Alexander
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Alexander
Kala-Le Cheers
History 104-07
Portfolio Writing 1
Read Chapter 9 of Decoding Ancient History by Carol G. Thomas and D.P.Wick, and then explain in two double-spaced pages why writing a complete and accurate psychohistory of Alexander the Great is so problematic.
Alexander the Great is known to be one of the most successful military commanders. After his father’s assassination he acquired the throne of Macedon at the age of 18 and wasted no time in conquering from Greece into the Near Eastern World. His conquest only ended in western India when his troops refused to go any further. A year after returning to Babylon he died. Alexander’s conquest took him around 15 years to complete, and because of this Alexander is known as being a military genius. (Thomas 158) But because there are no actually writings from Alexander that are able to help lead to an accurate psychohistory or certainties about what was the driving force in his mind for his actions, writing a psychohistory about Alexander has been difficult. (174)
Alexander was an extremely educated person. Philip, Alexander’s father, paid Aristotle to become Alexander’s professor. Aristotle at the time was seen as on of the most prominent philosophers. Plutarch said that because of Aristotle, Alexander great a thirst for knowledge. (164) But even with this education Alexander has no writings that scholars have been able to use to write a psychohistory. Victor Ehrenberg, a German political and social historian believed that if to better see Alexander’s psyche we must look at the emotional expressions left in his biographies. (166) Ehrenberg’s ideas were on the right track but the lack of valid proof to back his idea leads back to the issue of writing an accurate psychohistory on Alexander.
Another problem that poses difficulties on writing a psychohistory on Alexander is the lack of knowledge about what he was actually thinking. In order to write a psychohistory, you need to know the psyche, which is...
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