Alexander The Great Personality

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In contemporary society, individuals consider Alexander the Great to be the greatest warrior in history. He was a Macedonian warrior at the age of 14, a general at the age of 18 and King at the age of 19. As king, he conquered lands and gained the support of many civilizations along the way for about 12 years (Encyclopedia of World Biography 1988). It is extremely apparent that Alexander the Great possessed numerous highly desired qualities, such as intelligence, ambition and determination. However, Alexander the Great also possessed various negative qualities, such as his brutality, greed and manipulative ways. Regardless of the character traits he has developed over time, it is extremely appalling, as well as impressive, that he was able to conquer and achieve so much, at such a young age. It started on September 20th, 356 B.C., when Alexander was born to Philip II of Macedonia and his first wife, Queen Olympias. Alexander had one other sibling, a younger sister, who was born one year after him. Both Alexander and his sister were born in Pella, Macedonia. Alexander was disobedient as young boy, and was often controlled by his domineering mother, who taught him to resent his father, because was never really present in his life growing up, as his military campaigns and other women consumed him. Olympias also instilled other negative thoughts into Alexander’s mind while growing up, such as an intense dislike for women and wine. It is believed that she instilled many of these particular thoughts into her son’s head over the years, simply because they were the complete opposite of what his father’s would ever be. For example, Philip II could be portrayed as a womanizer and deeply indulged in wine as much as he could (Encyclopedia o... ... middle of paper ... ...of by simply arresting and executing them. Alexander also married Stateira, Darius’ daughter to fully establish his rule, even though he was married to Rhoxana. In 323 B.C., Alexander moved back to Babylon, with hopes to explore the seas and conquer North Africa. However, he did not get to achieve these goals as he contracted malaria and died 11 days after, at the age of 32 (Encyclopedia of World Biography 1988). Although, Alexander the Great’s reign emphasized his brutality, his accomplishments over the course of his extremely short life are truly impressive. After taking into consideration how much he had obtained by the age of 32, it is hard not to see why one might call Alexander the Great the greatest warrior in history. The fact that Alexander the Great is still being referred to and talked about in modern day society shows how much of a legend he truly is.

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