Alexander the Great seems to have been a man who relished in the excesses of life. Not only did he lust after wealth and lands, but also he sought after deification and absolute power. With regards to "With regard to bodily pleasures, [Alexander] enjoyed perfect self-control; where pleasures of the mind were concerned, he was insatiable only for men 's praise", this statement is misleading and most likely Arrian stated such only because of his admiration of Alexander (Arrian 7.28.2). Alexander commonly was drunk when not on campaign, and he continually wanted to expand his empire regardless of what his own men thought, which indicates that Alexander was not solely focused on the praise of men, but rather focused on his own personal greatness,
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Commonly he ignored the opinion of his men. Had Alexander actually cared about his men and their view of him he would have not put them through extreme hardship. For example, he would have listened to them and would have not invaded India, would have returned home to Macedon, and would have not adopted Persian values. With the mandate of Corinth complete Alexander had no reason to continue his campaign into India other than personal accomplishment. Alexander was self-obsessed and only cared about the list of things that he had accomplished. This most likely stems from him always wanting to outdo his father, Philip II, as it was originally Philip’s plan to invade Persia, not Alexander’s. By invading India, Alexander was finally stepping out of his father’s shadow but at the expense of the opinion of his own men as opposition in the army …show more content…
As Alexander did desire the praise of men, he more so aimed for a self-fulfillment, becoming a living god, as well as overshadowing everyone to have come before him. Clearly his goals were not to incite his men to praise him, but rather to fill his own ego. Alexander was an irresponsible ruler, who did very much want men to praise him, but only looked for the praise through his accomplishments, not matter how hard those accomplishments were on his own men. This can lead one to believe that rather than men’s praise, Alexander was insatiable only for performing greater and greater achievements, and desired that his name would become immortal to time by any means
Commonly he ignored the opinion of his men. Had Alexander actually cared about his men and their view of him he would have not put them through extreme hardship. For example, he would have listened to them and would have not invaded India, would have returned home to Macedon, and would have not adopted Persian values. With the mandate of Corinth complete Alexander had no reason to continue his campaign into India other than personal accomplishment. Alexander was self-obsessed and only cared about the list of things that he had accomplished. This most likely stems from him always wanting to outdo his father, Philip II, as it was originally Philip’s plan to invade Persia, not Alexander’s. By invading India, Alexander was finally stepping out of his father’s shadow but at the expense of the opinion of his own men as opposition in the army …show more content…
As Alexander did desire the praise of men, he more so aimed for a self-fulfillment, becoming a living god, as well as overshadowing everyone to have come before him. Clearly his goals were not to incite his men to praise him, but rather to fill his own ego. Alexander was an irresponsible ruler, who did very much want men to praise him, but only looked for the praise through his accomplishments, not matter how hard those accomplishments were on his own men. This can lead one to believe that rather than men’s praise, Alexander was insatiable only for performing greater and greater achievements, and desired that his name would become immortal to time by any means