Alexander Who?

Nihada Nikovic age 21, cousin on couch at my house.

1.) Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Answer: “yes I have heard the name before.”

2.)What do you about him? Answer: I don’t remember last tie i learned about him was my sophomore year in high school how should I remember.

Zineta Nikovic age 13, cousin at her house in kitchen.

1.) Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Answer:  “No i never heard of him.”

Tim Lula age 49, uncle at his house.

1.) Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Answer: “Of course I know who Alexander the Great was.”

2.) What do you know about him? No comment was made and pretending not to hear.

After asking multiple people in my family questions if they knew who Alexander the Great was all I learned is that my family doesn’t know anything. When I asked they either said they didn’t who that was or said that they did and had heard of him before. Then when I asked what they knew about him they knew nothing I either got a reply of silence or saying how should I remember. I realized that I myself was not that different from my family before taking this class. Now I have learned about Alexander the Great and will probably be only one in my family that will know who he is if some one asks me. I learned that Alexander the Great was the king of Macedonia who over through the Persian Empire, carried Macedonian arms to India, and laid the foundations for the Hellenistic world of territorial kingdoms.  “Alexander shall not be the high and mighty conqueror of the whole world, for  king is nothing unless he have fit and decent land. Alexander, the first of the Greeks,  thus becoming the first of the Greeks and of the Barbarians.”

 

We don’t all know. By Cameron Cannon

Brennen, 28, friend, Target @ the Junction

Brennen said Alexander the great was a conqueror of the Romans and Greeks. He didn’t discuss in great detail who Alexander was or what he did but rather gave a simple answer that he was Greek and considered himself a god.

Carl, 57, father, our livingroom

Carl said he was a man who managed to conquer a lot of land and enforce cultural appropriation within the short years he ruled. Carl focused on his death, which he claimed was to be rumored. The myth was Alexander was murdered by his own people because they did not believe in appropriating with whom they always considered barbarians.

Jane Doe, unknown Stranger, around mid twenties,  Real estate in Wall St.

“He was a Great guy I guess. It’s been a while since I was in school. Good thing I’m not paid to know this stuff”.

Everyone vaguely knew about Alexander the Great. Once I mentioned the word “Great” everyone seemed to know who I was talking about and that he did something notable. Brennen mentioned Alexander considered himself a God which is true. Alexander was normally depicted with the Horn of Ammon, a deity. In the readings from class: Pseudo-Callistenes (Alexander Romance), the horns of Ammon is mentioned at Alexander’s birth as a demi-god. It is written: “Then he made a bed 1 of wax and put on it the statue he had made of Olympias.He lit a fire and poured there on the broth of the plant,saying over it the vows suited for these doings,until the spirits appeared to Olympias; for he saw,from the signs there, Ammon united with her. And he rose and said, “My lady, you have conceived from me a boy child who shall be your avenger.” This is the conception of Alexander who, in order to validate his greatness was said to be close to the gods which is how he had so many victories during his reign

Alexander the who?

Rio A., boyfriend, Age 19, on the train

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

“I mean I’ve heard of him but I don’t know who he is.”

What do you know about him?

“His name.”

Where did you learn about him?

“From TV.”

Maurycy G., friend, Age 18, via text message

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

“Yes ma’am”

What do you know about him?

“He was a king or prince of Greece and we went to war a lot. At least I think.”

Where did you learn about him?

“In a video game.”

Laura T., best friend, Age 18, at her house

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

“I think so.”

What do you know about him?

“I think he was a Greek king or leader. Something like that.”

Where did you learn about him?

“Global History class in high school.”

 

Most of the answers I got are similar in that they had minimal to no knowledge of Alexander the Great. My friends Laura and Maurycy knew that he was an important figure in the ancient world. The answers varied when I asked them where they had learned this information. They all learned about Alexander on different platforms. What they knew is different to what we learned in class because we learned about Alexander in much more detail and based on what was written about him in the readings. Something I learned about him in class that really stuck was about his horse Bucelphalus. I learned that in the myths, Bucelphalus was a vicious man eating horse. If someone tamed Bucelphalus then that person would be great and so that is why Alexander is so great. “It seems to me the bullheaded horse was commanded by a god to act thus with Alexander.” This comes from the reading Alexander Romance which we spoke of in class.

Luisa Reynoso, Hermes

 

Alexander The Forgotten?

Mohammed, Friend, Age 17, Online messaging

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

” Yeah, isn’t he a fearless warrior that everyone has learned about in the past?”

What do you know about him?

” He was a a leader that ended up conquering a lot of land”

Where did you learn about him?

Mostly in highschool and some in middle school.

Mohi Rubel, Brother, Age 24, In person

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Yeah somewhat heard of that name.

What do you know about him?

It’s vague because it has been a long time since I learned about him but i think he was a conqueror.

Where did you learn about him?

It was a long time ago but the last time I’ve learned about him was back in high school.

Sharmin, Sister, Age 15, iMessage

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Yeah, wasn’t he a Greek warrior or leader?

What do you know about him?

He was a a leader that had many followers and conquered a lot of territory especially around Egypt.

Where did you learn about him?

I learned about him at school.

The biggest similarity I noticed while asking these questions were that almost everyone remembered Alexander the Great as a fearless warrior that was successful in raiding and conquering great amount of lands. The main place everyone has either heard of or learned about Alexander was at school. I learned many new things in class that I never knew about Alexander. One interesting fact I learned about Alexander was about his horse Bucephalus. Bucephalus was known to be feared by many because it was rumored that he was man eating beast. He was once a horse that no one wanted and had the ability to tame. But Alexander decided to claim Bucephalus and tame the horse himself. This was the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship between Bucephalus and Alexander. In the Alexander the Romance it states “Hail Alexander, Conqueror of the World.” This quote perfectly explains how the people of today and the people of the future will continue to remember Alexander, as a great fearless warrior that had no fears.

Naim, Vulcan

 

 

Instant Interviews

Isabella Moore, 18, friend, imessage

Do you who Alexander the Great was?

sure

What do you know about him?

he’s a guy

I’ve heard of him

But idk who he was LMFAO

Where did you hear about him?

Um, don’t really know

 

Einat Beygelman, 18, friend, whatsapp

Do you who Alexander the Great was?

Kinda

What do you know about him?

Didn’t he like conquer the biggest land/ connecting empire something of the time?

And like something with Aristotle

Like Aristotle was his teacher

Where did you learn about him?

Um HS?

prob cocoli

or like ap world

 

Eric Braunstein , 29, High Music Teacher and Production Director, phone call

Do you who Alexander the Great was?

Why can’t you just google this I thought you needed help with something important.

This is for my blog I need your answer so,  do you who Alexander the Great was?

Yes.

What do you know about him?

I’m just gonna say everything from the top of my head. So, Alexander was a great ruler, hence his name being Alexander the Great.  He was the king of Macedonia- it was a large empire during ancient Greece. Alexander also founded the library of Alexandria.

Where did you learn about him?

High School. Probably during Global studies. Also I’m smart as fuck and happen to know all of these things , make sure to incorporate everything I just said in your blog.

 

Alexander was familiar to to everyone  I questioned, more so to some than others. I didn’t expect answers with great detail but I was a bit surprised that Isabella didn’t know anything about Alexander. Einat’s answer was exactly as expected. The both of us were in the same AP Global  History class which explain why she would think of the same key terms as myself and also why she still remembered Alexander years later. Braunstein’s answer did surprise me a bit given his whereabouts. He was driving from work to a gig and called me to answer my questions as quickly as he could. His answer had the most detail in comparison to the other two whilst being off the top of his head. He even mentioned the library of Alexandria which I still didn’t even know . Braunstein’s answer related to what we discussed in class through the quote from Alexander’s Romance “…Alexandria, which is in Egypt, and is the capital of the whole world.” This particular quote emphasizes how great the city of Alexandria was and the largeness of the Empire itself.

 

 

 

 

I Think Everyone Knows the Same Things About Alexander

I asked a 17-year-old homeschooler, a woman in her 70s who went to Catholic schools, and my friend who went to Irish language schools in Ireland until he was 16, and they all knew more or less the same things.

Alexander Who?

 

Willie Gao, my older brother, age 20, at our home. I asked him, “Do you know who Alexander the Great was?”. He replied yes. He knows that Alexander the Great  conquered a lot of lands and was the king of the Ancient Greek. When I asked him where you learn about Alexander the Great, he said in 6th grade. My brother also said that he had to write a paper on Alexander the Great. He was such a big figure in history and the teacher had to make the whole class learn about it. There was also a movie on Alexander the Great.

Jiang Xiao Hong, my mother, age 47, at our home. I asked her if she knew who Alexander the Great was? She said she didn’t know. I showed a picture and she said “is that David”! So she does not know who Alexander the Great .

Ingrid Zhao, my friend, age 18, online. I asked her, “Do you know who Alexander the Great was?” She learned about Alexander the Great in Middle School. She said that Alexander the Great was the king of Greece or Rome. Also she said that he has curly hair.

The similarities between these answer is that most people don’t really know much about Alexander the Great. They probably learned about him but forgot about it.

The younger generation knows more about Alexander the Great than the older generation. However, the younger generation such as my brother and my friend, still does not know much about Alexander. What we learned in class is definitely more in-depth than the answers given to me. We learn that the cities he conquered, were renamed to be Alexandria and he went as far as Indus River. His cities faced prosperity such as Alexandria, shown in this quote, “Every day’s a holiday for people with nothing to do”. Therefore, the people of Alexandria had peace and prosperity because of Alexander the Great.

Alexander WHO?

“Do you know Alexander the Great? If so, when and where did you learn about him?”

Yuyu C., 22, Brother, at home

“Not really. Iv’e only heard his name and that he’s a great historical figure. I think I learned about him in my High school History class years ago.”

Tommy T., 15, Cousin, at home

“Let’s see … He was a conquer from Greece. He went to Egypt. He liked a girl and his horse. He also created one of the largest empires. I learned about him in Social Studies 3 or 4 years ago.”

Simon T.. 16, Cousin, at home

“Yea. He was a prince in Rome. He tried to conquer other countries and small parts of Europe. He fell in love with a woman, I don’t know who. I learned about it in Social Studies 3 years ago.”

 

They all at least know Alexander the Great existed and that he was great in some way. I was surprised that my cousin knew about Alexander’s horse. When I learned about Alexander the Great in Social Studies, I only learned about his conquests and cities named after him, not about details like his horse. Even so, it’s been years since they have learned about him and needed to know about him so it’s not a shock of how little they know. Their answers are not entirely different from class. From what I know, he was not a prince in Rome and there was a horse, Bucephalus. It was said that whoever could tame and ride Bucephalus would be and amazing conqueror.

” ‘Philip, he who mounts the bullheaded horse and rides through Hellas shall rule over the whole world and subdue all men with his spear.’ ” (Alexander Romance)

Joyce Chen, Team Diana

Nobody Knows

Mosume B. My sister, age 19, at our home.

“Yeah, I read about him but forgot. He was a king or god. And something related to Greek. I learned about him from history in high school. ”

Mohima B. My sister, age 17, at our home.

“Not clearly. he was a king or something. I heard about him from history in high school.

Sharmin E. My friend, age 17, in a phone call.

” yeah, I just know his name. I heard it in high school.”

The answers are similar in that all of them were familiar with his name. But they did not know the details. It was also similar in that, they learned about him in high school, so most answers were very vague. They are not very different from what we learned about him in class in that the general ideas about him were correct. He was the king of an Ancient Greek kingdom called Macedon and conquered lands stretching from Greece to Indus Valley. He was also related to God because, after his death, he was worshipped as a God. This was also written in Alexander’s Romance during his conversation with the God in his dream; “and many kings shall forever revere you as one who has become a god according to the customs of this land. and when you die you shall be revered as having become a god. and they shall have a great crowd of people in the public square …many kings shall come to it to make reverence to you as one who has been apotheosized and revered”(Alexander Romance, 93).

Alexander the Great is a very famous and a known figure. Most people know his name and have a general idea of his legacy. But knowledge related to him is very vague because most of them learned about it from High school or were not given detailed information. Everyone does not know about him as he is only a vague figure from history class that most of us did not pay attention to.

Masuma, Team Mercury.

Alexander the Great Conqueror but not the Great Memory

Bobbie my cousin, 24, we talked over Marco Polo she lives in Arizona: “Yes, uh he conquered most land out of anyone he was greek wasn’t he. I think conquered Persia. I know he conquered most land until Roman Empire came along. I didn’t learn about him till a history class in college.”

 

Lisa my mom, 49, we talked over Marco Polo she lives back in Sheridan Wyoming:  “Yes, I know not much some leader back in time.I learned about him in high school”

 

Emma a friend from high school,18, we talked over Snapchat she lives in Laramie Wyoming: “Yes, I know not alot uhhh he was a conqueror and either french or greek and really old. I learned about him in my picture books as a kid.”

 

In general most people have heard of Alexander the Great, as all three of these people did. They also knew that he was a conqueror and he was very powerful. I find it interesting that my cousin Bobbie was the one who knew the most even though she wasn’t fresh out of high school like my friend Emma. She knew about him from a college class not high school. To be honest I really don’t remember talking about Alexander the Great that much, so if students only need to know a name for a test, it is one ear then to the other. It makes sense why my mom doesn’t know as much she is a Science Major so she didn’t have to take a class about him and she was in high school a while ago. All of these guys knowledge relates to what I’ve learned in class because we learned that Alexander was this great leader who had the biggest Empire seen to that date until the Romans. We learned much more in detail about how he went to the Indus River and basically name every town after himself. We also learned that he died in Babylon. The quote that best fits the answers and what we learned is from Alexander’s romance, “Hail Alexander, Conqueror of the World!” This quote is shot and simple, this is the idea that most people often remember as shown above. They remember Alexander as the guy who conquered a lot of land and was great at it. –Emma

Ungrateful Children

The first person that I asked about Alexander the Great was my sister. My sisters name is Chelsea, she is seventeen, and I asked her while we were inside of our house. The second person I asked about Alexander the Great was my best friend from high school. Her name is Nandi, she is eighteen, and I asked her while we were at home. The final person I asked was an old friend, his name is Ian, he is nineteen, and I asked him on the phone what he knew about Alexander the great. Chelsea said the she knew he was powerful, that he owned a horse, that he hurt his father, and that he was able to conquer many territories. I would have thought that what she said about him owning a horse was silly and irrelevant but I think it is important because of the fact that the horse was a “man-eater”. We learned this in class about how the horse was huge and seemingly a monster which is why I believe this is an important fact to know about Alexander the Great. Nandi and Ian knew basically the same thing as my sister because of the fact that we all went to the same global classes in high school. It was a big topic in our global class but it wasn’t as focused on as it is in our classics class in college which is why they did not know as much as I do about him. At least we all share the same knowledge about Alexander hurting his father, they may not have known that he wasn’t his real father, but a quote that supports our mutual is from the Alexander Romance where it states “And Alexander seized him and took and threw him down into a pit. And he suffered severe blows on the neck in falling, and he said, “Alexander, my child, why did you want to do that?” And he replied, “Blame yourself, Astrologer.”
Christie, Team Hermes

What made him so great?

So, I decided to ask my father, my mother and older sister id they knew who Alexander the great was, what they knew about him and where did they learn about him from. I asked Muaffaq A, my dad, aged 53, in our living room what he knew about him and he answered firstly with a question which was what made him so great, than he said all he knows about him was that he was Greek and he learned mostly about him back in his home country Lebanon. I had more luck with Diana A, my mother, aged 42 who learned about him from her high school Fort hamilton. She told me from what she could remember he was a conqueror who made his way all the way to Egypt and parts of what is today the Middle East. Than i asked Zaheya A, my sister, aged 21 the same questions. She told me she knew he was a Greek warrior who controlled parts of Asia, conquered northern Egypt and died at a young age where she learned about him at high school.

What was similar between my mothers, my sisters and my knowledge of Alexander the Great was he did at one point take control Of Egypt. As said in A HISTORY OF THE GREAT WORLD CONQUEROR, ALEXANDER OF MACEDON “Alexander, the first of the Greeks, took Egypt, thus becoming the first of the Greeks and of the Barbarians” Alexander’s control of Egypt seems to be taught to many age groups due to its significance.

Excerpt From: “Alexander Romance.” iBooks.

Old School Alexander

Stephanie, High School truancy officer and former coworker, age mid thirties, text:

Q1: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Stephanie: [I’ve] heard of him but can’t recall what exactly he did

Q2: What do you know about him?

Stephanie: Not much… I remember his name and that is about it

Q3: Where did you learn about him?

Stephanie: Middle School

Jeremy, Father, age 37, text:

Q1: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Jeremy: I do.

Q2: What do you know about him?

He was a leader in Ancient Greece (or Macedonia possibly). I know he conquered a lot of territory.

Q3: Where did you learn about him?

A little in high school, but more from watching the history channel and reading.

Gillian, Coworker and friend, age 18, text:

Q1: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Gillian: Yes

Q2: What do you know about him?

Gillian: He was a Greek king.

Q3: Where did you learn about him?

Gillian: In world history class.

Alexander the Great?

Before interviewing three people about Alexander the Great, I assumed many people would be very informed about him because he was so Great. This made me rethink if he was really Great. My first interviewer was my best friend Janine who is 18. I interviewed her on the phone. Her response was very vague, she said she learned about him in the 9th grade and all she remembers was that he was the king of Greece. I also interviewed my younger sister. Her name is Christa and she is 16 years old and she said that he was the King of Russia before the Enlightenment and he was a totalitarian. I interviewed her in my house. I was completely shocked at her answer because she is in high school currently and she didn’t even remember where he was the king of. Lastly I interviewed my friend Billy and he is 20 years old. I also interviewed him over the telephone. He said that Alexander was the guy who became king at 12 and as he grew older he killed lots and lots of people. He learned all of that in high school. With these answers I collected from my friends and family I was very shocked and amazed that they didn’t really know who he was. Not one of the people I interviewed knew his background of where he came from. This was different to what I learned in class because we learned about him in great detail and learned about his whereabouts. We learned the romance part of his story and that his father was conniving and tricked his mother into sleeping with him. I think its also different because they were recalling what they learned from high school, and I am relearning this on a college level so there are many factors that are left out in younger years. So based off of their answers I questioned was he really great or was he really important. But then I came to realize that I am learning this subject in great detail because of the different levels.

 

 

 

 

“Oh… the character from Yugioh”

I asked a few of my family members and my best friend if they knew who Alexander the Great was and here were their responses:

Rateeba, sister, aged 19, at our home: “Yes I know that he conquered the most lands and I learned about him in school.”

Maryam, best friend, aged 18, on the grass in East Quad at Brooklyn College: “Alexander the Great was a king of someplace and I learned about him in my 10th grade Global History class.”

Wesaam, brother, aged 17, at our home: “Oh I know who that is, the evil character from Yugioh (an anime). Also in real life, he conquered Egypt. I learned about him first from the anime then in history class.”

The most similar things about the answers I received was that they all knew that Alexander the Great was a king and a conqueror of someplace. This is similar to what we learned in class. Alexander was a great conqueror of the Persian Empire, Egypt and some of Asia. Although the major difference was that in class we learned more about what he conquered and his background. My family and friends only knew his profession, a great conqueror.

“King Alexander, the son of Ammon and of Philip the king, also supreme king of Europe and all Asia, Egypt, and Libya, to the Tyrians who are as nothing.”  This quote illustrates how Alexander was viewed as a great and supreme king that conquered many lands. This quote illustrates the knowledge of my friends and families as this is what they knew ALzander the Great mostly as.

 

 

 

Alexander who ?

I decided to ask three of my friends about Alexander the Great, their responses were quite interesting !

The first person I asked was my friend Kassidy, shes one of my friends i met from Highschool, and she turned 18 just a month ago. So I texted her on messenger and this was her response.

1Q: Do you who Alexander the Great was ?

1A: I believe he was a Greece general.

2Q: What do you know about him?

2A: He [ruled] over through Egypt, Persia, and Syria. I think there was more. But I can’t remember .

3Q: Where did you learn about him?

3A: A[t] history class a while back.”

The next person I asked these questions to was also a friend I met in highschool, I texted him  as well through messenger. His name is Kevin, and he’s 18 years ago. I think of all the people I questioned he seemed to be the most knowledgeable on Alexander the Great. Our conversation went a bit like this.

1Q: Do you who Alexander the Great was ?

1A: Yeah ..

2Q: What do you know about him?

2A: He was a great conqueror from Greece, in short he   basically started the era of the greek empire.

3Q: Where did you learn about him?

3A: Youtube and random cartoons.

The last person and in my opinion, the person who gave one of the most relatable responses was my friend Ashley, who’s is 19 yrs old, a friend from church, and I questioned her through messege on messenger.

1Q: Do you know who Alexander the Great was ?

1A: Some guy in England that once ruled ? He was  a king ? “

2Q: What do you know about him ?

2A: Idk. He was Great. And his first name is Alexander.”

Her answer was very comical, but I proceeded to ask her the last question

3Q: Where did you learn about him?

3A: I first remember having heard his name in high school history class. 10th or 11th grade. Never learned. Just studied for the test and passed.

All of the answers I received basically believed that Alexander the Great was some type of ruler, or conqueror. Also most of them agreed that he was from Greece. However I think the last answer I received was really relatable, because it touches on a major issue, in many schools. Most students would agree that the majority of things taught to them, was never learned but memorized to pass a test. I also remembering hearing about Alexander the Great, and I always pictured him, as a muscular, tall man, dressed in warrior attire, with a sword in his hand.

In Line 30 of Alexander’s Romance says , ” And Alexander became learned in every matter and trained himself so well, as I said before, that it became clearly evident chat he was being taught by some divinity. When he was free from tutorial counseling, from time to time he umpired his fellow students. And when he saw a team being defeated, he joined in the battle, and then, in turn, it was victorious. Thus it was clear that the victory was of his doing. “. This quote shows that Alexander possessed the qualities of a strong leader. His training also helped him to be a great military leader and shaped his defiant militant attitude . Alexander was also in a way very determined. In the romance, it also spoke of a man eating horse, that Alexander begged his father to ride. In a way he tamed the violent horse and made him his own.  His ambitious attitude gave him the recognition and fame he has today.

Sharifa, Team Hestia

King of the Waves

I was lucky enough to attend a high school that offered a variety of subjects, especially within the history department. After four years of textbook readings and history lectures, Its appropriate to say I had a strong grip on the story of Alexander the Great. I am pretty much able to spit back the chronology of that time period from his birth to death. After surveying my friends and family and getting to know their understanding of Alexander and his time, I would say I’m quite shocked but intrigued at the same time. Shocked that some of them acknowledged his existence but had not a clue of his importance and legacy. Alexander was one of the most successful military commanders of all time who until today amazes historians with his war tactics and colonialist abilities. My 50 year old father seemed to be the most knowledgeable of his success when I asked him a couple question about Alexander the third. “He was an Ancient Greek conqueror born in Macedonia who ascended the throne after the death of Philip. He was particularly young, maybe early- mid 20’s when he conquered most of the known world, as far as India. He also was the student of Aristotle”. My father last learned about Alexander’s era in high school, specifically in history and anthropology class. The next person I surveyed was my local supermarket clerk in Rockaway. He looked Russian, around 45. He knew of Alexander but couldn’t give much detail of his reign. “He conquered Rome and was into men perfecting themselves”. He also mentioned that the information he knows of Alexander was absorbed through media or novels and articles. Then I asked a friend who’s my age at her home, 6 blocks from mine, the same set of questions. “He conquered Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia. The famous city in Egypt, Alexandria, was founded by him”. What was similar between each of their responses was that they all recognized Alexander as a prominent conqueror of a large empire. They all failed to mention the idea of Hellenism and its influence on the citizens of the conquered empires. This is different then our syllabus because Hellenism/ Panhellenism was a big portion of our class. The dividing and unionizing of the greek polis makes up a large part of what we know of Alexander the Great as a historical figure. He successfully managed to change the culture and history of his empire, an important feature that went unnoticed to those I surveyed.
“for with one word, I shall sink the barbarous hordes of countless nations in the waves of the sea”. This quote is most similar to Alexander as a figure and his actions because he managed to synchronize, with little effort, countless of nations into a rhythm that resembles the waves of the sea.

– Lauren, Team Vesta

Everyone Doesn’t Know

I took some time out of my day to ask three of my friends a couple of questions and it turns out that the common knowledge they know about Alexander the Great, does not touch with what we have learned in class at all.

This answer was provided to me by my friend Ryan, age 18, while we were on the phone, laughing he responded, “ Oh, I totally forgot about that guy. All I know is that he was a ruler of the Roman empire during the Hellenistic age. Am I right? I almost forgot I learned about him in high school.” I followed suit by calling my friend Moridiyat, who is 18 years of age. She answered with, “ Yes I know him, he was a conqueror who was known worldwide for spreading Hellenistic traditions. I learned about him in 9th grade, but I didn’t really pay attention in class.” Lastly, I called my friend Jonas, who is 19 years of age. Jonas did not remember much either, but he told me, “… I learned about him in my 9th grade global class. All I remember is that he was a strong ruler.”

It seems like everyone remembered Alexander the Great as a man of power for the most part. This is similar to what we learned in class, but also different. Nobody spoke about the fact that Alexander had horns or the fact that he was seen as a pharaoh by the Egyptians. I was pretty shocked myself when I heard that In the lecture as well. This is probably why The reading, Idyll 15 and 17 took place in “Alexandria.”That was not your typical global history Alexander. #Alexander #CLAS5 #EveryoneKnows

The homosexual had 3 wives?

I chose to complete question number two for this blog post. I asked three people to answer the following questions:

1. Do you know about Alexander the Great?
2. What do you know about him?
3. Where did you learn about him?

Some of the answers I received were quite interesting; a lot of similarities, but differences also. I started this project thinking I would receive many vague answers; however, I was proven wrong by  some of the answers.

Olga, best friend, aged 18, text:

“So I know that Alexander the Great was an Ancient Greek leader. A conqueror who defeated the Persians but had a short period of success as he died because of some disease. I know he had a few wives but was a actually a homosexual and had a lover Hephaestion. I know that because I like history in general and Alexander is one of the mysterious and fascinating people that ever lived. There was also a movie “Alexander” that I watched about him.”

Aziza, cousin, aged 19, text:

“I did learn about Alexander before, but don’t remember quite much. I would know him as a great soldier and leader. And I learned about him in Uzbekistan”

Sabrina, sister, aged 15, home:

“I know him to be one of the strongest and influential military ruler of Hellenistic culture and such, who created a vast empire that stretched across most of the western world. I learned this in global history at school.”

Through the many answers I received, it came to my attention that everyone knew Alexander the Great as a conqueror and a powerful warrior. It was known to all of them that he built a vast empire at an early age and in doing so conquered a great deal of land throughout most of Europe and Asia. Going as far East as the Persian empire once had done before he defeated the Persian king and took over the empire, as we have learned of in class. A few of their answers also included his view of Hellenistic culture which was held very influential during the time of his reign. I would have assumed that people had learned about him in school as history is mostly taught, just as us doing so in class; however, it was pleasant surprise to learn that my cousin had studied him back in our country: Uzbekistan. It was one of the many countries Alexander had once taken over during his conquest throughout Asia. Furthermore, my best friend, a history fanatic, stated that Alexander the Great was known to be a homosexual even if he had many wives as we learned in class. In our discussion, we found out that Alexander took on wives for himself and his soldiers to not only impliment his beliefs but to also take control over large cities. Although, never would I have guessed that he was a homosexual. As Olga stated, he had kept his sexuality a secret as well as his one true lover whom was a male named Hephaestion This was one of the most interesting facts I have learned from others answers of Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great, not so Great after all?

So I have interviewed three people on whether or not they know who Alexander the Great was, and if they did, to tell me what they knew about him.

I started off with my brother, Francisco, age 15, with the interview occurring in our room. It went off like this:

Q: Do you know who Alexander the great was?

A: N-Yes, I think.

Q: Where did you learn about him

A: It was in History, I think I learned about him last year? Maybe?

Q: Did you know what he did?

A: No, not really. Wait, didn’t he take part in creating Hellenistic culture? I think he did.

I then interviewed one of my friends, Ivan, age 18, where I asked him questions over Discord.

Q: Do you know who Alexander the great was?

A: Wut

Q: *repeats last question*

A: No

Q: So you don’t know what he did?

A: No

Q: So you didn’t pay attention in history

A: No

Q: Can you say something other than no?

A: No

Hmm. It seems not many people remember Alexander the Great. Maybe he isn’t “Great” at being memorable. I then went to my other friend, Sam, age 18, on Discord, and asked him questions about Alexander.

Me: Do you know who Alexander the Great is?

Ivan: Don’t Google it, Sam.

Sam: Too late.

Me: Ok, do you remember his accomplishments?

Sam: According to the results, he conquered the Middle East and reached India and just died afterwards.

Me: So you’ve never heard of him?

Sam: Nope, sorry. Any memories of learning about him are gone. History wasn’t my favorite subject.

It’s pretty clear that not many people, especially the youth of today, have either a small or no idea who Alexander the Great was or what he accomplished during his lifetime. Back then, he was a leader who left a legacy and should be remembered. Now, he’s some meaningless topic that is taught in History classes, which the students will brush off as some distant footnote of history. It’s strange, how a person who impacted a region so much wouldn’t be remembered today.

The Well known Alexander

Alexander the Great is a well known historical figure, who we start learning about at a young age.

Faoziah S., Younger sister, Age 12, At my house 

Question: Do you know who Alexander the Great is?

Answer: Yes

Question: What do you know about him?

Answer: He was a co-ruler of Egypt and has statue of himself with very curly hair. He also was someone who loved war.

Question: Where did you learn about him?

Answer: In social studies class.

Kimberly M., Friend, Age 17, At my house 

Question: Do you know who Alexander the Great is?

Answer: Yes

Question: What do you know about him?

Answer: Alexander the Great was an ancient Greek king. He ruled the Persian kingdom and conquered lands until India.

Question: Where did you learn about him?

Answer: In global history class

Joshua C., Friend, Age 17, At my house

Question: Do you know who Alexander the Great is?

Answer: Yes

Question: What do you know about him?

Answer: Alexander the Great was the king of an Ancient Greek kingdom. He is known as the greatest military genius the ancient world has ever known.

Question: Where did you learn about him? 

Answer: In global history class

Everyone I surveyed face me the answer that Alexander the Great was an Ancient Greek King. While this is true, we learned in class that he spent more of his time taking over kingdoms to the East and south, such as Persia and Egypt. Most even mentioned this fact by saying he loved to conquer other kingdoms. During this time, he made sure to spread the Christian religion. In Alexander Romance, the king of Egypt at the time was pushed out of his kingdom because of Alexander the Great. When the people asked the oracle what had happened to their king, the oracle replied:

“That king of yours who fled will come again into Egypt, not having aged but rejuvenated. He will subdue your enemies the Persians.”

All in all, most people know about the greatness of Alexander and all his achievements. However, they do not know the fall of Alexander and the break up of his empire once he fell. It was divided up into three kingdoms and given to those who were Alexander’s best generals. It shows that even though his death put a dent in his plans to take over, what he knew, as the world. He accomplished a lot for the time he had on the Earth.

-Fariah S., Team Hermes

Alexander the Who?

Brian, aged 19, my boyfriend, over face-time, said that “Alexander the Great was a very strategic and intelligent man. I’m not sure if he was a general. I don’t know what his position was in the military but he had a very high position.” He says that he read about him a long time ago and vaguely remembers what he accomplished. Reyna, aged 19, my cousin, at her home asked, “Wasn’t he a Roman dictator? I think he was the King of Greece.” She said that she learned about him in middle school. Gwen, aged 18, my boyfriend’s sister, in the car said, “He conquered many lands.”

(Image taken from www.awesomestories.com)

A similarity I found between all three responses is they acknowledged the fact that he lived up to his name. They also mentioned at least one accomplishment of his. This is similar to what I’ve learned in class because we discussed his many accomplishments, one of them being that had gone his way out to conquer Persia and Egypt, and that his empire stretched from the Mediterranean to the Indus Valley, as illustrated above. I learned that without him, Rome and Christianity would not exist because it was he who advanced the political, social and economic links between the western world and the eastern world. He brought these cultures together which enabled a truly cultivated civilization to develop. Alexander’s reign established a new era known as the Hellenistic Age, because of the influence that Greek culture had on other people, and without his ambition, this culture would have remained enclosed to Greece. “I shall start from the beginning to tell of the attentions he received. For when he was weaned and developed in size and shape, he did not resemble in the least Philip and Olympias, and not even his father; but rather, he developed features of a singular type. For he had the hair of a lion and one eye was blue; the right one was heavy lidded and black and the left one was blue; and his teeth were as sharp as fangs, and he looked upon a defensive attack the same as a lion would. And his personality very clearly indicated what the boy would be like. And in time he grew up and tried his wings at learning and ruling.” (A History of the Great World Conqueror, Alexander of Macedon, 24). 

Was Alexander The Great, Great?

For this assignment, I’ve interviewed my sister and two of my close friends. My sister who is 20 years old answered with a “who?” and told me to google it. One of my friends, Rick who is 18 years old answered second. His response was “ Alexander was a great old guy..” My other friend, Danny who is also 18 years old, answered with “ Alexander the great was the great Alexander.” These three were interviewed in my house.  

Based on all the responses that I received, the similarities of the responses was that no one really know who Alexander the great was. This was not surprising because it been a long time since they last heard of Alexander the Great. It was someone we learned about in the 6th grade. It wasn’t until recently, they heard about him when I asked them for this assignment. This was completely different from what I learned in class and why he was called what he is today. Alexander the Great was a Macedonian King who conquered many places; where he founded Alexandria and was considered a god. “Not one of the Greek kings has entered Egypt except Alexander; and he did this not for making war but in order to ask an oracle of the gods as to where he should build a city to immortalize his name.” [144].    

Everybody Knows?

I interviewed three people I know about what They knew about Alexander the Great to see exactly what everybody knows?

*Emirhan G., my brother, aged 29, at our home*

Q: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

A: Greek king and general who invaded the Persian empire, became pharoh of eygpt and died soon after stopping his campaign of the Perisan territories in the middle east.

Q: What do you know about him?

A: Alexander inherited his kingdom in greece from his father. He was very young for a conquerer, he kept naming cities he took after himself, he died quite young from illness maybe malaria?

Q: Where did you learn about him?

A: I think he was mentioned in my history class in high school but we never really covered much about him. I read more about him on my own and I think I saw a movie about him.

*David C., friend, aged 18, on the train*

Q: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

A: He was a Greek Leader who invaded the Persia and conqured all of their lands including Eygpt who were then ruled by them

Q: What do you know about him?

A: He was very young when he became king. He named a bunch of places after himself. He was still young when he died.

Q: Where did you learn about him?

A: I think we learned about him in school I really dont remember where.

*Begum G., Sister, aged 33, facetime*

Q: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

A: He was King to the kingdom of Macedon in Greece. After succeding his father he took his armies and began a military campaign againest the Persian empire. After finishing his conquest he returned to Babylon and died soon thereafter.

Q: What do you know about him?

He was a student of Aristotle when he was a kid and soon inherited his father Philips kingdom after his father was assassinated. He was seen as a liberator by the Eygptians and crowned as pharaoh for freeing them from the Persians.

Q: Where did you learn about him?

I learned about him in high school and college but also read about him on my own time.

Regardless of age or range of education it seems that information about Alexander the great is pretty common knowledge. Even though he isn’t exactly a household name and he is not taught equally compared to other people in schools he is still a well known historical leader. Looking at the answers I received people know his more impactful achievements of Alexander. They know that he was very young when he became king and that he was the successful military leader of his time. They know that he spent most of his time fighting and conquering Persians and named many of the places he conquered after himself “Alexandria shall flourish and overflow with bounty; and it shall help and deliver from evil the cities which existed before it”(Alexander Romance,92). They all somewhat knew that he had gone to Egypt and gained the support of the Egyptians so much so that they named him their Pharaoh and offered to join him in his campaign against the Persians their former oppressors “He went on to Egypt which was under the rule of the Persians. And the Egyptians begged to join his campaign against the Persians”(Alexander’s Romance, 144). They also all acknowledged the fact that he was very young when he became king and was still so when he conquered all of Persia and was still considered young when he died. However none were exactly clear on how he died one said illness while the others said combat and natural causes, and only one knew that he died in Babylon.

#Alexander #CLAS5 #EveryoneKnows

Alexander is a good leader but not a good king

I asked three people what do the know about Alexander the Great while we were having a retreat camp. We were in Spruce Lake, PA.

Hazel Z. (My friend, age 22, at our room) : I heard about him, He is a Persian king, did a lot of things, built an empire; He also fought a lot, took over many territories, such as Israel. And, he is a good leader.

Ines L.(My pastor’s wife, age 56, at the cafeteria) : He conquered the Roman Empire, when he died, he arranged a special design, two hold for his hands to pole out, he is trying to tell the world , even he’s successful, but when the moment comes, he can’t take anything with him. I knew about him from movie, he is a passionate guy, great leader, he is not a good king, good king should take care about people, but not for his own ambition.

Roger C.(My counselor, age 50, at the lobby) : He conquered the world, but I think is not a good thing, it’s mean. He fought a lot, he’s aggressive, ambitious, killed a lot of people.  He is also a genius, make people listen to him. He is strong, therefore, people listened to him. During war time.

The answers I received are similar, when I say Alexander the Great, what came to their mind is He is a conqueror, a good fighter, a good leader. And it’s also what I learned in class. As I viewed the map of Alexander’s route, we can see the places he’d been and the territories he had conquered.  As we see the coin with Alexander riding a horse, symbolized during the war time, he is a successful leader and a good fighter. Also a god leader, he lead his people to achieve victory. But what I never thought about is, good king and good leader are different. Yes, he is a good leader, that is why he could have a strong army to fight for him; but in other hand, he is not a good king. As my pastor’s wife and my counselor said, all the things he did are for himself, his ambition, not for his people. “As a good king should, he is most concerned to keep safe his ancestral lands, and he acquires more himself. Not that gold is piled up uselessly in his rich palace like the stores of worker ants: much of it is in the glorious houses of the gods, since he constantly makes thank-offerings and gives other gifts, and much of it has been granted to mighty kings,much to cities, and much to his brave companions.” (105)

 

Interview with the Fam

For the following interview, Donovan, my father age 42, Celina, my cousin age 17, and Diana, my mother age 48 will be participating. This interview took place at home.

Me: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Donovan: Yes, I think he was alive during the Roman Empire time.

Celina: Yes, he was a leader of the Corinthian League.

Diana: I don’t know

Me:What do you know about him?

Donovan: I think he used to fight battle, a gladiator probably

Celina: He was a king that died from Malaria and he was the most powerful military leader.

Diana: I think he was a lord or governor, or hold some type of position. Maybe in the Holy Crusade.

Me:Where did you learn about him?

Donovan: From watching tv

Celina: At school, but he wasn’t that interesting so I don’t remember much.

Diana: I was reading a book that mentioned him.

 

Different Ages, Same Answers

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
What do you know about him?
Where did you learn about him?

These are the three questions I asked three separate people in separate age groups. An 18, 25, and 50 year old. Although there are three completely different ages the answers were shockingly similar.

Matthew, Cousin, 25, his house

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
Alexander the Great was a the leader of Ancient Greece if I’m not mistaken.

What do you know about him?
He was a good conqueror and I think relatively liked by his people.

Where did you learn about him?
Probably in elementary school or high school at some point.

Father, 50, my house.
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
Yea I know who he is
What do you know about him?
He was a conqueror, I don’t know where though, and named a lot of land after him.
Where did you learn about him?
High school

Vincent, 18, over the phone.
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?  Yea I do
What do you know about him?
I know that he was a great military leader after taking over the kingdom after his father died. He conquered many lands, including Persia, and expanded his kingdom.
Where did you learn about him?
I learned about him in high school

This was very interesting to me. I can’t believe that people had actual answers without having to look Alexander the Great up online. Especially the older two people, because you usually forget a lot of stuff that you learn in school unless you are a history teacher.
The main thing that the three people knew was that he was a conqueror, some weren’t sure what land he took over, but they knew he was a very strong leader when taking over land.
His name still carries such power, and he is still well known for all the land he took. I was really surprised that everyone that I asked still knew so much about him, he is a very well known person in history.
In Idyll 17, Alexander was mentioned as a strong leader and conqueror when talking about the diadem, “The diadem, a ribbon or band worn high on the head, was a symbol of kingship adopted by Alexander from Dionysus, or, perhaps, from the Persians whom he conquered.” He had a such power back then and was spoken highly of throughout history, maybe that is why many people still know what he did.

Alexander the slightly remembered

Mary Del Vecchio,my mother,age 46,home

Q:Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

A:No I do not know who that is.

Q:Do you have any idea on who he might be. Does the name sound familiar to you?

A:No but the name does sound familiar to me

Rebecca Del Vecchio,my sister,age 19,home

Q:Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

A:Yes I know who that is.

Q: Okay.What do you know about him?

A: He was a ruler in Ancient Greece that conquered many nations.

Q:Where did you learn about him?

A:I learned about him during my sophomore year of high school.

Andrew Toro,my friend,age 18,58 Tremont avenue

Q: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

A:Yeah I know who that is.

Q:What do you know about him?

A:He was the guy in Greece that would conquer a nation and name it after himself.

Q:Where did you learn about him?

A:I learned about him in the sixth grade.

 

I interviewed three people and asked them about Alexander the Great. Two of the three people I interviewed knew who Alexander the Great was and one person did not. When I asked the two people who said yes what they knew about Alexander the Great, they both went on to tell me that he was a ruler in Greece who conquered many nations. Both of these people had similar answers because majority of people have the same idea of him. All three people I interviewed had at least heard of his name from somewhere. Most people believe that Alexander the Great ruled Greece and ruled a lot of nations. This is the common idea that most people share because this is all they are taught. Most people have a basic idea of who he is but do not truly know who Alexander the Great is.

The interviews were different from what we learned in class. Those who were interviewed viewed Alexander the Great as a mortal but in Alexandria, he was viewed as a God. “At his side ,regarding him with favor, sits Alexander, destroyer of the Persians, a god, wearing his color full diadem . Facing them is set the chair of Heracles, slayer of the Centaurs , made from hard adamant ; there he feasts in company with the other gods of heaven, greatly rejoicing in his children’s children, because the son of Cronus has removed old age from their limbs”,( Theocritus, Idyll 17). Alexander the Great was more than just a human, he was far greater than  a human. Alexander the Great was so amazing and so successful, that the Idyll referred to him as an immortal.

 

Hopkinson, Neil. “Theocritus Idylls 15 and 17.” Dropbox.com, http://www.dropbox.com/s/gsr0dafhj386vor/Theocritus%20Idylls.pdf?dl=0.

Have You Heard

I decided to take a trip to my local mall, Green Acres Mall, and randomly ask three people three trivia questions on Alexander the great. The questions were “Do you know who Alexander the Great was?  What do you know about him,?” and “Where did you learn about him?” The first person I came across that was able to answer my questions was a 34 year old woman named Marcia from Freeport, Long Island. To the first question she told me that the name was familiar and that she needed a memory jog to be sure. To the second question, she remembered that he was a king and a great historical ruler. To the last question, of course, she learned about him from back when she went to school. The second person who I interviewed was a 28 year old man named Trevor. To the first question he told me about how knew all about Alexander the Great, and intact, Alexander was his favorite topic of study back when he went to school. He expressed great interest in me and my questions after I told him that Alexander was the topic of questions. To the second question he gave me facts from Alexander being tutored my Aristotle, to the date of his own death. He then told me about classes he took at Queens College that covered Alexander the Great, but his infatuation with him began when it was first covered in high school. The third person I interviewed was an 18 year old woman named Sara, who also knew all about Alexander. To the first question she basically answered the other three questions without me even having to ask. She just went on for about 5 minutes about him, and even thought me a few things I didn’t know about him. She told me that he began his reign by eliminating his potential rivals to the throne, including his cousin. The answers I revived form these people did relate to some of the things we went over in class and from the readings. Trevor talked to me about the event of Ammon and Olympias, in which Ammon mated with her. Nectanebos told Olympias “ .. you are destines to mate with an earthly god and to conceive from him.” This was right before all the prophets came true and Ammon mated with her.

Everyone ‘Knows’?

Marshall, coworker, 45, and Atlas Steakhouse (BEST IN BROOKLYN, COME VISIT)

Do you know who the Alexander the Great was? Alexander the Great I believe was a Greek leader… I don’t know exactly what period of time he was from maybe like 1100-1200, don’t know if I’m right about that but I think he was a Greek leader.

What do you know about him? I don’t know that much about him as you can tell because I’m not really sure about my dates but I know he was like a crusader … he was somebody that made a difference in his time period. I know he is a leader of some substantial … I know he has definitely made his mark on the world at some point, but I believe he was a Greek leader, I want to say from like between 1000-1200… I think – I could be wrong – I’m probably totally wrong.

Where did you learn about him? It’s more through hearing other people talking about him … I don’t think I was ever given lesson on him.

Julia, a friend, 18, Caesars Bay parking lot

Do you know who the Alexander the Great was? Uhm I know who … I have a general idea of who he is.

What do you know about him? I know that he was … uhm … a king? Maybe in Greece, he conquered Persia…Egypt, and Mesopotamia which is why he was so great, he is referred to Alexander the Great for a reason – he was able to conquer a lot of land.

Where did you learn about him? I learned about him in AP World History.

Nadeen, a friend, 18, Rocca Café

Do you know who the Alexander the Great was? Yes I do know of him …a bit

What do you know about him? I know that he is an ancient Greek King

Where did you learn about him? I learned about him in 7^th grade

All of the answers that I received are fairly similar; they all mention Alexander The Great being a conqueror. Although some information that Mr. Marshall provided me with was incorrect, such as the dates, he does have a general idea of Alexander and his legacy as a leader. However, he is absolutely correct on Alexander The Great leaving a mark in the world, even after his death. Alexander introduced the Persian idea of Absolute Monarchy to the Greco-Roman world and also influenced culture and language. To solidify his mark on the world, he built number of cities named “Alexandria”. One specifically instructed by the Gods, that the city was only for Alexander where other Kings would gift and admire him as the one who has become a god. “Not one of the Greek kings has entered Egypt except Alexander; and he did this not for making war but in order to ask an oracle of the gods as to where he should build a city to immortalize his name.” [144].

Julia and Nadeen had a clear understanding of Alexander The Great, a king and a god. In the reading Sarapis says, “and when you die, you shall be revered as having become a god” [93] clarifying his god-like status amongst the people. We can also assume his relationship with the gods when he is given birth by Olympias. For example, “And when the boy fell to earth, there was an earthquake and thundering; and frequent lightning flashes appeared on the earth, while nearly the whole world trembled.” [27]. King Philip refers to him “seed from the gods” and takes on the responsibility to being the father of Alexander.

-Amirjon, Team Juno

Honorable Alexander

Emma, 17, Best friend, Her house

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

“I’ve heard of him before.”

What do you know about him?

“He’s from Ancient Greece. When I visited the Louvre in Paris I saw a statue of him.”

Where did you learn about him?

“From my global class sophomore year of high school.”

 

Demir, 18, Close friend, Facebook Messenger

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

“Yes, I do”

What do you know about him?

“I know he’s Greek and he might have conquered a few places”

Where did you learn about him?

“From a video game”

 

Angelina, 53, Aunt, At home

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

“Yes”

What do you know about him?

“He conquered a lot of countries in a short period of time. I believe he died in his 30s.”

Where did you learn about him?

“From Church”

 

Alexander the Great was a powerful and strategic leader who lived from 356-323 B.C. Based on the answers I received, I noticed that Alexander the Great was well-known but the people who I asked weren’t aware of his many accomplishments. They had provided me with a very brief amount of information. For instance, the answers were similar because they revolved around him being Greek and being an important figure in history. This information relates to what we learned in class because Alexander was in fact Greek and was able to take control of different places. In this quote from the reading Alexander Romance, it states “if you give birth now, 0 Queen, the one you bear is a world conqueror.” Nectanebos said this to Alexandria indicating that her child, Alexander, is going to be dominant in the future. Alexander then lives up to this by building one of the largest Western empires while being a relatively young. He ultimately becomes king of Macedon and conquers many countries, including Persia, Egypt, and Greece. One strategy he used to seize control of Persia was by encouraging and enforcing mass intermarriage between his soldiers and Persian women. This legitimized his ruling and further spread Greek culture, even after his death. His reign came to an end when he died at the young age of 32 in Babylon due to illness. A sarcophagus dedicated to Alexander is located in Istanbul.  Although his empire collapsed quickly, his legacy is still alive till this day.

-Estrella Roberts, Team Vulcan

Wasn’t He Short?

Christina, 18, close friend from California, phone call

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yeah.

What do you know about him? Is he Roman? And he conquered like hella *explicit*. Wasn’t he short? And got exiled twice right… or something. He conquered Egypt probably.

Where did you learn about him? I’m not sure, from reading probably. Maybe in 6th grade.

Katherine, 33, my mother, phone call

Do you know who Alexander the great was? He was a king of some sort yes? Greece, I think.

Yeah, he was a king from Macedon. What else do you know about him? Nothing.

Well, where did you learn that he was a king? It’s been a while. We probably learned about him at some point in school.

Andrew, 20, roommate, in our apartment

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yeah he was a bisexual Greek warrior, conqueror, and student of philosophy.

What else do you know about him? I think he was blonde. I’m pretty sure he was undefeated in battle and had the world’s largest empire up to that point. I think he controlled most of the Middle East and Egypt too. That’s why that city is called Alexandria right?

Where did you learn about him? I found out in history, I don’t remember which year though, sorry.

While no one really remembered all that much about Alexander, all three people I interviewed had at least some knowledge of who Alexander the Great was. At the very least his name rang a bell. Something that didn’t surprise me was that no one could pin down where or when they learned about Alexander. Despite this, his reputation as a conqueror of the ancient world has traveled a long way, even if everything we think we know about him isn’t true. As we learned in class Alexander wasn’t Roman (looking at your Christina), but he was undefeated in battle, ruler of Egypt (good job Andrew), King of Macedon, and he did indeed “conquer hella *explicit*”.

Most of the information that I got in my interviews was true or close to true. They knew he was a king/conqueror and two of them knew he controlled Egypt. Something important that they all missed however was Alexander’s assertion of divine lineage. This was an important part of his public image; he was often depicted with the horns of Baal Ammon. It seems that his divine lineage was more than a PR stunt: when Alexander and his army reached Egypt, “there were, waiting for Alexander outside every city, prophets who brought forward their particular gods; and they offered sacrifices, naming him a new world conquering Sesonchousis. For, when he reached Memphis, they sat him on the throne of Hephestos and they dressed him in a robe, like an Egyptian king.” The legend of Alexander the Great was persent and functional even during his own life, and it had real results. Alexander’s arrival fulfilled the Egyptians’ prophecy and he was welcomed into their lands. To my knowledge Alexander’s claim to the divine is not discussed heavily if at all in traditional history classes. This is a major omission. It removes one of the largest pillars of his public image and justification for his military expeditions.

Do you know who Alexander the Great is?

1.Anatoliy A., brother, 30 years old, in the car

Q: Do you know who Alexander the great was? A: Yes

Q: What do you know about him? A: He was king of Macedonia. He was a great conqueror, he took over many lands. I think he started spread of hellenism. He had something to do with gods and goddesses. He died at a young age, on the way back form conquering land.

Q: Where did you learn about him? A: On the history channel. They show tons of images and artifacts from his time.

We went through google looking for images he saw and one:

He told me it was Alexander the Greats tomb. They showed it towards the end of the show.

2. Marina A., mom, 48 years old, at home

Q: Do you know who Alexander the great was? A: Yes

Q: What do you know about him? A: He was a greek king and conquerer. He conquered half the world. He traveled and conquered from Greece till Israel. He was advised by his mother, she was very dear to him. His partner or second in command was Marcus.

Q: Where did you learn about him? A: In school. From reading books.

3. Neriya C., friend, 20 years old, text message

Q: Do you know who Alexander the great was? A: Yes

Q: What do you know about him? A: He was a greek king. Very powerful. I think he played a big part in the Torah.

Q: Where did you learn about him? A: I learnt about him when I was younger in school.

Most of the things my mom and friends knew about Alexander the Great are similar. They all know that Alexander the Great was an important person, he was a king who conquered many lands. He was smart and tactical. Most of them knew who he was in a general sense, but didn’t know how he came about. A lot of the things they once knew about him they didn’t remember anymore. The story is pretty interesting, I wish they could read it at least once in their lifetime just to know who Alexander the Great truly was. I think its important to know about him. You learn more about history, conquerers and hellenism. Plus, if anyone ever decides to ask you questions about him like my classmates and I were told to do they can answer with a lot more details and information.

The answers I received about Alexander the Great were somewhat similar to what we learned in class. Everyone I asked about Alexander the Great said he was a king. Indeed he was, he was known as the king who had horns. They also all knew that he was a conqueror and very strong. In class we learnt that Phillip, his father, was given an oracle, who ever mounts the beast of a horse he owns in his saddles will be ruler over the world. “And he, recalling and remembering what had happened concerning this, went forth to meet his son. And he greeted him, saying, “Hail, Alexander, conqueror of the world.” And Philip remained cheerful and happy in the secret and hidden hope for his son.” Alexanders Romance [48]. From here we see that oracle was referring to Alexander the great who latter on became the “conqueror of the world.

My brother had seen an image in one of his shows and we came across it in google images. It was funny that he had seen that image since we just went over it in both art and classics class. The tomb was from Sidon, 330 B.C.. It seems as though the sculptures on outside of tomb resemble archaic period. They all have potential for movement, there all in a fighting stance. The tomb also has a frieze. The outer frieze was decorated with Alexander the Great and his victories.

Cite:

Romm James,”Ghost on the Throne: the death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire, 2011, History Today, Web. October 9, 2017.

-Anora A., Team Diana

“He’s some king, right?”

After asking a few of my friends about their knowledge of Alexander the Great, it’s clear that most teens don’t know much of Alexander. Here are my interview answers:

Questions

1. Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

2. What do you know about him?

3. Where did you learn about him?

Interviews

Mizan Uddin (18, friend, my house)

1. Yes, a little bit.
2. He conquered Greece. I’m pretty sure he had a city under his name as Alexandria. He conquered far into Europe I believe.
3. I learned this in middle school.

Minhajur Rahman (18, friend, my house)

1. Vaguely.
2. He’s well known because he killed a lot of people.
3. I learned of him in 6th grade history class.

Ashfaq Ahmed (18, friend, my house)

1. I’ve heard of him before.
2. He was a king somewhere, right?
3. I learned of him in my high school history class.

Analysis

It’s clear that 18 year olds (at least my friends) don’t know much about Alexander the Great. They all recall memories from middle school history classes. Besides that, almost nobody knows past that. They don’t know that Alexander’s empire was called Macedona. He studied under Aristotle from a young age. They knew his famous city was called Alexandria, but they didn’t know it was located in Egypt. They don’t know that it was a Hellenistic civilization. Mizan knew that Alexander the Great conquered much land, but he claimed he conquered western civilization. Alexander, in fact, conquered most of East Asia. They kept pushing more East, until Alexander eventually died and wasn’t able to rule the land he gained. He was a great conqueror, but not exactly a king. We’ll never know if he would’ve been a great king. His trip to this very distant land changed his attitude towards Persians. People didn’t view him the same and eventually he died.

Do you know this man?

Brigida Coyotl, mother, 36 years old, asked at home

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? No.

Rodrigo Garcia, father, 40 years old, asked at home

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? A little.

What do you know about him? I think he conquered a lot of land.

Where did you learn about him? While watching history channel.

Bryant Tepi, cousin, 21 years old, asked at home

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yes

What do you know about him? I think he was good at battles and conquered a lot of land.

Where did you learn about him? High School.

    When I asked these questions to my family members, about knowing anything about who Alexander the Great was, most of them answered that they only knew him to be a conqueror who only took land from people. The similarities of the answers, in my opinion, were to be expected because in school and on television because of a time limit or other circumstances, teachers and shows only discuss the main points of Alexander’s life and how he took over large pieces of land. Television shows and school curriculums dont have the time to explain the background of Alexander the great and teach or show how he grew up and how he became a great and significant figure in history. In similarity to the all mighty and powerful figure that Alexander was made to be, in the Alexander Romance reading it states,  “Alexander shall not be the high and mighty conqueror of the whole world, for a king is nothing  unless he have fit and decent land.” This quote describes how Alexander was seen as a powerful figure because he conquered so much land. However, within the same passage also states, “…this man’ [Alexander] has made not slaves but soldiers. And those who were his  enemies, he made his auxiliaries. For Alexander has ruled all in this way; and he has maintained his  power by doing kindnesses ​to ​his friends.” This quote shares how, unlike the television shows and teachers describe, Alexander was also well thought of as a man who did kind actions to help his people and those around him.

What’s Your Name, Man? Alexander… the Great

I asked three people what they knew of Alexander the Great and where they learned that information. Their responses were as follows.

Zack Ovits (brother, 15, at home): He was great. He was like… a king. He conquered most of the world. I think he built that library place. [Note: he was referring to the Library of Alexandria, a place named after Alexander the Great.] I learned this in school, I don’t know what grade.

Adina Weiss (friend, 18, by text): He had an empire, one of the biggest. That’s all I know from school.

Dasi Chafetz (friend, 17, by phone): He was great. He tried to conquer the world or something? And then he met a Jewish guy in Jerusalem but I forgot his name, and he got off his donkey and bowed to him. I probably learned this at school, maybe some at home from my dad.

All three of these people were vague about what they knew and had all learned the same basic information from school. Two of them made the same bad joke (guys, you’re not funny) and everyone agreed he had a large empire. Even the title of the reading for class contains as much information as that which I gathered from my interviewees: “A History of the Great World Conqueror, Alexander of Macedon.” I must admit I was disappointed in those I asked for not being able to give me more detail.

Yet however lacking, the information I did receive is supported by the class reading. Before Alexander is born, his mother is said to be expecting a

boy child who shall… be your avenger and become world conquering king of the whole civilized universe. (13)

Then, during his delivery, his mother is told that

if you give birth now, o Queen, the one you bear is a world conqueror. (26)

As stated above, Alexander the Great grew up to conquer pretty much everyone at the time. His empire spanned from Egypt to Thrace and all the way to India. Nowadays anyone who’s heard of Alexander of Macedonia knows he was an incredibly powerful emperor intent on conquering as much as possible, even if they know almost nothing else about him. His title of “the Great” was earned solely by expanding his reach to control the entire Mediterranean area and beyond, and everyone knows him by it: there is only one “Alexander the Great,” no matter how many people were named Alexander before or after. (In fact, it was a popular name for young boys during and after his reign, in the hope that the child would live up to the name of the emperor.) His legacy survives as having created one of the greatest empires of all time.

This is a picture of the wall in the lobby of my dentist’s office building. The heads are those of soldiers, men wearing helmets similar to those worn in Alexander’s day. They look almost like statues made of Alexander himself. Alexander, as a famous conqueror, has a strong connection to symbols of war and fighting, like the soldiers on this wall. Beneath the images of people are designs meant to resemble columns. The overall effect is an association with the time period we are learning about.

-Chaya Ovits, team Venus

“He Was Russian- Right?”

My Friend Julia, 18, iMessage interview:

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Yeah.

What do you know about him?

Conqueror dude. Took over land around the Mediterranean.

Where did you learn about him?

History Class in School.

 

My Mother, Denise, 49, iMessage interview:

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Yes.

What do you know about him?

I think he was Russian & brought freedom to his people?

Where did you learn about him?

I hear things. Lol […] Self taught.

 

My Father, James, 57, iMessage interview:

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Yes.

What do you know about him?

He was king of the Macedonians after his father Philip II was murdered. He conquered the world or as much of it that was known to the west.

Where did you learn about him?

History Class. Later there was the movie.

 

I knew I would get very different answers from all three people I interviewed. My friend, Julia, knew as much as I did before I took this class. I think my mother may have confused Alexander the Great with Peter the Great. Lastly, and unsurprisingly to me, my dad knew pretty much every detail there is. My friend and mother both were unsure of their answers and seemed to want me to guide them in the right direction. I think there is a lot to be said about that in regards to public schooling in this country. My father gave me his answer with confidence and knew what he was talking about.

I think most people have a general knowledge about the area he conquered and that he was a king/godlike figure. Everyone has probably learned about Alexander the Great at some point in their schooling, but some from very different points of view. My father learned about him in a more factual way, saying that he was the son of Philip II. In Professor Yarrow’s class; however, we have learned about the mythology behind his birth and his God status. Nectanebos told Alexander’s mother, Olympias, when the right time to give birth was so that he would be born a conqueror, otherwise he would have been born deformed or a slave.

“He saw a bolt of lightning in the sky at noon, caused by the power of the sun; and he said to Olympias, ‘Give forth the cry of childbirth.’ And he himself delivered her child and said, ‘If you give birth now, o Queen, the one you bear is a world conqueror.’ And Olympias cried out louder than a bull and gave birth to a boy child.” (Pseudo-Callistenes, section 26)

Nobody that I interviewed knew anything about Alexander’s legendary horse, and I had never learned anything about it in my previous years of school. This class has taught me so many new things about the ancient world and has really made it come alive to me. I previously never really thought of ancient Greece and Egypt, and they seemed almost not real. Now I can imagine them more clearly. Knowing that they also made up stories and had many of the same parts of society that we do today is very interesting.

-Sheila Kelly, Team Saturn

Alexander the Not So Great

I interviewed my sister, friend, and father for this assignment. My sister Frankie, aged nineteen, was interviewed in my home. In response to my inquiries she claimed that she did know who Alexander the Great was and had learned about him in her ninth grade history class but had no opinions of him. My friend Tatyana, aged eighteen, was interviewed at Barnard College. She too claimed that she knew of Alexander the Great, and like Frankie felt that he was “very accomplished and impressive but too far removed from contemporary history” for her to reserve any legitimate opinions on him. My father, aged 54, also knew of Alexander the Great, having learned about him through literature he had read in his youth. He too had no strong opinions on the emperor.

The answers I received through my interview process were all strikingly similar: my interviewees knew of Alexander the Great but little about him. Why is this? Most likely because contemporary history does a poor job of attributing Alexander’s feats to the lasting impacts we see today on Western culture. Namely among these are his military conquests and prowess, spread of Christianity, establishment of cities, and pioneering of the modern day coin. While his accomplishments are great and many, the most profound appear to be his military prowess and facilitation of Christianity through the West. These, above all else, have had the most profound impact and have irrevocably shaped Western civilization and culture. The fact that my interviewees knew so little about him took me by surprise and seemed disconnected from his significance as it was stressed during lecture. Evidently, history curricula must seriously consider Alexander the Great’s inclusion; his conquests and accomplishments have shaped much of history as we understand it today. One fact provided from my interviewee Tatyana, however, was undeniable: he was extremely accomplished, so much so that he was regarded as a god in literature. This is apparent in Theocritius, Idyllis 15 and 17 in which Alexander sits beside Ptolemy, “destroyer of the Persians, a god, wearing his colorful diadem.” Alexander is notably accomplished in his military conquests, something that can be noted even by someone (Tatyana) who carries no decisive opinion of him. Notice here he is also referred to as “destroyer of the Persians”, a reference to his military feats. He sits beside Ptolemy, son of Zeus, believed to be directly descended from the thunder god himself.

Alexander the Great is indeed Great

Michelle L., Friend, 18, Manhattan her home

Q1: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

A1: He was the king of Ancient Greece.

Q2: What do you know about him?

A2: I don’t really know much about him.

Q3: Where did you learn about him?

A3: Global history class in 9th grade.

Amy C., Sister, 20, Home

Q1: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

A1: Heard him name before, maybe a conqueror.

Q2: What do you know about him?

A2: Nothing much.

Q3: Where did you learn about him?

A3: History class in high school.

Christina D., Friend, 18, Home through phone

Q1: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

A1: Yes.

Q2: What do you know about him?

A2: Mostly forgot but he’s some empire dude.

Q3: Where did you learn about him?

A3: World History 6th grade?

—————————————————————–

The three responses I got from my friends and family were all kind of similar. They said that Alexander was a powerful leader and a conqueror. Some people I spoke with forgot who Alexander was, but knew that he was influential at some point in history. Honestly, before this class I forgot what achievements Alexander made. Nevertheless, the leader is well known enough that even the ones who are not great at history know who he is, or has an idea of what kind of person he was. In high school my friends and I learned that Alexander was a ruler, however, we forgot most of it through the years. In class, I learned that Alexander conquered many lands: Persia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, etc and we went into more depth of the span of lands he took over. We also learned that he wore a helmet with horns, which had relation to the Gods.

“…passed on to Achaeia. And upon arriving there, he subdued many cities, and collected an army of 80,000 men” (lines 120-123). According to the reading, Pseudo-Callistenes, The Alexander Romance, after arriving to Achaeia Alexander took over many cities his army of 80,000 men. This shows how much power he had as a leader because he has the control over many individuals. Alexander has made a notable impact in our world history and it is clear to see it. My friends and family who are not very studious at least remembers that Alexander was a man that made great achievements.

 

A Great Conqueror

I did not realize before  that  my family members and majority of people  are so distant from the History knowledge, well just as I am. I asked  my Dad(Mr.Knoweverything), cashier in Supermarket and my friend Tanya about Alexander the Great. I gave them all  3 simple questions:

1. Who is Alexander the Great?
2. What facts do you know about him?
3. Where did you learn about Alexander?

Dad( age 51, at our home):

Alexander of Macedonia was a great conqueror and commander. He conquered land from Greece to India, if I am not mistaken. Oh, he invited  a new style of battle with spears and shields, you know… He also built many large cities named in his honor – Alexandria.

Well, I actually studied about Macedonia when I was your age but also there were a lot of TV programs and documentaries about him.

Tanya(19, John Jay college):

Alexander the Great? Hmm…You know I skipped History classes in High School…I believe he was a King of something? I remember we definitely learned about him in 10th grade…

Hanna(22, at NetCost market)

Oh my God, I learned about him in school..He conquered half the world, died at age of 30. He founded the city of Alexandria, which was famous for its library. A good commander, but was severely beaten by the Scythians. Why you asking? Google it!

Their answers were really similar, they all learned about Alexander at the early stage of their life. By asking people  about Alexander, I noticed that everyone talked about him in a positive tone, like  he was a hero. Nobody said anything bad about a commander. This suggests that Alexander was really a prominent person that should  be remembered.

In our class we discussed about Alexander’s achievements, role in history, growth of his empire and his life overall.  While reading “The Romance of Alexander the Great by Pseudo-Callisthenes” I found a quote that proofs statement about Alexander’s success:

“He conquered many nations, twenty-two barbarian and twelve Greek. And he built twelve cities which still remain today, rich and complete and populated by countless people: Alexandria, which he built on the bullheaded horse…”(185,p 158)

-Yuliya K.

Alexander Who?

                                                                             

When making my rounds and interviewing my family members about who Alexander the Great was, the answers became progressively more informed. I began with my little sister, Eiden (Age 10, At Home), who knew nothing about him, then interviewed my younger brother, Rolan (Age 14, At Home), who knew of him from what he was taught in middle school but nothing regarding his feats, to my mom ( Age Don’t worry about it, At Home), who was the most knowledgable, being able to tell me in summary, that he conquered a vast amount of territories in the ancient world, up until the Indus River in India. Regardless of the depth of the answer, though, all were equally indifferent about him, as am I.

The reason for this indifference is simple, we (myself included) never had and continue to not have much reason to regard him with much importance in the scope of our lives. Even though I have indeed learned much more about him following the our most recent class, he remains a figure relatively unimportant to both me and my family. The first response to the question of who he was when I posed it to my mom, sister and brother was, ‘who?’ And this who, is simply a matter of not really caring too much about Alexander the Great.

In this sense, the responses that I got were far different from what we learned in class. In our most recent class, Alexander was made an important and highly significant figure, whose presence could not be ignored. He was famous and deemed himself a physical god of sorts. Even after his death, he was a figure whose legacy was a highly sought after inheritance. Ptolemy, a successive king, strove to be and subsequently viewed himself as a successor to Alexander the ‘god-king’, as shown in Theocritus, Idylls,” The following list of lands directly or indirectly under Ptolemy’s control seems to depict him as a new Alexander; it may also be connected with developments in the First Syrian War (ca.276‒271 BC) between Ptolemy and Antiochus (Line 37)”. In summary, the importance of Alexander in class and the improtancrr of him at home, were at two ends of a scale. One side saw him as highly important and the other, hardly worth remembering. But this conclusion is really a natural one. Our contemporary society may not care so much for the conquests and history of Alexander the Great but a history class absolutely would.

 

Alexander: The Macedonian Conqueror

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
What do you know about him?
Where did you learn about him?

1: Max, friend, aged 18, at my house
a) Yes
b) “His father is Olympus, no his mother was Olympia. He was the king of Macedonia in like 300 B.C or something”
c) School.

2: Eric, dad, aged 54, at my house
a) Yes
b) “He was a great conqueror many years ago. He traveled all along the Mediterranean, taking the land for his empire.”
c) Throughout high school

3: Alana, friend, aged 19, in my car
a) Yes
b) “He conquered the whole Mediterranean with elephants. Half his army died, then he conquered Rome, which triggered the Golden Age”
c) Social Studies

The strength the name, Alexander the Great holds in modern day is very impressive in terms of how long ago the tale of the Macedonian Conqueror was. 2300 years ago, Alexander went on a conquest to become the most powerful force in the Mediterranean and succeeded. He was seen as a god, a deity in the eyes of many races of people. When I questioned three people I knew about what they knew about Alexander the Great, they seemed to all know the basic lore of what he accomplished with his time on Earth. He was a conqueror, he was from Macedonia, and they all learned about him in basic education. The minimal details they told me about Alexander differs much more than the in-depth explanation we had in class. In class, we discussed the exact travel pattern he took, his cultural importance in Ancient civilization, but also how brutal and struct his conquering was. The one thing that is common in all people, is the ideological idea of Alexander that puts him in this heroic “Hercules” position in the mind. If we look at the Alexander Romance, it says,

“And the city that has been built shall remain strong forever. It shall cast light upon the fire and illuminate the infernal regions. And it shall make the south wind quail when it breathes its harmful breath so that the terrible doings of the evil spirits shall be of no avail against this city. For earthquake is to grip it but a short while, and likewise, plague and famine; so, too, shall there be war, but it shall not present great danger; rather, like a dream, it shall quickly pass through the city. And many kings shall forever revere you as one who has become a god according to the customs of this land.”

The central idea that Alexander has a “god given right” to the land of the world, and eternal glory lives on to this day. My three interviewees only know about his awesome conquering and know his name well. They might not know as much as we know, but Alexander the Great’s name lives throughout history.

Team Artemis, Sean Reilly

 

Common Knowledge: Fairly Common After All

I asked three people the following questions:

1.Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

2.What do you know about him?

3.Where did you learn about him?

“yeah, he was a Greek king who was very powerful. I learnt about him in school.” (Ilana, my sister, age 11, in our home)

“yes, he was an emperor. i learned about him in global history in high school.” (Ariela, my friend, age 17, over text)

“Yeah. Macedonian leader, pretty cool dude. Son of King Phillip, excellent military strategist. Made Macedonia strong. I learnt about him in high school.” (Michael, cousin, age 20, Emmons Ave.)

All the answers I received were pretty similar and correct in the fact that Alexander the Great was a powerful emperor. However, this is only a small fraction of what we learned about him in class. While Alexander is referred to as the son of king Phillip, he was actually the son of the Egyptian king Nectanebos who mated with Olympias under the disguise of being the god Ammon. Nectanebos was a prophet and predicted that Alexander would become as powerful as he was. 

“And when Alexander heard this, he ran and climbed up onto the statue and embraced it and said: “This is my father, and I am his son.”

“And he greeted him, saying, “Hail, Alexander, conqueror of the world.” And Philip remained cheerful and happy in the secret and hidden hope for his son.”

OVERLAP WITH CLASSICS- Unit One Blog post

I came across the columns of Ashley Home Furniture Store on my commute to college. they are a contemporary interpretation of the classical Doric columns. The columns are extremely similar to their classical counterparts. They both have smooth, round capitals which are connected to the entablature by a square abacus. The difference is clear as well. Typical roman columns would not be seen connecting arches, but rather upholding the frieze and pediment of a building.                                                                             Alexander the great was king of the ancient Greek kingdom Macedonia. He lived at the end of the Greek Classical period which perished along with him in 323 BC. These columns would have been seen in Greece during his time.

Gabriella, Team Hestia

 

 

Alexander the Conqueror

Celena Zhao, sister, 15 years old, at home

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yeah.

What do you know about him? He was a king in Ancient Greek and conquered a lot of land.

Where did you learn about him? Global History class in school.

Anthony Zhang, cousin, 16 years old, text message

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yeah, kind of.

What do you know about him? He conquered a lot of land in Europe.

Where did you learn about him? School.

Susan Cheng, ex-coworker, 23, text message

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yeah.

What do you know about him? He spread Hellenistic culture through his conquests. He was educated by Plato when he was younger and died in Macedonia.

Where did you learn about him? Personal interest and college.

Between the people I asked one of the main similarities I found was that they know him as a conqueror. People usually remember Alexander the Great as a conqueror from Ancient Greece. Most of them learned about him in school, usually in a Global History class in high school or even middle school. Even though they did learn about him all they remember him for is how he took over so many territories. What was similar about their answers and what I leaned in class is that Alexander the Great conquered up to Egypt and the Indus River. For example, in “The Alexander Romance” by Pseudo Callisthenes, it discusses this, “Invincible and indomitable child. Long may you live, my lady, for you are pregnant with a boy who shall be your avenger and become world conquering king’ of the whole civilized universe” (13). However in our class we went more in-depth about the topic instead rather than just discussing his great conquests.  One of the things we learned about was Alexander the Great’s horse Bucephalus which can be considered as one of the most famous horses. Another thing were the coins of Alexander the Great and his two horns.

Who is Alexander the Great?

“Do you know who Alexander the Great was? What do you know about him? Where did you learn about him” This are the question I asked my mom, dad, and a friend of mine.

Jana D. my mother, aged 46,at our home knew who Alexander the Great was because she read about him when she was still in high school in China. She had been taught Alexander was a successful Greek ruler and had conquered many places. Then the detail of what had Alexander done she couldn’t remember. But mostly, that was it. My mom said that because it was long time ago and China education was mainly on the country itself, she didn’t have a insight knowledge of Alexander.

Compare to my mom, my dad answer to “Who is Alexander the Great?” was a lot more simpler. Leo L. my father, aged 52, also at our home said “I have no idea, is he some sort of King from Greek? If not, then he must be a King from Europe.”

At last, I asked my friend Betty, aged 18, at the Campus green, she said”Alexander the Great was a Macedonian King, he had fought to expand his territory throughout the Mediterranean Sea to the border of India. Also he had successfully conquer Persia and Egypt.” And she told me that she learned it from some sort of history website she been on.

All three answers I received have similarity of they all knew that Alexander was a King, even my father who knows absolutely nothing about him. I guess the use of “the Great” had point out how successful Alexander was. Betty, my friend who answered the question, have the same knowledge of Alexander from my learning through classic class. Although I had learned more about him in a in-depth knowledge.

Who is Alexander The Great ?

1 : Franco Mancuso, My Cousin, age 35, At his house

•  Wasn’t he the guy who conquered some place somewhere ?That’s pretty much all I know about him.
• The last time I learned about him was in high school. He was a  King right?

2: Dante Romero, My friend from high school, age 18, At my house

• He was a Greek King and probably the one that I remember hearing about.
• Didn’t he rule like all of Greece? I’m pretty sure he took control of a lot of different kingdoms.
• I remember talking about him briefly in my second year of high school with my history teacher.

3: Sal Dibartolo, My Uncle, age 59, At my house

• He was the ruler of Macedon and the conqueror of the Persian Empire.
• I remember reading about him online recently and I was always fascinated by his history and accomplishments.

Alexander the Great is a highly discussed topic all over the world.There were many kinds of similarities in the answers that I received.  One major similarity was that they all knew Alexander the Great was a ruler or King of some sort. They all had some basic knowledge on the fact that he did conquer different places. My uncle had the most knowledge about him because I believe he was the most interested out of all three. My friend and cousin both remembered learning about Alexander the Great in high school which was another similarity.  We have learned many major points about Alexander in class which was different from their responses because they were more general. We have gone into specific details which was very interesting to learn and to find out about. A main similarity from class and from the people I asked is that we were both informed that Alexander The Great conquered many places and was very powerful. In the readings it states, “O King, you will have a son who, having traversed the whole world, shall subdue everyone by his strength and shall be subdued by none”. This shows that Alexander indeed will overpass many people and empires and showed that he was destined for a great future. This also represented that he was going to conquer many different places which is what we learned in class and what the people I asked also knew about. Alexander the Great was a huge part of our history and many people have heard of him and have learned about the impact he had left on society.

 

Never Forget Alexander the Great

Tanzim, my best friend, age 18, through text
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
“Yes I know who he is”
What do you know about him?
“He was a powerful ruler”
Where did you learn about him?
“In global history, I think”

Mohammed, my brother, age 24, in my house
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
“Yeah.”
What do you know about him?
“He was a smart, powerful conqueror”
Where did you learn about him?
“In my global class in high school.”

Shahidun, my mother, age 40, in my house
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
“I think so.”
What do you know about him?
“I think he was a powerful Greek warrior.”
Where did you learn about him?
“In high school.”

There are similarities in the answers I received from Tanzim, Mohammed, and Shahidun. Everyone learned about Alexander the Great in highschool and they knew he was a powerful ruler. Tanzim, Mohammed, and Shahidun answers are similar to what I learned in class. I learned that Alexander the Great conquered Persia, Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Bactria, and the Punjab, with Bucephalus. Bucephalus was the horse of Alexander the Great, and one of the most famous actual horses of antiquity. Bucephalus was a horse many feared because it was considered a “man eating beast.” Pseudo-Callistenes, The Alexander Romance state’s “Lord King, we found this creature who is more beautiful and faster than Pegasus or that Arion, born in your stables, and we have brought him from Lamomentios and we offer him to you. However, Lord, he is a man eater.” This reveals that Alexander was given the frightful horse. Alexander the Great is a legendary king who should never be forgotten.

Mohammed, Team Vulcan

Males konw more about Alexander the Great than female

I interviewed most of my friends and family members, and results came out as all the males that I interviewed knows somewhat about  Alexander, as well as most of the females were just heard about this name, but knowing nothing about this famous guy in history.

Steven Zhu, 19, one of my friend, interviews through facetime. Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Of course.  What do you know about him? He’s the Greek King who conquered lots of places, such as Macedonia, Egypt, Persia, and Asia. His empire was one of the largest empires in history, but then he stops to extend his empire because his army was tired and complained about it. He also speared the idea of Hellenism.Where did you learn about him? I don’t remember, maybe it’s from one of the books that I read before.

 

Yulin Lin, 18, cousin, at home. Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yes. What do you know about him?He was born in the Macedonia (the capital city of Pala) and tutored by a famous scholar of Ancient Greece (he forgot the name, but this guy is Aristotle). when Alexander was 18, his expedition with his father. and when was 20 years old, he inherited the throne from his father. He is the greatest military genius in European history, he builts Macedonian Empire….(he said a lot) Where did you learn about him? from an anime call “Fate/zero” (he showed me a picture of Alexader the great in this anime)

my cousin described a little about this anime, which is basically a war of Holy Grail between people, and these people have a special skill which they can summon the soul from the ancient world to help them win the war, Alexander was one of the soul that’s been summoned.

Lilly Chen, 19, one of my friend, at her house. Do you know who Alexander the Great was? I don’t know, but I heard this name before.What do you know about him? …He was a famous guy (obviously!). Where did you learn about him? I don’t know, I heard it from somewhere, maybe from my boyfriend.

From what all guys know and what learned from class, the information mostly matches, such as the Macedonian Empire, and the large armies. all the information were agreed with that Alexander was a genius in military strategists.

 

 

Team Zeus, Yao

 

Citation

images from: http://aminoapps.com/page/anime/263684/iskandar-alexander-the-great-rider

Can I Google it?

Mengjin Chen, 22, co-worker, Brooklyn College Women’s Center. 

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?  Yes.

What do you know about him? I can’t remember a lot. Sorry, this is a long time ago. Are you writing everything I say? Oh no! Can I google it? I know he ruled Egypt or the Middle East. It’s been a long time, since high school. I don’t remember a lot. Oh, was it Greece?

Where did you learn about him? In my Global history class in high school.

Fatima Tariq, 20, Friend, Phone.

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? I’ve heard of him.

What do you know about him? He was the King of Persia. I learned that he was responsible for the large expansion of the Persian empire. Had a perhaps non-normative sexuality. Some speculate whether or not he is Dhul Qarnayn from the Quran. Sorry, I don’t know much.

Where did you learn about him? I learned a lot about him in AP Global but forgot a lot. I learned about him a little in college too.

Aisha Nazlin, 15, Sister, Home.

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yes.

What do you know about him? He was a king. He was known to be a ruler who had absolute power and he was a conqueror. He ruled the Romans I think. Not sure. Umm. He was a king that had a divine right. Oh! His people called him “great” because of what he did for them. Sometimes they called him a god. He also helped his people start trading and so he expanded his empire.

Where did you learn about him? I learned it in my Global History class.

Similarities and Differences

All of these answers show a basic understanding of who Alexander the Great was and why he is important. All three people I questioned had learned about him in their Global History high school class and for the most part, had forgotten the extensive details about his life and success. Regardless, everyone was aware that he was an important figure in history, and they remembered him as a king and conqueror. In class, in addition to Alexander’s success as a military commander, and in expanding his empire, we also learned the story of his deceptive birth, and his beastly horse, and the men, women, and army that took part in bringing him to his success.

My friend Fatima who had learned a little about him in her college courses too mentioned that he was responsible for the large expansion of the Persian empire and that he had a non-normative sexuality, something that was not mentioned in class.

My sister mentioned his “divine right” and his title as a “god”, and this is something that we discussed in class about the Alexander Romance, which reads “and many kings shall forever revere you as one who has become a god according to the customs of this land. And when you die, you shall be revered as having become a god.” Alexander the Great was considered a god by his people, and this is something my sister, who had most recently taken global history, brought up. And that brings up another point, that although everyone at some point learned about Alexander the Great (which signifies how important he is), the minute details of how he was born and who and what was important in his life were either not taught or had been forgotten.

 

 

What do you know about Alexander the Great? “He was great.”

Interviewees: Christopher Mcateer. 20. Boyfriend. My home.

  Kevin Pascall. 46. Father. My home

Cheri-ann Pascall. 48. Mother. Phone call, she’s in Trinidad.

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

Christopher: “Yes.”

Kevin: “Yes”

Cheri-ann: “Kinda”

What do you know about him?

Christopher: ” I know that he died while he was partying. He died in present day, Iraq. He was rich.  And he was the leader of Greece. Was it Greece?”

Kevin: “He went to war with the Romans.”

Cheri-ann: “I know that he was great. He lead an army which means that he had a high status.

Where did you learn about him? 

Christopher: “In my Western Civilization class at college.”

Kevin: “I’m not sure.”

Cheri-ann: “Somewhere on television.”

All of the answers that I received were very similar because everyone had a certainty about hearing about Alexander the Great. No one thought that the name was unfamiliar and all the geographic location that Alexander was associated with. Everyone was not exactly sure about what Alexander really did and who he was in history, they just has a basic idea of him because his name is mentioned frequently. Everyone also heard about Alexander the Great from many different places, whether it was taught in class or mentioned on a television show. A lot of facts seemed uncertain and weren’t always correct.

Christopher learnt about Alexander in his Western Civilization class which shows how important he is to our world and history. I like that my mother is in the Caribbean and the tales of Alexander the Great has still reached her anyway. Even though no one could really tell me a lot about Alexander, I still think it’s cool that they all had a general idea.

It’s similar to what I learnt in class because we explored the route that Alexander took and the lands that he conquered. “In wealth, he could outweigh all other kings, so much comes daily to his rich store from every direction.” (Idyll,15) The reading talks about how rich Alexander was and it seemed to be a fact that everyone knows about him. In class we also talked about the horns on the Alexander coin and no one seemed to really understand what I was talking about when I tried to talk to my family about it so there is still a huge amount that most people don’t know about Alexander the Great. No one really understands why he was important.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Much do We Know about Alexander?

1. Tasfia Khan, 21, my friend, a text message conversation over the phone
   – I sort of know.
   – I can’t seem to remember, but wasn’t he like a king of a Greek Dynasty? Somewhere in Macedonia if I remember correctly.
   – I learned about him in history classes in both high school and college
   – Not done yet hold up
   – I remember that he conquered the land of Persia as well
   – He was called Alexander the Great because he never lost a battle even though there were times when his army was smaller than the opposing army
   – I think that’s the extent of what I remember
2. Fawziyah Islam, 15, my oldest little sister, the living room couch, in our apartment
   – Yes
   – That he literally took over half the world.
   – That there are a lot of places named after him
   – He was a great conqueror
   – World History. I mean Sixth grade too
3. Sarah-Ann Jean Paul, 18, fellow member of the anime club, text conversation over phone
   – Yeah I know em
   – He was aaaaaaa… a ruler I’m pretty sure
   – I don’t know if he was a long or an emperor but he was a ruler for sure
   – And he took over a lot of countries way back when
   – Like Egypt, Persia, maybe?
   – I learned about him in my High School history class

What similar about these responses is that they all know who Alexander the Great is and they learned about him in School be it college, middle or high school. Another similarity is that they all don’t remember much of what they learned about him. What we learned in class is a lot more in depth, there’s a lot more information learned than what you are taught in say freshman world history or global history in middle school. The legend of Alexander has spread to the point that most people have at least heard heard of him even if they don’t know much about him.

‘O king, you will have a son, who having traversed the whole world, will subdue everyone by his strength, and shall be subdued by no one; and while returning to his country, he shall die, having lived but for a short time.’

(Alexander Romance p. 6)

The most people know is that he traveled what was considered the known world at the time and that he conquered it. They don’t really know that he died on the way back or that his soldiers were tired and wanted to go home. Most people only remember the conquests.
Fatema Islam
Team Jupiter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alexander the Conqueror, the Student, the Innovator

Isabel, sister, age 15, at home

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? 

Yeah, I heard of him.

What do you know about him? 

I think there was a song about him. He did something really important but I don’t remember what he did.

Where did you learn about him?

I believe I learned about him in Global History I or 6th-grade humanities.

Tom, father, age 53, at home.

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? 

Yes.

What do you know about him? 

I believe he was tutored by Aristotle. He conquered vast amounts of territory in the ancient world. I think he used elephants but. I could be mixing him up with someone else.

Where did you learn about him?

Probably in high school.

Chris, friend, age 26, over iMessage

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? 

I do know him.

What do you know about him? 

He was the king of Macedonia and was taught by Aristotle.

Where did you learn about him?

I actually learned that stuff back when I took classical cultures at BC.

 

The most notable detail of these three conversations to me is that everyone learned about Alexander the Great at some institutional educational facility, like middle school, high school, or even college. This alone could indicate the importance of his conquests and his role in history, as his story is so widely taught and valued. Both my sister and my father learned about him in high school, and I think it is reasonable to assume that my friend Chris likely did as well, at least initially, and that he learned more details about Alexander the Great in college. Another interesting detail from these answers is that only my father mentioned anything about Alexander’s conquests. This is peculiar, since the immense amount of territory that Alexander took over is essentially what made him “Alexander the Great.” While I don’t believe my father was right about the elephants, his comment about Alexander as a conqueror aligns the most with what we learned in class. At one point in the Alexander Romance, it reads, “And he [Philip], recalling and remembering what had happened concerning this, went forth to meet his son. And he greeted him, saying, “Hail, Alexander, conqueror of the world.” And Philip remained cheerful and happy in the secret and hidden hope for his son.” In this excerpt, Philip addresses Alexander as the “conqueror of the world,” and this idea about Alexander’s destiny in leadership and conquest comes up many times in this reading. It may very well be the most important aspect of Alexander’s life.

 

Another similarity between answers is that both my father and Chris wrote that he was mentored by Aristotle, which is not a detail that I recall going over in class nor reading about in our assigned texts. Upon going back to the texts, I did find that it mentions how “Aristotle of Nicomitachos, the Stagirite from the city of Meteos” taught him philosophy in the Alexander Romance text. I found the relationship between Aristotle and Alexander particularly interesting because of its significance in the art world as well. Alexander the Great was never depicted with a beard, which was odd at the time but represented the shift into the art style of the Hellenistic period. In the Classical period, men were often depicted with beards, such as Aristotle, but in the Hellenistic period, which is said to have begun after the death of Alexander, men were more often depicted as clean-shaven – and this detail also greatly influenced Roman art. I think the teacher-student relationship between Aristotle and Alexander can also be seen symbolically as the beginning of a shift in art style.

-Harry, Team Vesta

Aristotle, with a beard.

Alexander the Great, depicted without a beard.

Tags:  Alexander, CLAS5, EveryoneKnows, Art

Alexander?

“He was the youngest conqueror in the world. He died in Babylon. Was able to utilize and master communication skills and battle. One of the first to use special weapons. Able to think on his feet and adjust his troops. Was able to blend into the cities he and his men were trying to take over. I’ve learned about him on many different documentaries and school” (Father, 52, our house)

“I’ve learned about him in Global History and he was this king who kind of excelled at some things I don’t really remember. I think he preserved Greco-Roman culture and had religious tolerance” (Emerald D., 16, over the phone)

“I’ve learned in school that he was a leader who won many battles, took over a huge part of somewhere.” (Jemelia M., 17, her house)

In all three responses, we can see that each equated Alexander the great to being someone that “excelled” and “won many battles”. This was possible due to his utilization of being quick on his feet to conquer the lands he passed through. They’ve all learned about him in school at least once and there are many different documentaries about him online or on television. I actually asked more than the three I quoted here and everyone basically answered in the same way. Even though some couldn’t really remember, they still said something like, “He took over part of the world.” We can all agree that he was indeed great because he was able to strategically take over countries with his brilliance and was a strong young man. In the Alexander Romance, he was actually destined for his greatness. Antiphonta told Philip, “O King, you will have a son who, having traversed the whole world, shall subdue everyone by his strength and shall be subdued by none; and while returning to his country, he shall die, having lived but for a short time…” [24] By examining this quote, you can see that Antiphonta said that Alexander will conquer many lands not being defeated but he will end up dying young. Looking through history, this has been verified. Alexander defeated the Persians, conquered Syria, Mesopotamia, Bactria, and established Alexandria in Egypt. All this happened before he died at the young age of 32 in Babylon. No one actually knows what he died from but it was before he was able to return back to his birth place.

One way to witness a piece of how amazing Alexander was, is by looking at his Sarcophagus located in the İstanbul Archaeological Museum. It’s made with Pentelic Marble which was a favorite by the Greek. It’s has very fine detailing and is almost in the shape of a Greek temple. It was created during the Hellenistic period where you can clearly see all of the dramatic movement and diversity. Keep note that this sarcophagus doesn’t contain the actual body of Alexander. As we’ve learned, Friezes display different stories on them. On the first frieze of the sarcophagus, it shows a scene from one of his more important battles. It’s the battle of Issus. There are many enhanced people overlapping each other in complex ways. You could clearly identify Alexander because he is wearing lion’s hat on his head and is riding his horse, Bucephalus. In the middle of the frieze, we can see the King of Sidon also battling the Persians. You can clearly see that the Persians are losing by the way their bodies are placed. All of their hands show that at one point, they were holding some sort of weapon, there is even an archer without his bow. On the other frieze, we see a lion hunt happening. The strange part about it is that the lion is being hunted by both the Greeks and the Persians. You can tell the difference between them by the way they’re dressed. As I said before, there is a sense of exaggeration of body movements almost bring the scene to life in both friezes. Also, there is a hint of color still on both that lets you picture how magnificent this sarcophagus actually was. The stories show how Alexander defeated and captivated the Persians, basically taking over their Empire.

Ivory, Team Artemis

Alexander is a Memorable Name

Michelle Liang, my friend, aged 17, Central Park

1) Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
“I’ve heard of him.”

2) What do you know about him?
“At a very young age, before his 30’s, he conquered a bunch of land.”

3) Where did you learn about him?
“In global history class, but I don’t remember too much about him.”

Kenny Lee, my cousin, aged 18, over iMessage

1) Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
“Yeah, I believe so.”

2) What do you know about him? 
“Isn’t he a military commander that conquered the Persian Empire? I remember reading somewhere that in one of his battles he was greatly outnumbered, but he was still able to take down the other army. His men used long spears and marched forward to create a barrier so that the other army couldn’t touch them in combat.”

3) Where did you learn about him?
“From my history class in high school.”

Jacky Huang, my cousin, aged 18, over iMessage

1) Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
“Yeah.”

2) What do you know about him? 
“I think he allowed his Macedonian men to marry Persian women and adopted some of their culture because he was influenced by his wife.”

3) Where did you learn about him?
“I watched a video about him on YouTube.”

Some similarities I found apparent in all the responses were that each person knew who Alexander the Great was. Giving a generalized summary of him, they each said that he was in some way or another related to war, conquering land, military experience, and the Persian Empire. They may not have known that he was the King of Macedonia, but they did know of his name and what he overall achieved.

Some differences that came into view were that people knew who Alexander the Great was, but did not know about his horse, his men, or his women. He took all the credit for what he achieved as a military commander, but he couldn’t do it without his army and all the people that helped him get to his goal. Everyone failed to recognize the credentials of the men in his army and what they did to help Alexander conquer the Persian Empire. Furthermore, they forgot about how important his horse, Bucephalus, was. In class, we learned that his horse was recognized as a beast that could not be controlled and anyone who could tame it could conquer the world. It’s unfortunate how he died from disease, but it would make sense because he would not be immune to disease since he conquered many different territories.

In the Romance of Alexander the Great by Pseudo Callisthenes, the text states, “even the god Sesonchousis envies Alexander the immortality that is his for having founded the royal city that will forever bear his name. ” This further adds to why Alexander’s name is so great and why he’s so well known. Each city he conquered, he left a piece of himself (name) so that everyone could remember him. It surely worked in the long run because even in modern day society, no one takes a history class without knowing who Alexander the Great was. With every great commander, follows a great army. To put it into perspective, they deserve as much credit as Alexander does, but he just so happens to be the face behind all that they achieved as a team. Til this day, there is still a lot of information about him even though he conquered the Persian Empire centuries ago.

How famous is Alexander the Great?

Monika Mehra, A friend, Aged 19, Text message

1) Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

“Yeah”

2) What do you know about him?

“He was a king of Greek Kingdom. He was a king of Persia, Babylon and Asia. He founded 70 cities. He was the son of King Philip.”

3) Where did you learn about him? 

“Global History class in high school”

Clerita S., A friend, Aged 17, Text Message

1) Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

“Yes, of course.”

2) What do you know about him?

“He was a military commander. He was the king of Macedonia. He had a huge military and never lost a battle. He was well respected in the world.He died at a young age.”

3) Where did you learn about him? 

“In history classes in middle school and high school”

Jashanpreet Kaur, A cousin, Aged 13, At my house

1) Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

” Yeah, kind of. Not that much.”

2) What do you know about him?

“He was a conqueror and conquered various countries such as India, Greece, Afganistan, Turkey, Persia, etc. He won many battles.”

3) Where did you learn about him? 

“In social studies class in middle school”

The similarities from all the responses are that Alexander was a great king and conquerer who conquered various countries around the world such as Persia, Greece, India, Afganistan and Turkey. Since he won many battles throughout his life, he is well respected in the world because of his strength and bravery. Most of the people have learned about Alexander in their history classes in middle school or high school. In addition to these people, I asked my parents too if they know anything about Alexander. They said the same thing as others did. Overall, people just heard his name and vaguely know about him. The answers I recieved were similar to what I learned in the class that he was very strong and great conquerer. According to Alexander Romance, an omen teller tells King Philip,” O King, you will have a son who, having traversed the whole world, shall subdue everyone by his strength and shall be subdued by none; and while returning to his country, he shall die, having lived but for a short time.” This omen proved to be true because he accomplished a lot in his life but died at a young age.

In addition to the fact that he became a king of many countries, I learned other interesting information about him in my class. The information I received in class was very detailed. I learned that Nectanebos was Alexander’s real father. Nectanebos, king of Egypt pretended to be a God and slept with Olympias, Alexander’s mother, and mated with her. According to Alexander Romance, Nectanebos tells Olympias,”According to what you have presented me, you are destined to mate with an earthly god and to conceive from him.” I also learned about the Alexander’s horse, Bucelphalus who was like a wild beast who was fed with prisoners. The text states, “Lord, this is the bull headed horse which your father locked up and shut away for it is a man-eater.” Thus, I learned deeply about Alexander in my class. Since, Alexander became a world conquerer, he is greatly remembered today too.

Gurleen Kaur, Team Venus

“Wasn’t he a dictator?”

For this blog post, I decided to ask my close friends and a family member about what they knew about Alexander the Great.

I first asked my two close friends, Lily Y. (age 18, close friend) and Shannon W. (17, close friend) while we were out at Manhattan, around 34th Street hanging out. I asked them the three questions: Do you know who Alexander the Great was?, What do you know about him and where did you learn about him? I decided to ask Lily first and she replied with, “Yes and no for the first question. As for the second and third question, I know he was part of American history and it was something that we learned in APUSH. Wasn’t he a dictator??” I then asked Shannon and she replied with, “Isn’t Alexander the Great from like Ancient Greece and that he was a conqueror? They named Alexandria, a city after him too.” I was slightly taken back by how she actually knew some legitimate information about Alexander. I then asked her where she learned this from and she says “Just like Lily, I learned it in APUSH.”

After my friends, I decided to ask my cousin, Jeffrey Z. (age 19, close cousin) during our family dinner at our grandparent’s house. I asked him the same questions and he paused a little before replying, “Yes to the first question and I believe he explored and conquered many territories. I learned this during US history.” I asked him, “Is that all that you know?” and he nodded, “Yep. I forgot a lot about US history.” I laughed and agreed with him as I did too.

After asking my friends Lily and Shannon and my cousin Jeffrey, I realized how some of their answers were on a more vague side but similar when you look at it altogether. Surprisingly, Shannon knew the most about Alexander. Both my cousin Jeffrey and Shannon mentioned that he was a conqueror, explored vast lands and as Shannon mentioned, he had a city named after him. Jeffrey did remember a little bit about Alexander but not as much as Shannon. Lily, like my cousin, didn’t remember too much and possibly confused herself with Alexander Hamilton for Alexander the Great. I don’t blame her though since history can get confusing at times with all the amount of names and people there are. They all, however, did learn or remember all their information from US history class.

Shannon’s reply was the most similar to what we learned in class. It’s similar because he did explore vast lands and did have a city named after him, which was Alexandria. Like stated in the Alexander Romance reading, “Then the city of Alexandria, which you are building in the middle of the land, is to be coveted by the world; a land where gods shall dwell for long days and time to come.” and “Will this city remain true to the name Alexandria in which it was built? Or will my name be changed to that of another king? Advise me.” (92-93) In these quotes, it shows how Alexandria is a city named and built after Alexander the Great.

It’s Not About How Much, But How Well You Know!

Keon M., 18, Cousin, Phone Call

Yes, he does know about Alexander The Great. My cousin took an Advanced Placement World History class in his sophomore year in high school which touched on this remarkable general whilst alluding to different accomplishments present-day rulers have achieved. Keon highlighted that the most memorable part of the lesson was how Alexander actually came into being; Nectanebos deceiving Olympias, which led her to believe that she will be impregnated by the god, Ammon.

Anna R., Early 70’s, Grandmother, At Home

Yes, she does know about Alexander The Great. A few years ago, she was browsing television channels when she came across the Guyana Learning Channel which was airing a show (that was coming to its conclusion) about great kings. It was not predominantly about Alexander the Great, and even though she only caught the remaining ten minutes, she was able to learn a little about him. She learned that he was a great general, and that one of the remarkable things he did before his incredible reign was tame a “beast,” as she claimed, and was the only one to do it even though much younger and supposedly less feeble than other people who attempted.

Faizal K., Late 30’s, Former Coach, Kings Plaza

Yes, he does know about Alexander The Great. He claims that his older brother, Maariz Khan, constantly encouraged him to take coaching seriously, and to expand the club he trained. In doing so, Maariz constantly mentioned Alexander The Great and how he was able to conquer a vast amount of land, and that Coach Faizal will only be able to take his team through the lower leagues and have them reach the highest level if he adopts a persistent mindset.

Review on Responses:

Everyone I interviewed was cognizant of who Alexander The Great was, but their knowledge of this magnificent conqueror varied greatly. Nevertheless, all these responses do relate to what was taught in class.

My cousin, Keon, was made aware of him through lessons in his high school. He mentioned that the only bit of information he remembered was the birth of Alexander. Keon explained the birth in a similar but shortened form of how my colleagues and I learned this – He mentions Nectanebos fleeing from his kingdom in Egypt to Pella in Macedonia as a prophet. In his time there, he encounters Olympias, who requests him to question him due to his quickly gained popularity (“In Macedon, Nectanebos became so famous to all by examining the natural order, that the Queen, Olympias, was to come and question him.” [Para. 6]). Upon trying to find out her fate, she is advised that her husband will part ways once back from a conquest, and the only way to stop this is by being impregnated by the God, Ammon. Nectanebos impersonates this God, and impregnates Olympias, leaving her with Alexander (“… you are destined to mate with an earthly god and to conceive from him, and after conceived, to give birth and to nurse, and to have this child as your avenger for the wrongs which will come to you from Phillip.” [Para. 9]). This does relate to what was taught in our recent lecture, but is in a less-detailed form, explaining the beginning of what was to be a legendary time. In class, we were given much more detail, as to who Olympias’ husband was (which Keon never mentioned) and how Nectanebos impregnated the queen through sly, crafty methods.

(I did expect my cousin to know who this was, considering his great admiration for history and exceptional grades in classes.)

My grandmother, was made aware of him through a show in which she viewed a decade ago, and that was the only time she had heard of him. Her account of Alexander of taming the horse was different from what we learned. She recalled the show claiming that many tried to tame the beast in an arena and when this many rapidly turned into none, Alexander stepped up to tame it, with the reluctance of Phillip II, using the horse’s fear of its own shadow against itself and thus disciplining it. In contrast, in class we were taught that Alexander was passing by where the animal was being imprisoned, and upon hearing its cries, questioned its status (“What is this noise? It is the neighing of a horse or the crying of a lion?” [Para. 47]). When he finally came across the captured animal, he was able to establish a connection immediately, taming him (“And when Alexander saw his new mien, and noticed the traces of the many who had been put to death, he, as a man, felt pity. Trusting in his ancestry, he grabbed the halter of the horse and subdued him by physical strength, rather than by luck, and he mounted him without a bridle [Para. 48]). Additionally, my grandmother never mentioned the actual steed’s name, Bucephalus.

My former Coach, who was in New York on vacation, was made aware of Alexander the Great only through his older brother. He was an afterschool Soccer Coach who was aspiring to take his coaching dreams to another level, but was sluggish. He then found motivation to be persistent through his brother’s constant lectures about Alexander the Great and how he was able to raise a great empire, referring to the fact that he should aspire to be the “Alexander” of leagues in which his team enters. My Coach mentions knowing places Alexander did conquer, including Punjab, Egypt and Mesopotamia, but this was as far as his knowledge went about Alexander the Great.

(I did not expect him to know about Alexander The Great since he had “left” high school at an early age.)

 

Daniel, Team Diana.

Knowledge on the Alexander the Great

Thasmia Mannan., 17, sister, almost in her 20’s, at our home

1.Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

-“He was a ruler of Greek and Roman. He mostly rule the Greek.”

2.What do you know about him?

-“He was very selfish because he promises people that he will do things that will benefit people. He also told people that he should be worship as a god. He was a son of king and queen. He ruled the country from 356 B.C to 333 B.C . He was also strong military force for the Greek.”

3.Where did you learn about him?

-“In 9th grade Global History class..”

Michael., friend, 21,in his 20’s, Manhattan around 125 street

1.Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

-“Yeah”

2.What do you know about him?

-“ I know he was a great Emperor in the ancient days.”

3.Where did you learn about him?

-“From  history website”

Cindy L., friend, 18, almost close to her 20’s, Brooklyn near Grand Street

1.Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

-“Yeah.”

2.What do you know about him?

-“I know that he was a Greek ruler. He was son of King and Queen. He looks smart and he could fight people. He was very strong guy. I don’t really know much about him. He was a great conquered.”

3.Where did you learn about him?

-“ Some review from 10th grade Global history”

There was three interview that was done. All three interview response did have some similarities.The similarities about the answer I received from three of the interview was that two of them learned about Alexander the Great in their global history class. Also all of the interviewer Thasmia, Michael and Cindy said that he was a strong guy. From this interview, this shows how they know some information about him and also most of them learned some information but not full details about what he did and how impacted everything. They all seem to know what he did and who he was. However, there were some differences to what I learned in this class because we were given texts to read and detailed information about what Alexander did. I also learned that he was born in Macedonia, Greek Empire. He was taught by Aristotle and godly lineage. We also learned about the family tree godly lineage. He conquered a lot of Empires including Persia and Egypt.In the text of Alexander Romance stated that “ I do not wish to rear that one, my lady, for he is not my off-spring. But since I see that your seed is from the gods and that your birth-giving was accompanied by the omen of elemental occurrences, I shall rear him in the memory of my child who died, the one who had been born to me from my first wife; and he shall be called Alexander.” [27] This example shows how Alexander could have been the offspring of the god and shows the importance of Alexander.

Mantaha Mannan, Team Vulcan 

 

Question of the Day

For this assignment, I had to ask three people these questions:

1. Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
2. What do you know about him?
3. Where did you learn about him?

I asked my mom, my sister, and my friend these questions and these are the responses I got:

Clare Ryan, my mother, 57 years old, our home:

1. Yes.
2. He was a great Roman warrior.
3. High School History Class

Kaitlyn Ryan, my sister, 16 years old, our home:

1. Yes.
2. He was an important Roman guy.
3. Global I in High School

Maya Maharaj, my friend, 18 years old, Instagram Direct Message:

1. I do, but vaguely.
2. He was French or something.
3. Middle School.

Between these three people, there wasn’t any true information about Alexander the Great. My mom was close when she said he was a great warrior, but he was Greek not Roman. After I told Kaitlyn he was Greek, she said that she knew that and that she got Rome and Greece mixed up and that she hadn’t learn about him since freshman year. Maya’s information was more inaccurate because she learned about him in middle school and couldn’t remember information about him. There wasn’t really a difference from what I learned in class and what they learn. The only real difference was that I learned this information recently and that they hadn’t learned about him for years. The correct information about Alexander the Great was that he was the Macedonian leader of the Greek Empire who expanded it all the way east to the Indus River. Him and his army would travel all over and conquer land all the way down in Egypt to the Indus River. He was often referred to as a god, some saying that he was a descendant of Heracles and Zeus. In Theocritus’ Idylls, it states, “At his side, regarding him with favor, sits Alexander, destroyer of the Persians, a god, wearing his colorful diadem.” This view was strengthen by the many images that portrayed Alexander as a god such as the Sardonyx Cameo that shows Alexander with ram horns on his head like the god, Ammon, to show his strength and power. Even though people seem to know very little about him, Alexander the Great is one of the greatest leaders in history and has had a large impact on history and future empires that came after him.

Image Link

 

Do you know who was Alexander the Great was?

Chou l., 18, friend, almost in his 20’s, Queens in College Point
1.Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
-“He conquered… conquered a lot of Greek. Really good conquer.”
2.What do you know about him?
-“He died. Idk this is like back in 4 years ago. He looks like he has Caesar salad hair, I wanna chop it off. Likes to be half naked. He likes horses and looks like a regular white guy.”
3.Where did you learn about him?
-“School, Global year 1.”

David l., brother, 22, in his 20’s, Brooklyn in Bensonhurst
1.Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
-“Yeah”
2.What do you know about him?
-“He doesn’t know much about it. He was a great conquered.”
3.Where did you learn about him?
-“umm history books”

Jamie X., friend, 16, not close to her 20’s yet, Brooklyn near Bayparkway
1.Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
-“Yeah.”
2.What do you know about him?
-“He’s a great leader? He has fancy hair, smart. Looks weak.”
3.Where did you learn about him?
-“Global history”

Some similarities I got from all the surveys were that Alexander the Great was a great conqueror and that they learned about him in High School. Jamie was able to be specific in how he was described as in an anime she read. This shows that Alexander the Great made such a big impact, he has affected Japan’s history too. The people I ask may seem to only know him about his establishments because that’s all they were taught in textbooks.

All the answers may be different in their own ways based on what I learned in class. Yes, he is great but we never considered his title Great in class. We did learn that he made his merchants stay and mate with females from different places to populate this culture. Hence, his partner, Bucephalus, which is his horse that accompanied him all throughout the conquest.

[34-37]
“…his father who had died, Alexander was afraid to leave him in the put lest he is eaten by wild beasts. For it was night and the place was desolate. Moved by compassion and pity for his sire’, he lifted him tenderly and bored him nobly on his shoulders within the gates.”
-This quote illustrates his bravery, not in war but in his own passion for his father.

[59-60]
“…I have my own horse which I have trained from the time he was young and I have raised him for myself.”
-In this context, Alexander mentions his horse Bucephalus, as well as Chou, did. What I learned from knowing this was that Alexander had a horse from a young age, something we did not cover in class. I find this amusing because it can show Alexander’s commitment and leadership from a young age.

Is Alexander the Great really that common?

Xiaoping, 48, my mother, at home. Tingfeng, 49, my father, at home. (I asked them at the same time)

Me: Mom, dad, do you know anything about Alexander the great?

Mother: The name is very familiar, I think I heard about him before.

Father: You probably know him in some movie, even I know very little about him.

Mother: Yeah, I remember he is some character in a movie.

Me: Did you learn about him in school? I believe it was taught in history class.

Father: Yeah we did learn about him before in school, but you know it is been a long time, so I almost forget everything about him now.

 

A random person in internet gaming group, age unknown, at home.

Me: Hey do you guys know anything about Alexander the great.

That person: Alexander? Fate/zero? Ha, I have him in FGO, let me show you the picture when I got him.

Me: I mean the historical Alexander…

That person: What? This is a gaming group, how dear you talk about history? Go search him in Google.

Me: …

 

According to data above, many people recognize Alexander through movie, games or anime. Of course, many people did learn about Alexander in their history classes, but since for many people Alexander just like calculus content, if you are not major in history or majors related to history, then usually people would forget the things about him because they don’t need him in normal life. So, I can conclude that Alexander the Great is not a common knowledge for everyone.

Alexander the Grape?

For this blog post I was asked to conduct interviews to see how much people actually know about Alexander the Great and how their knowledge differs from what we learned in class. These are the results:
Rochelle, My Mother, 40s, At our house in Brooklyn
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
I’ve heard of him but I don’t really remember much about him.
What do you know about him?
He was a Greek warrior? …That’s pretty much all I know. There was some sort of candy when I was younger called Alexander the Grape that was a play on his name.
Where did you learn about him?
Probably in school or perhaps mentioned in a book

 

Bashi D., My Aunt, 30s, At her house in Brooklyn
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
Maybe.
What do you know about him?
I think he was a Greek warrior who defeated some empire to make his own…when he was eighteen or so. I might have just decided that.
Where did you learn about him?
Where did I learn about him? Ninth grade?

 
Zack, My Father, 48, At our home in Brooklyn
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
Yes.
What do you know about him?
I know his father was Philip of Macedonia. He conquered the entire Ancient world and died by the age of thirty two. It is related in the Talmud that when he entered the land of Israel, he was met by the priest Simon the Just in full regalia and followed by rows and rows of young priests. When Alexander the Great saw them he fell off his horse and knelt because he had always seen this man in a dream before he went to war. They gave him a tour of the Temple in Jerusalem but he was very upset when he was refused entry into the Holy of Holies. Instead he wanted his bust in the temple. This was also refused. Instead they promised him that every boy born that year would be named Alexander and that is why this name is still common among Jews despite its Greek origins. There are many more stories about Alexander the Great in the Talmud, most of which are about his love of knowledge.
Where did you learn about him?
I know about him from my Yeshiva studies and from my graduate work. I can go into more detail about Alexander the Great if you would like. Can I just mention that in the book of Daniel-
No, Dad, that’s fine, Thank you. I have enough information now. To be fair, my Father has a Masters in Jewish history.

 
With the exception of my father the people that I interviewed had little to basic knowledge about Alexander the Great. What we learned in class goes into much greater detail than what the average person had learned in school and the information we were given in the text goes into great detail about Alexander’s life even before he started conquering his empire. Most people don’t know anything about Alexander the Great’s life besides his conquests but in Alexander Romance it relates about other aspects of his life such as his learning, or about how he worked for his father when he was a child. (However accurate that may or may not be) This is shown in the quote “Meanwhile Alexander was growing and maturing. When he was twelve years old, he began to work with his father…” (Alexander Romance 32)
Hinda, Team Mars

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alexander and my family… sort of.

I asked my 3 family members what it is that they knew about Alexander the Great.  The first conversation was with my Dad, Craig Vincent, over the phone in my basement, and he is 54 years old.  I also talked to my Mom and sister, Sharon Vincent and Paige Vincent, who are 54 and 16 respectively.  I talked to the 2 of them over breakfast at our house.  All 3 of my family members knew who Alexander the Great was.  But what they knew about him and where they learned what they knew was vastly different.  My mother knew the least, as all she knew about him was that he was a warrior and was Greek or Roman, as she didn’t know which one he really was.  The only place my mother learned about him as well was in grammar school.  My younger sister paige knew a bit more, as she knew he was Greek, the King of ancient Greece, took over much land, and went as far as the middle east.  She learned about him in multiple school years, but know where else.  My father knew that he was Macedonian, he knew Alexander conquered most of the world by that point, died at age 33, was the son of King Philip of Macedon, and he met Diogenes.  My Dad learned these facts through his high school encyclopedia, History channel special, a show called Ancient Aliens, and many other things over the course of the years.

There was a couple of interesting things that I noticed about the answers that I received.  One of the obvious things that I noticed about my answers was that they all knew the basic facts about Alexander.  However aside from who he was and some of what he did, the answers were all very separate at the end of the day as well.  It wasn’t really as much as a big surprise to me.  The reason that it was not a surprise to me was in how my Dad has been a librarian for a while, and also is very fond of history.  Neither my mother or my sister really heard about him that much except for their schools.  Neither one of them was ever really interested in history before.  What my Dad knows however can be related back quite easily to what we have learned in class.  For example, the fact that my Dad knew about Alexanders travels of conquering the world up to that point is like when we learned about all of Alexanders conquest, and at what time they took place.  A quote that can also be used to connect with this idea is in the beginning of Alexander’s Romance.  The line says “After much time has passed, certain men, who are called “exploratores” by the Romans and the scouts of the Armenians came to Nectanebos  and reported that a horde of soldiers had arrived.” (Callistenes, 2).  My Dad also discussing about his death can relate to the whole slide we had talking about who attended his funeral and who did not show up.  It can also connect back to the sarcophagus that we examined towards the end of class on Friday.  But aside from the little things he knew, it was hard to connect these answers to any other things that we had discussed before in class.

Do You Even Know Who Alexander the Great Is?

Asad, 15, Brother, My house

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? If so, what do you know about him?

Yeah….I think he was a king or someone powerful from..Greece…yeah, from Greece.

Where did you learn about him?

From school. We learned about him in class.

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Random person, age is unknown, on bus.

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? If so, what do you know about him?

He was a leader of an army. I think he was a king as well. I don’t remember much about him. Never really paid attention in history class. But uh…I think he also conquered another country. I’m pretty sure it was the Persian Empire.

Where did you learn about him?

Sometime during my prime, when I was in school.

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Old lady sitting on her doorstep, age: over 50’s, on my way home.

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? If so, what do you know about him?

Alexander the Great? He was a…if I remember correctly, a king from Greece and a military genius. He led his army to defeat the Persian Empire…yeah. That’s all I remember.

Where did you learn about him?

When I was your age.

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The similarity in all the answers that I received was that all of the people that I interviewed knew that Alexander the Great was someone powerful. They all said that he was a king. The answers were similar to what we learned in class about Alexander the Great defeating the Persian army. I realized that all of the people I interviewed didn’t know that he died very young (at the age of 32). No one also knew that Alexander was predicted to be a very powerful ruler. As stated in Alexander Romance (Pseudo-Callisthenes verse 13), Alexander’s mother is foretold a prophecy from a god. The god says that she is “pregnant with a boy child who shall be your avenger and become world conquering king’ of the whole civilized universe”.

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Aisha, Team Ares

 

Do we really know who Alexander the Great was?

1.(Dominika K., my sister, 17 years old, our house)
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
Yes, I do, we spoke about him a little in my history class.
What do you know about him?  
Well, I know a little. So he was a kind in the Ancient Greek. I think it was Macedon, but I’m not sure. I also know that he created one of the largest empires in young age. That’s all I remember from class.
Where did you learn about him?
School, in my history class.

2. (Claudia B., my friend, 26 years old, our work)
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
Hmm, the name sounds very familiar to me. I believe I heard about him while I went to school.
What do you know about him?
The only thing that comes to my mind is the empire. I think he created one, the big one, and he got famous because of that. I’m sorry but history wasn’t really my subject, so I tried my best.
Where did you learn about him?
School

3. (Andrzej K., my dad, 46 years old, our house)
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
Of course, I do. Maybe not a lot, but something.
What do you know about him?
He was a young man who lived in Greece and created a huge empire. He was the king of Macedon, but before he got his power, he eliminated rivals so no one could stand in his path. He died very young in age I think somewhere between 30-35, and there are few versions about his death. He also conquered a lot of territories.
Where did you learn about him?
I still remember it from school.

According to my research, my sister, my friend and my dad knew that Alexander was someone famous and powerful, however, they didn’t know exact details about him – only basic information, which was a similarity between their answers. None of them said that he destroyed Persians, as in Idyll 17 says “At this side, regarding him with favor, sits Alexander, destroyer of the Persians, a god, wearing his colorful diadem.” [20] Also, another similar thing was that they all learn this information at school. I also noticed that they have a basic idea who Alexander the Great was, but they don’t know that much. Each of them gave me a different piece of information, which was fine, but I expected a little bit more, especially from my younger sister who is still studying in high school.

Alexander the Great was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon so it has a connection with spreading Christianity because as we know Paul spread Christianity to the Greek and Roman cities of the ancient Mediterranean world.

Edyta, team Aphrodite

Alexander The Great Reaches Bay Ridge

I asked my mother, brother, and aunt if they knew who Alexander The Great was. Each had some knowledge on him from hearing of him or learning about him in school, with this in mind however some had a greater knowledge on the topic then others. First I asked my aunt, Karima N.,aunt, aged 50, at my house. She knew that Alexander was a Greek general and told me she learned of him in elementary school in Lebanon, And that in the region he is considered to be a hero. Next I asked my brother, Julian K., brother, aged 23, home. He didn’t know to much about Alexander The Great and told me he remembers hearing of him slightly in high school but couldn’t really explain much more then that. Lastly I asked my mother, Mariam K,mother, aged 52, home. My mom knew quite a bit about Alexander, she knew that he was from Macedonia that he invaded much of Asia Minor and that he passed away at the young age of 32.

From the answers I received I learned that those who studied history in a foreign country had a better knowledge of Alexander then the one who were raised here. My mother and aunt who were born and raised in Lebanon told me that in the region Alexander was viewed as a hero, Instantly I remembered hearing in class that Alexander had conquered Lebanon leading me to make the connection. I would say  them telling me this backed up what I learned in class and the readings. For example  in “Pseudo-Callistenes, The Alexander Romance” it says “Alexander has ruled all in this way; and has maintained his power by doing kindnesses to his friends.” Reading this made it clear to me as to why those in the Lebanon would view Alexander as a great hero.

 

I found these mini Greek columns while walking through the isles of Petco in Union Square. These columns strongly resemble the Iconic columns found during the Greek Classical period. The spiral figures atop the column make this clear.A major difference between this figure and the original Greek columns is their size and their use, This figure is much smaller then the actual columns and rather then being used to hold up huge buildings they are used as a decoration for a gold fish bowl. These Iconic columns are some of the same columns used during the reign of Alexander The Great.

Oliver Khoury, Team Hestia

Understanding Alexander, The Great Ruler of Kings

Since time in memorial after human beings got civilized, some leaders have helped in the integration of civilization through various governance structures which they established during their reigns. It is difficult to fail to mention the name of Alexander the Great when mentioning names such as Julius Caesar and Augustus. These rulers have all some how contributed a lot in shaping the world. He defeated his enemies the Persians and Egyptians upon taking up the kingdom despite all the overwhelming odds and challenges. Indeed, Alexander was a military genius.

Although Alexander is known to have achieved a lot during his reign as a Greek Emperor, not many people possess the intrinsic details about his achievements and his rise to power. For instance, I inquired my friend Kofi who is 27 years old and lives next door of his cognizance of Alexander while we were playing FIFA 18. The response I received is a clear substantiation as to observation of the scanty information under peoples possession. Kofi said that he knew about Alexander as a dictatorial Egyptian King from a fellow friend, whereas he was a Greek Emperor of Macedon. The text Alexander Romance reveals that “While Alexander, who was Macedonian , came to Egypt and had a native burial befitting a god” [35].

Interestingly, my elder sister Michelle, 20, who is a college student, however was right as she verbalized that Alexander the Great has a brilliant tutor who was known as Aristotle from an article she read while we were having some snacks. Evidently, the text discloses Great world conqueror Alexander of Macedon of a having a close association with Aristotle of Nicomitachos, his teacher of philosophy, “the Lamphsakenian; and philosophy, Aristotle of Nicomitachos, the Stagirite from the city of Meliteos” [29].

Job, a stranger around 26, who I met at Prospect Park works at a local movie shop and was quick to articulate that Alexander was a god. He even went on to make mention that Alexander won many complicated wars. I opine that his rich knowledge was affiliated to his love for movies and historical documentaries. Notably, the statement is somehow true as the text reveals in [27] that, ” I do not wish to rear that one, my lady, for he is not my off-spring. But since I see that your seed is from the gods and that your birthgiving was accompanied by the omen of elemental occurrences, I shall rear him in the memory of my child who died, the one who had been born to me from my first wife; and  he shall be called Alexander.” The voice of Philip in this text shows that Alexander may have been an offspring of a god or in possession of godly powers.

Before class, I only knew of Alexander the Great as a conqueror of lands which is a pretty common answer, therefore I was shocked to the answers i received from my interviews. Many people would not have had an idea of who he was or what he did but he helped in the integration of civilization. Kofi, Michelle, and Job answered me into a little more detail telling me Alexander was a well learned, an an emperor and was considered a god. Kofi was the only one who mistook Alexander for an Egyptian instead of a Macedonian.

Concisely, the class notes were factual and straight. they revealed accurate information and data about Alexander the Great. We were able to draw a family tree showing Alexander’s godly lineage and the quote from [27] also speaks about the events and surprising elements that happened when Alexander was born. In addition, the quotes [29] and [35] goes into detail about the teachers of Alexander and his hometown respectively.

All in all, the respondents had a clue about Alexander the Great, though all did not come out articulately. Significantly, I sparked some curiosity in them, and am sure they will make some effort to research more on the same.

Richard, Team Vulcan.

And So the Sands Fall, Fading and Screaming

Common knowledge is commonly mistaken as being the same among everyone. The depths of history and the tendencies of human morality and consciousness are conceived on differing wavelengths within every person. Alexander the Great, former king of Macedonia is one such person which may be considered to be common knowledge to many but completely foreign to some. I asked three people I talk to about their knowledge of Alexander the Great and to what it extent their knowledge lies.

I first asked my friend Tommy, age 17, about this subject while we were eating at my local pizzeria and it went about as I expected. When I asked him who Alexander the Great was, he answered that yes he knew. Furthermore, he added that he knew that he was the king of Macedonia which answered my second question. However, when I asked him about where he learned of this ancient king, he was quite vague as he couldn’t remember the specifics which is quite understandable since a seemingly random historical fact wouldn’t be engraved on a person’s memory. He responded that he wasn’t quite sure and thought that he learned of it in class a couple of years ago. The answer made enough sense so I accepted it and moved on.

Secondly, I asked my sister Christina, age 28 about Alexander the Great while we were at home preparing dinner. She said that she kind of knew who Alexander the Great was. However, when I asked for specifics, she said that she only thought that he was a king or emperor of some kind. I then asked her where she learned of Alexander the Great and she said that she probably learned it in school at some point a long time ago. This again makes sense since Christina has no real interest in ancient history and it has no moral bearing of any sort on her current life.

Lastly, I asked another friend by the name of John, age 18 at his house during a project preparation about Alexander the Great. He said that the name seemed familiar but he couldn’t pinpoint when he heard of it. This answered my second question as well since John couldn’t remember any facts about him. As for where he learned about him, John said it was probably in Junior High or High School. This again, makes sense since history is not his focus of study.

The image below is what came to mind whenever I asked the three of them about Alexander the Great. To them, he was a nobody who at the very least seemed to have some degree of strength when he lived.

This image is reminiscent of art class with Professor Simon in its tone. Some of the works we’ve seen in that class radiate feelings of somberness or heroism and this illustration fits the latter. The chafing sand, heavy equipment and the foreboding sense of bloodshed make this image remind me of some of the broken down sculptures I’ve seen in art class so far.

All of these answers were just about what I expected since Alexander the Great is not a central figure in any of their lives and there’s no concrete reason for any of them to have any intricate or even general knowledge of a long fallen king. None of them knew the intricacies of Alexander the Great’s life or what kind of person he was. Tommy at the very least knew for sure that he was the king of Macedonia at some point but that was all he could recall. This is completely relatable to my experience in learning about Alexander the Great since his name was completely foreign to me prior to this class. For instance, I didn’t even know that he was considered strong in any sense of the word but the quote of “Alexander became learned in every matter and trained himself so well.” in Alexander Romance [30] made me quite aware of his outward character and the lengths he went to in order to preserve his own honor as well of that of his city. This serves as a profound reminder of who Alexander was since someone as ignorant as me could’ve just viewed him as some unremarkable, pathetic fallen king as anyone who fails to leave hopeful marks on us are. However, with all that said, the importance of Alexander of the Great can only extend so far and the brief interviews that I had sealed that deal. Yes, his life was significant once but his lack of presence in everyday life and moral thought only leaves him as remarkable to those studying his era of time. The sands of his time have long since fallen for him and dwelling on them can only breed feelings of baggage and irrelevance if looked at through a non-historical lens.

Bailey Seemangal, Team 5 Hephaestus

How Great was Alexander the Great?

Yuhang H., A friend, Aged 19, Facebook Messenger

1) Do you know who Alexander the Great was?    

• “Yeah, I know who Alexander the Great was.”

2) What do you know about him?

• “I knew that Alexander the Great led an ancient Greek army. He also fought the Persian army. He built a library that gathered many knowledgeable individuals and cultivated information from the places he conquered.”

3) Where did you learn about him?

• “I learned about Alexander the great from global history class in middle school.”

Eric Z., A friend, Aged 18, Brooklyn Library

1) Do you know who Alexander the Great was?   

• “Yes, but I don’t know much about him.”

2) What do you know about him?

• “Well, I know that Alexander the Great was an Ancient Greek king and military leader. During his conquest he defeated Persia.”

3)  Where did you learn about him?

• “I learned about him briefly from previous history lessons in (elementary/middle/high) school.”

Eric H., A friend, Aged 18, The Park

1) Do you know who Alexander the Great was? 

• “Yes, I have an idea of who he was.”

2) What do you know about him? 

• “I know Alexander the Great was a Ancient Greek king and also a conqueror. He conquered most of the world at a young age.”

3) Where did you learn about him?

• “I learned about him from history class in high school.”

What is similar about the answers you received? 

It seems as though that when people are questioned about who Alexander the Great was, they tend to have a very common answer. That is either ” he was a conqueror” or ” he was a leader” but overall they didn’t have a huge understanding of who he was. This makes me question myself whether if students or people in general care enough to know who he really was as a leader, a conqueror, and a king or not. This applies to many different other famous and historic not just Alexander the Great, people such as Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincoln. Most people would not have a huge idea of who they were but they know that they were important people that contributed to the society today. Most people would only know that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and Abraham Lincoln was the United States 16th president. But is Alexander the Great in the same category as these people?

How is this similar or different to what you learned in this class?

In the reading “A history of the great world conqueror, Alexander of Macedon” in line 30 it stated “And Alexander became learned in every matter and trained himself so well, as I said before, that it became clearly evident chat he was being taught by some divinity. When he was free from tutorial counseling, from time to time he umpired his fellow students. And when he saw a team being defeated, he joined in the battle, and then, in turn, it was victorious. Thus it was clear that the victory was of his doing.” This is similar to the answers I received from the participants because it shows how Alexander was such a great leader and a conqueror. He so great that he was able to lead a team that was losing in a battle to victory. Because of how great Alexander was, it was portrayed that he was learning and training with something more divine like a God. This is what differs from the answers I received from the participates. In the modern world people would not question about how Alexander the Great became such a good leader, conqueror, and a king. People nowadays wouldn’t know that Alexander was so self trained that people started to think that he was training with a divine being. Despite all of Alexander’s achievements, people in the modern society would only be at the tip of the iceberg when they are asked about who Alexander the Great was.

Alexander the Great

(Amanda, 17, friend, at school)

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?  
“Yeah, he was known as one of the most brilliant military leaders and also a powerful ruler.”
What do you know about him?  
“He became a commander at 18, and the king at 20. He defeated the Persian Empire and allowed for the spread of Greek settlements into the east. The Greek culture spread to Western Asia as a result. However he was widely despised by many Greeks. Nonetheless after his death, his achievements remain important to others that followed his footsteps.”
Where did you learn about him?
“In high school, and also through research online.”

(Brittany, 18, Friend, at the library)
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?  
“ Yes I do. He was a  Military Commander and a King during ancient Greece.”
What do you know about him?
“He was the King of Macedonia. As a military commander he is known for conquering much of Asia and Europe.”
Where did you learn about him?
“I learned about him first in 3rd grade and then again in high school.”

(Semiah H. , 18, Friend, text message)
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
“I don’t remember much….he was a great leader I guess.”
What do you know about him?
“I kind of don’t remember him but I recall that he lead his people to more land making the country wealthier than before, which made him great.
Where did you learn about him?
“I learned about him in 11th grade in Ms. Cohen’s class.”

The similarities from responses all include how Alexander was literally a great leader, and that he was deeply respected due to his accomplishments.  
The responses are quite similar to what we learned in class, when it comes to the basic knowledge of Alexander being a leader, and the accomplishments he made in his lifetime. From the text, “Alexander’s Romance”, it was stated how it was predicted how Alexander would be great. “If you give birth now, 0 Queen,the one you bear is a world conqueror.” And Alexander did indeed become a world conqueror, which he is greatly remembered by today. The only thing that would be different from what we learned in class, was that the information we obtained were much more in depth than the responses I received. Information such as Alexander only getting as far as the Indus River, and him dying in Babylon. New information I also learned in class about Alexander, was about his horse Bucephalus. The legend about Alexander’s horse being a wild man eating beast, and also being used to kill prisoners was rather intriguing.What I gathered from asking questions about Alexander the Great, is that most have a general understanding that he was a greek leader, and successful in battle. So it makes sense as to why the answers that were given about who Alexander were so short, because in high school, the discussion on him did not go as in depth as we did in class. However many were shocked to discover that he also became a king later in life, and further details about him as a person.

Alexander Who?

Ling Ling Yeung, 18, friend, phone call

1. Yes, he conquered some places in Europe.
2. He was very smart and tactical, because he won a lot of wars. I know he had something related to Persia too.
3. Global class in high school.

 

Ada Xie, 15, cousin, facebook

1. Kind of, he was the King of Persia?
2. He was known for being a great leader, thus the name “great.” He had something to do with Cleopatra and Egypt. I think he was from Greece, and traveled to Asia as well.
3. Global class in High school.

 

Nicole Monegro, 18, friend, facebook

1. I think he was a king or something.
2. He took over a lot of places by winning wars, and he traveled around Turkey and Egypt. He was well known in europe. He was very famous as a leader.
3. Global class in High School.

 

After conducting a short survey about Alexander the Great, I noticed that most of the answers were spoken with uncertainty. The answers I received were quite vague about Alexander the Great’s conquest through Persia and Europe. Alexander the Great’s name was familiar to many people, but the exact details were not remembered. Alexander’s leadership and travels were mentioned due to the many battles he won. I also learned that many people learned about Alexander the great in their Global History class in high school. The interviewees were in their freshman and sophomore years when learning about world history, and they state that it’s difficult to recall information from 2 or 3 ago.

The answers I received is similar to what I learned in class. According to Alexander Romance, Alexander the Great’s “[28]… personality very clearly indicated what the boy would be like.’ And in time he grew up and tried his wings at learning and at ruling… [30] And Alexander became learned in every matter and trained himself so well… it became clearly evident chat he was being taught by some divinity… it was clear that the victory was of his doing” (7). As described, Alexander the Great was seen to have been quick to learn and rule at a young age. He was very adamant about being able to reach his accomplishments independently. This strong mindset of his enabled Alexander to grow into a powerful leader in his later years as an adult. Alexander was able to conquer multiple cities with his army, and spark cultural diffusion through his Macedonian background. As seen in Egyptian sculptures, Alexander was able to influence art by incorporating Greek aesthetics to a person’s facial features or posture.

 

Vicky Lee, Team Hermes

Do people know who Alexander the Great was?

I asked three people in my life if they knew who Alexander the Great was and what they knew about them so these are their responses. Danielle said she remembers very little about him but knows she learned about him in global class. She said he lead some people into war and came back as a hero and was really skilled in military. She also said he created an enormous empire but was cruel for murdering his enemies and even his friends. (Danielle L., my cousin, aged 16, on the Q train on the way home) Calvin said that he remembers learning about him in global class in high school as well, he remembers he had something to do with Aristotle and founded Alexandria. (Calvin F., my friend, aged 18, at my house) Joseph said that he was a warrior/ soldier that fought people and he took over many places. He also said that he founded the city of Alexandria and remembers learning about him in history class when he was in high school. Joseph also said he sounds very ruthless. (Joseph L., my brother, aged 21, at our house)

The answers I received were pretty similar to one another. I feel like people generally have an idea of who Alexander the Great was if you have already attended high school. He was known as “the Great” for a reason and that is because of his accomplishments. I noticed that two of the people I asked knew that Alexander the Great had to do with the military and had to fight. Also, two of the people remembered that he founded the city of Alexandria which is pretty impressive. The name does give it away as a place that he founded so he name is after himself. All three of the people I had asked mentioned that they learned about Alexander the Great in global/ history classes. The answers I have received is similar to what I have learned in this class because they connect to the fact that he has no clue about. From “Alexander Romance”, it quotes “Alexander shall not be the high and mighty conqueror of the whole world, for a king is nothing unless he have fit and decent land.’ Alexander, the first of the Greeks, took Egypt, thus becoming the first of the Greeks and of the Barbarians.” In class, we discussed more in debt and the details of Alexander the Great but the answers I got from my family and friends were very short and not too specified since most of them did not remember much about him. But in class, we discussed more than just his city of Alexandria.

Alexander The Conqueror

Alyssa D. (18 years old, friend, I asked over the phone, she was in her dorm at Stony Brook University)Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yes, I do!

What do you know about him? I know he conquered large areas of Asia in a short time, which connected different parts of the world and created the Hellenistic period and culture. He was from Macedonia though, not Greece.

Where did you learn about him? Crash course on YouTube and AP Euro in high school
Gianna M. (18 years old, friend, in my house, sheepshead bay)
Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yeah

What do you know about him?  He was a famous leader of Greece, fairly young I think, he conquered a lot

Where did you learn about him? In a text book from high school, I was a freshmen I think
Anthony D. ( 16 years old, best friend, I asked over the phone, he was at home)

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yes

What do you know about him? I don’t exactly remember much about him though, he was a ruler right?

Where did you learn about him? Uh, I learned about him in global in sophomore and freshman year
In all of my answers the biggest similarities were that they all learned about Alexander the Great during school and in a textbook, one of my friends that had researched him through videos outside of learning about him in school knew more about him and what he did. The common answer I’ve revived is that he conquered a large amount of places, in the reading the Alexander Romance a specific quote appears a lot which would be “A boy child who shall be your avenger and become world conquering king’ of the whole civilized universe.” (Page 3,10). While he didn’t actually conquer the “whole universe” he did conquer many areas between Macedonia all the way to The Indus River. So it was true about what we have learned and what the text says to some extent he has conquered many areas in a relatively short amount of time, Alexander’s march to these different areas started in 335 (BCE) and ended around 323 (BCE) which is a relatively short time to take over so many areas. What none of my friends mentioned was that Alexander was sort of like the god figure in the text the Alexander Romance it was said “He is white haired and has the horns of a ram above his jaws. Now then prepare yourself as a queen and a woman, for you shall see a dream concerning this and the god mated with you.” (Page 3,9) in this part they are talking about how Alexander’s mother is going to mate with a god and have a child that “god like” with white hair and horns. Many interpreted Alexander to have similar attributes to Heracles and said that he is a dependence of him. Which made many look at Alexander as this amazing ruler/ conqueror.

We Get it, You Know

The three question ive been forced to ask in order to get a grade for this class
1. Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
2. What do you know about him?
3. Where did you learn about him?
1) Luya S. Aged 86, my great uncle who lives down the hall in his apartment
a) Yes of course I know who he is
b) That he at aged 16 ended up taking over Greece, Modern Day turkey as well as the Egyptian and Persian empires before going on to India and ended up dying in Babylon. Was one of the greatest military leaders in history having never lost a battle.
c) In military school when they tried to make me take the Officer’s exam and this was one of the few western military leaders we learned about
2) Alexander G. (Yes this is a coincidence don’t blame me this isn’t on purpose) Aged 69-70, my other great uncle over the phone
a) What idiot doesn’t know who Alexander the Great is! (His words not mine)
b) One of the influential people in the ancient world that while he hasn’t influenced in the time in between it did influence other things down the line in later times
c) In school where else. Now stop asking me stupid questions *Click*
3) William D. Aged 54, My science AP from Madison HS over the phone
a) Of course, why are you asking a former history teacher then?
b) He influenced the world in a such a way through unifying campaigns that while      leaving a fragile empire which immediately started falling apart after his death it dead  leave a legacy of Greek civilization and culture throughout a large chunk of the “modern” world
c) In school while I was growing up and when I was getting my teaching license.
As shown above in the answers to the question everyone that I interviewed had learned about Alexander in one school or another, and had some kind of lasting influence on the world. Might be though because I asked a bunch of old people

What do you know about Alexander the Great?

 

Lauren Henrich, 23, good friend, her house

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?: “Yes”

What do you know about him?: “He was a King in the BC era; he conquered lots of land”

Where did you learn about him?: “School/Egypt documentaries on tv”

Steph Dirani, 22, friend from high school, Facebook

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?: “Yes, hopefully”

What do you know about him?: “He was a War General of some sort”

Where did you learn about him?: “High school”

Amelia Richter, 11, best friend’s little sister, in the park

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?: “Yes”

What do you know about him?: “Alexander the Great was a King in Greece in Macedon”

Where did you learn about him?: “Middle school”

In these answers, two people have said that he was a king and one person said that he was a General. In everyone’s answers though, they have indicated that he was an important person like a King or War General. Alexander the Great was both a king and war general. Lauren said that he was a king in the BC era which is true according to other resources and to this quote; “The diadem, a ribbon or band worn high on the head, was a symbol of kingship adopted by Alexander from Dionysus, or, perhaps, from the Persians whom he conquered” (Line 7 page 11). In this quote, it says that Alexander conquered the Persians meaning that was involved with a battle of some sort. Amelia said that was a king in Greece in Macedon, which is also true; “Called hetairoi rather than the usual word philoi as a reference to the hetairoi of the kings of Macedon, and especially of Alexander” (Line 40, page 13). This quote and the quote from line 7 from the story proves that Alexander was king of Macedon. I have realize during this research, Alexander is also similar to Augustus whom I’ve learned about from art history. Augustus is also known to be a king. Alexander was a king of Ancient Greece, while Augustus was a king of the Roman Empire. They both lead in wars and were very powerful Kings.They were also both young; born in the BC era. Alexander was born before Augustus. The difference between them was that Augustus started the Pax Romana and Alexander just conquered Egypt, Persia, India, etc. Augustus created laws, Alexander fought against enemies to get money and take over their countries. Alexander was more powerful in a way that he took over countries, while Augustus stayed in one place trying to make peace and to expand the place. Though, Augustus was also known to be a brilliant leader.

 

Caroline, Team Cronos

 

Who Was Alexander the Great?

(Cindy L., My mom, 50 yrs old, at home)

Do you Know who Alexander the Great was?: Um, wasn’t he that Greek philosopher? Or no, maybe he was the emperor of Greece?

What do you know about him?: Not much, sorry, I don’t really remember who he is.  I just know he was like Greek or something, he had something to do in ancient Greek history

Where did you learn about him?:  Well I think I learned about him in High School, which is probably why I don’t really remember much about him.

(Jared L., Brother, 19 yrs old, at home)

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?: Is that really one of your questions, seriously? Of course I do.

What do you know about him?: He was a young conqueror that basically conquered all of Greece, defeated the Persian empire and conquered it, parts of the Middle East, and parts of Africa, like Egypt.  He was an ingenious military commander, super educated and smart and was the leader of one of the largest empires in history.  I think he originated from Macedonia, and was taught by a bunch of people like maybe Aristotle?  Anyway, he was basically a great big emperor in ancient history.  Oh yeah, and he brought upon Hellenistic culture/age, and created a bunch of cultural diffusion with the territories and regions that he conquered, which many say is a good thing.  I think he married a Persian women, created the city of Alexandria and created the library of Alexandria, which is now lost.  His empire fell because of his generals grasping for power and it all falling apart and to the Romans.  I don’t exactly remember how he died but I think he died of natural causes.  He was known because of his prowess, his military genius, and is hailed as one of the most influential people in the world’s history.  A bunch of statues, art, and stuff like that have been made to honor him.

Where did you learn about him?: High school, middle school, and just books, duh.

(Jeff L., Brother, 27 yrs old, at home)

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?: Yep, a really big emperor and influential person in ancient Greek History.

What do you know about him?: Uh, a lot, I’m not gonna say all of it.  Let’s see, he was the emperor of one of the largest empires in the world.  He conquered a bunch of territories at a really young age, which is why his empire was so big, he is known for his empire and intelligence.  There’s a crap ton of statues and art works made out to honor him.  Basically he was a big deal and is still a big deal when it comes to ancient history.

Where did you learn about him?: School and books.

There is actually a lot similar about the answers I received, other than the answers from my mother, who didn’t really remember who Alexander the Great was (which is understandable considering how long ago she learned of him).  My brothers’ answers were actually quite similar on a large number of things.  They both knew that he was the emperor of a huge Empire in ancient history and that he conquered and erected his empire at a very young age.  In addition, they know he was revered for his intelligence and military prowess.  They also knew about how there are countless art works and statues made in honor of him.  Ultimately Alexander the Great was a very influential person, both in his time and even nowadays.  He is known for his reputation and the great number of achievements that he achieved, which is not an easy thing for anyone to accomplish, especially at his age.  This is very similar to what we learned and what we went over in class that was based on the readings.  In class we delved deeper into his history and what he did during his life, that brought him the reputation that he now has.  We also touched upon how he spread culture from the different regions he conquered throughout his empire and brought upon the Hellenistic era/age.

“And Alexander became learned in every matter and trained himself so well, as I said before, that it became clear that he was being taught by some divinity. […]  Thus it was clear that the victory was of his doing.”  This quote from the reading, “A History of the Great World Conqueror, Alexander of Macedon”, shows just how great Alexander was, even as a young child.  Almost every battle he joined and fought in, even battles between fellow students, resulted in victory due to his actions.  Alexander the Great earned his reputation, he learned a lot from his teachers, but a great deal were from his own actions and teachings that he taught and learned himself.  Not many people can do that, especially on the caliber and level that he had, which just shows how great he truly was.

How GREAT was Alexander the Great?

Xavier Morren, 13, little brother, at our home

1. Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yes, A king.
2. What do you know about him? I know that he lived a very short period of time I think he was killed by a mosquito bite and conquered a city that is lost today.
3. Where did you learn about him? At school and a couple of tours we did at the Met.

Kelly Robinson, 22, fellow Brooklyn College student and friend, on campus

1. Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yeah, I think that he was one of the world leaders in the history of the world and governments
2. What do you know about him? I know that he was known to be powerful, and have a large kingdom that was a primary world ruler/kingdom at the time of his rein.
3. Where did you learn about him? Learned about him from history classes during school days, mostly.

Prof. Paul Wyatt, 50s-60s, family-friend, John Jay College

1. Do you know who Alexander the Great was? A young Macedonian military strategist who set out to conquer the world.
2. What do you know about him? He struck down the Medo-Persian forces twice. He conquered much of the ancient world, and aided in common Koine, Greek  becoming an international language. Since many Jews began to speak that language it led to the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek which became known as the Septuagint.
3. Where did you learn about him? From several readings I’ve done on The Watchtower Online Library the Insight Volume 2 and some trips I’ve taken to The Hellenistic World At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum and The Coliseum in Rome.

One common idea throughout the answers I received from my interviewees is that Alexander the Great was a King who conquered the world. Two of my interviewees said that they learned about him at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and two said that they learned about him at school.  I researched the hilarious statement my brother made about his death being caused by a mosquito bite. Despite that this is not entirely true, one of the possible causes of Alexander’s death is malaria.  My interviewees were familiar with the fact that Alexander was fairly young when he carried out such conquests as he died at the age of thirty two. It’s safe to conclude that a variety of  people, regardless of age and the like are familiar with how Great of a conqueror Alexander was.

While still broad, their answers are quite similar to what I learned in this class. In the text The Romance of Alexander the Great, Olympias, Alexander’s mother receives a message from the God Ammon saying “Invincible and indomitable child. Long may you live, my lady, for you are pregnant with a boy child who shall be your avenger and become world conquering king’ of the whole civilized universe” (Pseudo-Callisthenes verse 13) Thus, exactly what  was foretold by the god in the dream occurred. Olympias became pregnant with a son who began to rule as king at a very young age and inevitably conquered the all of the civilizations he possibly could and planned to conquer more before his abrupt death. I am eager to learn more.

Who is the Real Alexander the Great?

Sean Kirby (46, father, living room of house in East Dover, Vermont)

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yep, of course.

What do you know about him?  He was the leader of the Ottoman Empire, he had that great war with the Greeks.

Where did you learn about him? Probably when I had to study Homer in high school, or maybe 8th grade.

 

Maureen Krebs (68, grandmother, over the phone)

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yeah.

What do you know about him?  Well whatever I know about him I think I’ve forgotten! I know he became King of Greece after his father passed away and he was a great commander. By the age of 30 he had conquered most of Asia and Africa, which is why he is known as one of the greatest commanders of all time.

Where did you learn about him? When I was in high school, but that was centuries ago.

 

Idalia Gonzalez (18, friend, in her house in Wilmington, Delaware)

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? Yeah, I do.

What do you know about him?  I know he created the catapult in like Rome or something.

Where did you learn about him? In my Physics class last year we learned about capitulates, and spent like an entire day talking about Alexander the Great.

 

From the answers I received,  it seems like people who know who Alexander the Great was know he was in charge of a military. From building catapults, to battling the Greeks, to conquering continents, it seems everyone knows that he was an important military figure. Another commonality between the answers was that, apparently, high schools do a good job teaching about Alexander, and everyone seems to remember that he was an important Greek figure. In the text we read, Alexander Romance, it’s widely common for people to be taught and learn about Alexander has being of the utmost importance. In the text it states that, as a young boy, “it became clearly evident that… he was being taught by some divinity” and “it was clear that [every] victory was of his doing.” Most of the texts about Alexander do stress his divinity and nature knack for being a strong and talented military commander. What I found interesting is that no one mentioned anything about Egypt, which was an important part of what we read in Alexander Romance. In that reading it was very prominent that Alexander was the “reincarnation” of King Nectanebus of Egypt. Alexander even stated he wanted to spend his riches “in Alexandria, which is in Egypt, and is the capital of the whole world” (Alexander Romance). According to that text, Egypt was highly important to Alexander; some might say more so than Greece was to him (although that text might be bias, as it was written by the Egyptians!).

 

The Victorious, Alexander the Great

(Katrina Lin, 18 years old, her house – Bensonhurst)
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
The name definitely rings a bell, I remember faintly learning about him in High School world history, I believe it was related to ancient Rome or maybe Greece, I’m not sure.
What do you know about him?
He was some sort of leader, and he was in control of cities. I think he would have been described as a king and was glorified even after his death.
Where did you learn about him?
Since I remember a few things I’m pretty sure I learned about him in High school, sophomore year world history most likely.

(Emily Chu, 18 years old, messenger)
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
Yeah I do, I remember the basics, but not exactly everything he did.
What do you know about him?
I know what he looked like based on the statues I’ve seen, and he was the king of the Persian Empire. Also, I remember him being young during his accomplishments.
Where did you learn about him? 
In high school, probably even in middle school, I wouldn’t remember though.

(Amy Lu, 17 years old, Library)
Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
I sort of remember, he was the guy who took over everything. He really was, Alexander the Great.
What do you know about him?
I said earlier, he took over cities, making him a king or a leader of some sort. Im sure he had a lot of followers based on his accomplishments. I think he was an influential person as well because I know there are statues of him.
Where did you learn about him?
I read about him in textbooks, and probably global history in high school.

Based on the answers I received from my friends, everyone know’s of Alexander being a leader or a king, who had power over the people and had gained control throughout the city at a particularly young age. He was glorified and there are statues that serve as a constant reminder of who Alexander the Great was and what he accomplished. Additionally, the three have heard about Alexander the Great and learned about him at least once in high school or earlier. Also, the people interviewed all had an idea of where he was from and of the reputation he had amongst people. In class and in the readings , we learned more in depth of his action and how he earned his title.

In the reading “Alexander of Macedon” it reads “Alexander became learned in every matter and trained himself so well, as I said before, that it became clearly evident that he was being taught by some divinity…thus it was clear that the victory of his doing” This quote from the reading supports the idea that Alexander was known for his actions and achievements and he was an exceptional character, which is similar to what we learned in class. It is explaining the fact that Alexander became who he was on his own, by teaching himself and he did a great job doing so. The author described it as Alexander being taught by some ‘divinity’ which simply emphasizes his greatness. Alexander joining a battle would result in victory because of how well trained he was and the skills he attained.

Do we know who Alexander The Great really was?

1. Jeanette O., my best friend, 19 years old, over WeChat voice call.

-Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

-“I heard about him in a history class, but i can’t remember exactly.”

-What do you know about him?

-“ Isn’t he roman or something? I can’t say I know something in particular about him, other than the fact that he was known as ‘Great’ due to his conquests. One thing I know for sure is that he is a guy, lol.”

-Where did you learn about him?

-“In global history class.. the question should be ‘where did you NOT learn about him?’. My global history class was the worse, the only thing the teacher taught us was Africa.”

2. Svetlana D., my mother, 41 years old, at home on the balcony. 

-Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

-“Ehhhh sort of, but not much, just random facts.”

-What do you know about him?

-“Besides the common known name Alexander the great had another less popular name–Alexander III of Macedon. I believe he is called that because of his birthplace. From what I heard, he is relatively short but very attractive. He was also sort of shady, at least I for some reason thought so.”

  

-Where did you learn about him?

-“History class many years ago.”

3. Allan P., friend, 26 years old, WeChat direct messages. 

-Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

-“Not really… barely remember.”

-What do you know about him?

-“He was some Greek king long time ago. United city states I think, which is where his nickname ‘Alexander the Great’ came from. He was considered great for being able to unite many states and nations.”

-Where did you learn about him?

-“School many years ago, and wiki.”

---

People that I’ve interviewed had very basic knowledge concerning Alexander the Great. Few similarities I’ve noticed was the fact that none of them learned anything other than just the basics, and I think that could be a problem. If they were taught in-depth about him, they would have known more. So one of the similarities is lack of knowledge about him. Another similarity in their answers is that two out of three said that the name given to him comes from his great adventures where he was able to conquest many independent states.

Despite the information I’ve gotten from my friends and family being relatively basic, there are some similarities with what I’ve learned in class readings. One being his name and its origin. Like two of the people said, he was considered great due to his conquests. In the reading the queen received a prophecy in which Ammon the Libyan God appeared and prophesied the birth of the great leader who can lead nations and unite everyone. 

“O King, you will have a son who, having traversed the whole world, shall subdue everyone by his strength and shall be subdued by no one;”

“If you give birth now, o Queen, the one you bear is a world conqueror.” 

In a way, people I’ve interviewed were correct however it would have been nice if they knew the entire story.  Most of them got their information from high school and middle schools, I think its time to really think what we are teaching the kids. As a teacher you have an obligation to teach a student of an actual history, not just the history you would like as it happened with Person 1, where her Global History teacher only taught her stuff that fits into her own agenda. Now this girl is in college, with zero knowledge in world history. But also, we as individuals should make own research and learn stuff on our own, as the more we know the better we can see the world.

-Diana D, Team Mercury.

“Alexander The Great” According to Middle School.

1) Kudzai Mathlongani Tunduwani, 23 years old. Older brother, At Our Residency

Do you know who Alexander the Great was?
Vaguely, however I do know (As he looks him up) Alexander III of Macedon commonly known as Alexander the Great was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty.

What do you know about him? 
He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty. (MORE ONLINE CITING ON HIS PART) He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, and he created one of the largest empires of the ancient world by the age of thirty, stretching from Greece to northwestern India. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of history’s most successful military commanders

 Where did you learn about him? 
Well I just learnt about him as we spoke but aside from that I do believe I also learnt about him in middle school or something. **His actual words**

2) Wilson Masimba Matimba, 46 years old, Uncle, Over Skype

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? 
Yes I do. Alexander the Great: He served as king of Macedonia from 336 to 325 B.C.

What do you know about him? 
Alexander was born to parents King Philip II and Queen Olympia. Tutored by Aristotle, the prince took charge of the Companion Cavalry at age 18 and aided Philip in defeating the Athenian and Theban armies at Chaeronea. After the death of his father, Alexander garnered the support of the Macedonian Army and eliminated his enemies to become king and leader of the Corinthian League. Alexander went on to conquer Persia and Egypt as well as unite Greece, reestablished the Corinthian League and conquered the Persian Empire

Where did you learn about him?
I would only image in school. Not certain when but it was always something that stuck with me.

 Michael Lawrence Kaplan, 18 years old, Closest friend, Over Instagram Direct Messages
Do you know who Alexander the Great was? 
Yes, but not enough to tell you much about him. The only thing I know about him is that his name is on one song my favorite band made.

What do you know about him? 
Well he was great. Alexander the “GREAT” and well that’s it basically. I don’t know much of Alexander the Great. I do know that he completely conquered/ destroyed the Persian Empire and in doing this, trying to install Greek elements into the culture of Persia. If I remember correctly he founded many cities and the men in his army “founded”/ brought out the Greek dialect that is still in the country today.

 Where did you learn about him?
In Mr. Coulters (Our High School Theatre Instructor and Director) “Intro to Acting Class.” If not there then middle school or freshman Global History.

What is similar about the answers you received?
The people I interviewed weren’t able to supply detail as to who Alexander the Great was. The similarities that I found in all three of the people I interviewed answers were that they didn’t have an in depth knowledge of Alexander the Great. It was all basic middle school knowledge

How is this similar or different to what you learned in this class?
The difference in the answers given by my three interviewees and what we learnt in class is that we had a more in depth learning of it. We put in more time and focus on this topic. We focused on learning what it was he did that made him how he was and how he went about accomplishing it.

Shamiso Tunduwani Team Jupiter

Alexander, CLAS5, EveryoneKnows

We ”KNOW” Alexander the Great!!

Do you know who Alexander the Great was? What do you know about him? Where did you learn about him?  Write up the answers you received as a blog post.

Temurbek Sabirov, Best friend, Age 18, Student, Snapchat conversation. “Yes, I know him He is basically a dude who was student of Aristotle. People say he was from Macadonia. He conquered half of the world. He educated the world by whatever he learned from Aristotle. I learned this from back in my country Uzbekistan”.

Kevin Chun, Friend, Age 17, Student, Facebook messenger conversation. “Yea I know him. I think he was a conquer from Greek world. He wasn’t a good guy. He controlled people. I learned about him in High School”.

Siam Hadid, Friend, Age 19, Student, Snapchat messenger conversation. “um I heard of him, He is some guy I had to write essays on in global class. He did some wars. He was a military leader. I learned about him in high school”.

All the answers I received from my friends show how little to no knowledge they have about Alexander. They all learned about him at some point but still don’t have the right information. One of them mentioned how he educated the world “from time to time he umpired his fellow students . And when he saw a team being defeated , he joined in the battle. and then, in turn, it was victorious. ( Alexander Romance, 30) ” It shows how  they were right about him being a leader and educator but they still don’t know as much as  I and the people in our class learn. My friends learned about him ones but we learned about him in details, which is why we know more. As we learned in our Art class, During Hellenistic period Alexander was always shown clean-shaven, which was an innovation, because all previous portraits of Greek statues or rulers had beards. We can see the pic without beard, this fashion lasted for almost five hundred years. – Fizza Saeed, Team Hermes

Do you know my boy Alexander?

(4) create a title that distinguishes your post from all the others (6) write at least 250 words about: What is similar about the answers you received?  How is this similar or different to what you learned in this class?  Use a quote from the readings to support your answer to the last question. (7) be sure to include the following tags as appropriate: Alexander, CLAS5, EveryoneKnows

 

1. Alexandria Smith,  18 years old, Friend, iMessage
   “Do you know who Alexander the Great was?”
   “Heard of him but I dont remember too much of what he did though.”   “How much do you remember?”
   ” I only remember that Alexandria was named after him after                                    conquering Egypt.”
   “Where do you remember learning about him?”
   ” The last class I remember talking about Alexander the Great was in                        Middle school social studies.”
2. Dea Stefanllari, 18 years old, Friend, iMessage
   “Do you remember learning who Alexander the Great is?”
   “Vaguely but I know he never lost a battle!! Hence the ‘the Great!”
3. Thomas Qiu, 18 years old, Best Friend ,Newkirk Plaza
   ” Who is Alexander the Great?”
   “We talked about him in my history class a few days ago BUT I didn’t listen during the lecture.”
   ” What pieces do you remember about Alexander the Great?”
   ” I mean I know hes dead, but also he was tutored by Aristotle. Don’t know that much about his achievements as king of Greece.”
   “You said you spoke about him in class, how long ago?”
   ” Maybe a week ago? We were discussing Ancient Greece and the                             Persians”

Whose That Alexander Guy?

Alexander The Great was a king of Macedon who built the largest empire in the world. and conquered Persia, Egypt and Asia minors. The man names many cities after himself because he wants to be known as the great. He died from malaria in Babylon.

I surveyed three people about what they know about Alexander The Great. I decided to survey my mom, dad and brother who is a college graduate. Before I began, I predicted what each of them might say. My results surprised me.

I asked my dad if he first knows who Alexander the Great is. The look on my dads face couldn’t look more puzzled than he was when I asked him that question. He responded saying “Alex who?, I may have heard of him but I know nothing about him.” After that response I felt like it was pointless to ask him although he did graduate high school. But yet again, he hasn’t been to school in ages. My father is 50 and I asked him this question when he came home from work around 9pm.

Next I asked my mother. I was surprised when she answered me on topic. She stated “The guy from history right?” I felt like I was on the right track with this one. I then asked her if she remembers anything about him, and she responded “Wasn’t he a king or something?” She was on the right track and I was actually very surprised. My mother is 48 and she has a great memory, therefore maybe she remembers the term “the great” from high school. I asked her during lunch.

Finally, I asked my brother who is a college graduate so I had high expectations. When I asked him if he knows who Alexander the Great, he responded by saying, “The guy… the king of some place… from history.” He surely recognized who it is but maybe couldn’t remember exactly at the time. I then asked him if he knows anything about Alexander and he responded “All I know is that he was a king and conquered these big places like Egypt and Persia and some others.” He also added on the part of Alex naming places after himself. My brother is 23 and I asked him when he came home from work around 7pm.

What was similar about the answers I got was that the name was recognizable. Although my parents are much older than my brother, they still had a small sense of the name. Overall this was an interesting topic to discuss with my family and fun activity.