Alexander the great was not given the name out of nothing; in fact he earned the name from his numerous victories over Greece, Egypt, and India. Born in 356BC in Macedonia, he inherited his father throne after he died in war. Just like his father (King Philip) he proved to be a great warrior and led his army to conquer the whole world, at least the world known to the Greeks. His father had built the foundation of a well oiled army which Alexander used to extend the rule of Greek/Macedonia to extent unimaginable to king Philip. Alexander had many qualities attributed to him. Alexander took pride in conquering nations and it is said that he once wept since there was no more land for him to conquer. He was brave, radiant, dynamic and a risk taker. The other character that stood out about Alexander is that he was also a thinker. Although many philosophies disparage his philosophy as condescending and derisive Alexander was a firm believer of stoicism.
One might think that Alexander the great must have been a huge person but as a matter of fact, he was about 4 ft 6in. He conquered lands like Egypt, Persia, India and Greece and his indeed was the greatest emperor the world had ever seen. He was merciful to those who recognized his might and equally ruthless to anyone who dared refute or overthrow him. His people loved him and they followed him through battles that they would otherwise not have approved.
You must not think of God as an authoritarian ruler, but you should consider him as a common father, so that your conduct resembles the uniform behavior of brothers who belong to the same family. For my part, I consider all, whether they be white or black, equal. And I would like you to be not only subject of my common-wealth, but also participants and partners. You should regard the Oath we have taken tonight as a Symbol of Love.” Alexander III (the Great) – Opis (324 BC).
Stoicism school of thought originated from Zeno. His philosophy purported that the world was governed by a single divine plan, which dictated our destiny. He added that in order to achieve happiness in the universe one had the obligation to exercise self discipline and accept life as it came in order to experience calm and freedom in exchange hence happiness.
Stoicism was the philosophy shared among the elites during the Hellenistic period. The stoics held very peculiar believes for instance, they believed that a person who had undergone moral and intellectual perfection would not feel emotions like jealousy, fear, lust, among other feelings considered to arise false judgments. Furthermore they emphasized that a sage (person who has attained moral and intellectual perfection) should be immune to adversely and instead take pride in virtue as they only source of true happiness and calm.
Stoicism proposed that virtue is inborn and human beings had to toil in order to realize its existence. They emphasized virtuous living and human beings evolved with time to be naturally motivated to act in proper ways so that we do not harm ourselves. Stoicism emphasized that people shun things that might be detrimental to the preservation of their natural state in his case virtue. (Lerodiakonou, 72).
Work cited
Baltzly, Dirk. 1997. Ataktos: a dialogue on Stoic ethics. Web. (This site provides information on stoicism in a different fashion. The content is in form of dialogue between an Athenian (Ataktos) and zenus a stoic. In this dialogue one gets insight in to what stoicism is all about. It makes a good read yet in a relaxed manner.)
Baltzly, Dirk. Stoicism. (1996). Web. (This site is rich with information about the philosophy of stoicism. It tells of the ideals held by the stoics, for instance the need to be free from emotions like fear, envy in order to experience true happiness.)
Kreis, Steven. From Polis to Cosmopolis: Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World. (This site is very helpful in shedding light on the founder of stoicism school of thought. (Zeno). It gives the thoughts that zeno had for example he thought that life followed a determined plan (logos)and that man had no control over it other than cultivate self discipline and acceptance to experience happiness.)
History, Philosophy and Arts of the Ancient and Modern World. Alexander The Great. 2007. Web. (This site provides a comprehensive account of the various faces that Alexander had. It provides great insight of the victories of Alexander as a great leader to his army.)
Nick. Introduction to Alexander the Great: Who was Alexander? And why should he deserve to be called “the Great”? Web. (This site is very helpful to someone who wants to gain knowledge on who Alexander was in terms of his descent, character, victories and romances.)
Lerodiakonou, Katerina. Topics in Stoic Philosophy. Oxford University Press. 2002. 72. (This book is expresses the emphasis that the stoics had on virtuous living. As put across in the book, stoics believed that virtue was in born and it developed with time.)