammed too?

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Tariq K Sami
September 1, 2013 10:09 pm
Alexander's mother his wife and his children were all killed by his Generals soon after his death. Talk
about some Life Insurance Plan for your family. How totally clueless and irresponsible.

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NDChawla
September 1, 2013 8:56 pm
No purpose is served by putting up such an article.

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aslam minhas
September 1, 2013 7:35 pm
Olympia, the mother of Alexander had made him believe that he was a descendant of Gods. She
also kept snakes in her bed (probably) to keep away her polygamous husband Philip away but also
to claim some divinity as snakes were taken as godly. Some say that Alexander's relationship with
his mother was more than what it appeared. As was perhaps Nero to her mother. In the Persian
battle, Alexander got injured. When he saw the blood, he cried: 'It is not Ichor that the gods bleed
with' or words to that effect. He was disappointed to learn about his mortality. Great article that
provokes readers.

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Dhanus Menon
September 1, 2013 5:34 pm
The same way Pakistanis idolize the invaders from Afghanistan and Arab lands. This the same way
how the all Islamic empires spread.

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Dasmir
September 1, 2013 5:12 pm
I thought this was an article about Alexander the conquerer of islamabad!

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showz_Up
September 1, 2013 3:57 pm
I think this has more to do with the European centric view of history by (mostly European) historians.
Gengis Khan conquered Europe but he is regarded as a barbarian and not "Great" because
Europeans were at the receiving end of his brutality.

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AbbasToronto
September 1, 2013 3:41 pm
Alexander died of a disease no different from HIV/AIDS at the young age of 33.
He left no trace and no children, befitting his un-productive same sex unions in the great tradition of
ancient Greeks.

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Tariq
September 1, 2013 3:18 pm
Reflection on the intelligence level of human beings. Petty murderers get death, incarceration or
lynching. Engineers of mass bloodshed of humans get titles of 'Great' and Nobel Peace Prizes. Petty
thieves go to jail; fantastic thieves get to be rulers of countries.

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raw is war
September 1, 2013 2:11 pm
unlike many barbaric leaders, he was not a arsonist. He never killed wantonly anybody. In fact we
can learn a lot of things from his leadership style. They can be applied to modern day management-
unlike Genghis khan and lots of Islamic invaders.

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Logic
September 1, 2013 1:13 pm
Does the same logic hold for Muslim conquers in india

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BISWAJIT ROY
September 1, 2013 12:23 pm
And add to his greatness Alexander was given a mortal blow by the Indian frontier king Purus which
eventually taken toll on his life but thanks to western media Alexander made an Unbeatable
conqueror. Genghis Khan would qualify for the true title of undefeated conqueror in true and
unbiased sense.

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Rajeev Nidumolu
September 1, 2013 12:19 pm
Alexander was a conquerer just like Chengiz Khan . But Mongols under him conquered and ruled far
more territory than Alexander. No one calls Chengiz Khan the great. The reason is that the history
has been written by Europeans with Eurocentric views . The intellectual prejudice originates from
historical interpretation that Greek and Roman civilization were precursors for western dominance

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