Alexander the Great won battles all over Greece, Egypt and the former Persian Empire, but after ten long years of fighting his soldiers were losing their will to continue. Their next conquest was against the Indian King Porus, with his large and daunting army. Alexander needed to give his men a reason to continue fighting. Alexander the Great was rhetorically successful in motivating his men to continue in their campaign by using past victories to gain their confidence, comparisons to other rulers and gods to appeal to their faith, and increasing the strength of the bond and trust between him and his soldiers.
Alexander uses the past victories to show them they have a much more likely chance of winning and prospering, as a source …show more content…
One example is, “Heracles, my ancestor, had gone no further than Tiryns or Argos–or even than the Peloponnese or Thebes…. Even Dionysus, who is a god… faced not a few laborious tasks; yet we have done more” (Alexander). Alexander uses the allusions to Heracles and Dionysus, to say that if these men became gods from the tasks they were forced to face, then all of his men and he would become either gods or heroes in death. This ideal makes them want to push on because he is saying however much they suffer and fight in their life, they will be rewarded in their afterlife. This partly appeals to greed, but more towards faith and the wish to have a luxurious afterlife. This idea convinces them that if they falter in their faith or if they lose heart and turn back, they will not be worshiped as one of the gods and heroes. This directly appeals towards their want to have a pleasurable afterlife, because of their beliefs of the Underworld led by Hades with souls forced into torture or wandering. These men believed that if they continue on following Alexander, they will be allowed into the paradise of Elysium as heroes of the Greek faith. Alexander is saying that if these soldiers continue on following him, they will have faced harder labors than these kings and must be let into Elysium. Alexander is capitalizing on this fear of wandering and this ambition for better treatment by using these past kings who became gods due to their labors as
Alexander uses the past victories to show them they have a much more likely chance of winning and prospering, as a source …show more content…
One example is, “Heracles, my ancestor, had gone no further than Tiryns or Argos–or even than the Peloponnese or Thebes…. Even Dionysus, who is a god… faced not a few laborious tasks; yet we have done more” (Alexander). Alexander uses the allusions to Heracles and Dionysus, to say that if these men became gods from the tasks they were forced to face, then all of his men and he would become either gods or heroes in death. This ideal makes them want to push on because he is saying however much they suffer and fight in their life, they will be rewarded in their afterlife. This partly appeals to greed, but more towards faith and the wish to have a luxurious afterlife. This idea convinces them that if they falter in their faith or if they lose heart and turn back, they will not be worshiped as one of the gods and heroes. This directly appeals towards their want to have a pleasurable afterlife, because of their beliefs of the Underworld led by Hades with souls forced into torture or wandering. These men believed that if they continue on following Alexander, they will be allowed into the paradise of Elysium as heroes of the Greek faith. Alexander is saying that if these soldiers continue on following him, they will have faced harder labors than these kings and must be let into Elysium. Alexander is capitalizing on this fear of wandering and this ambition for better treatment by using these past kings who became gods due to their labors as