OT: Welcome Alexander!

[Guest guest]

Hi Ien,

 

> Dear Butch:

>

> First of all: congratulations!

 

Thankee ma'am .. appreciated it is.

 

> Alexander, Leader of Men, such a beautiful

> name. (I gave it to my own son, big smile)

 

That it is .. and you done gud methinks. ;-)

 

> Though one wonders why we call people who

> feel a need to conquer other people for no

> good reason at all " The Great " .

 

Careful now .. some Danish folks done got into a heap of trouble over

dealing with such things. ;-)

 

But .. there were many good reasons why Alexander conquered .. and good

it was that he did that. Folks see Socrates as having been a wise man

and its Socrates that pushed Alexander. Socrates told him to continue

to press the city states until he had Greek unity and common cause, and

then to unite them against the barbarians .. which at that time .. meant

the Persians.

 

Folks look back at Socrates as being a great orator .. and he was .. but

he was also a ferocious hawk. The Persians were easy to hate for many

good reasons .. and the idea of dispensing justice and religion to

barbarians, coupled with the big time plunder the Greeks needed to

finance their way of life, made it a great idea at the time. ;-)

 

Alexander was a cultured man .. tutored by Aristotle .. Homer’s Iliad

was his favorite book .. a patron of the arts and learning he was. But

he was also a leader at a time that leadership was needed. Leaders lead

when others will only follow .. without leaders we have chaos.

 

Some folks call Alexander a Conqueror, others call him a Civilizer as he

united the Greeks and spread Panhellenic ideas. Regardless of how they

call him he was the first leader in recorded history to have the title

of " The Great " .

 

Historians claim Alexander's dream was an empire ruled by tolerance ..

sorta avant garde that idea was considering that barbarism was the rule

once one crossed the Aegean Sea. The problems with his conquered lands

were the fault of those he chose to govern them because corruption was

also the rule in those days. Empires were then as countries are today.

City States didn't function well .. just as cities today can't function

independently.

 

Alexander is considered to be the greatest and most successful military

commander in world history. He was the most charismatic and heroic

warrior of all times .. his accomplishments as a warrior/leader had

never before and were never later equaled. He created military tactics

and formations that were used for centuries throughout the world .. some

historians suggest that the principle of torsion was developed by his

father and improved on by Alexander. He led from the front .. and he

conquered most of the known world before his death. His entire life

spanned one month less than 33 years. People of various national,

ethnic and cultural origins regard him as a great man and hero.

 

One of the many reasons why he conquered all before him was because ..

it was there .. another reason was .. conquering was an honorable trade

in those times .. and to try to evaluate the motives of folks who lived

2,300 - 2,500 years ago .. using today's moral standards and norms ..

would then force us to take apart all of the Holy Books .. page by page.

 

If Alexander hadn't encouraged marriage between his army and foreigners,

and practiced it himself, there would have been a lot of in-breeding in

the small kingdoms he unified. He was known as the first great leader

to merge cultures by importing new " free " blood.

 

To condemn his actions would be like condemning horse and wife stealing

of the American Plains Indians .. it was not only an important aspect of

their life but it was a necessary variable in their survival.

 

If Alexander had not unified the city states of Greece there would have

been no Hellenistic Age and perhaps there would be no Greece now.

 

If he had not conquered Darius, the Persian Empire could have lasted for

many more centuries and that alone would have changed the face of the

Middle East .. for better or worse? Who knows? History corrects itself

while in a constant state of change .. sometimes we even make progress.

 

Likewise, the Roman Empire would not have succeeded as long as they did

if they had not fallen in on lands already " civilized " by Alexander and

his armies.

 

Alexander's conquests had long term cultural effects. Establishment of

Hellenistic civilization throughout the Middle East and Central Asia,

and the development of Greco-Buddhist art in India are a direct result

of his efforts. Some leaders in the Roman Empire (Julius Caesar and

Pompey the Great being two examples) attempted to adapt his benevolent

style in dealing with conquered lands. Their efforts failed because

they weren't as smart as Alexander nor did they have his charisma.

 

If he had not rebuilt the city of Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey) when it

was destroyed by earthquake in 334 B.C. .. then Izmir would not now be

known as the world's oldest continuously occupied city. ;-)

 

If he had not stomped through what is now Turkey we wouldn't have one of

my favorite dishes .. Iskender Kebab. Iskender is the Turkish word for

Alexander. Iskender Kebab is " doner " or " gyro " thinly sliced and laid

over pide bread .. then covered with tomato sauce and melted butter ..

dashes of mint and sumac and oregano .. and eaten with hot peppers and

yoghourt. Y'all hungry yet? ;-)

 

If he had not conquered Egypt there would be no Alexandria. There would

have been no Ptolemies and very little history there .. thus, there

would be few tourists. ;-)

 

If there has been no Alexandria there would have been no great library

there and the Egyptians would not have become jealous of the great

library of Pergamom (in Turkey) and destroyed it .. and cut off the sale

of papyrus to Pergamom .. and the invention of bound leaf (books as we

know them) might have still been waiting to happen. ;-)

 

If he had not severed the Knot in the Phrygian capital of Gordian .. now

Yassihüyük - 80 kilometers Southwest of Ankara, there would not be so

many tourists there now visiting King Midas' Tomb. And there would be

no Midas Rose Otto .. which I will again be able to offer in 1 gram

sizes in June when I again take Rose Otto into that tomb .. its a

natural earth energy site. Martin Watt and Chris Ziegler have both been

there and they both felt the energy .. me .. I was just hot and sweaty

and wanted a beer. ;-)

 

Alexander was also into spices and oils. Among the presents that he

sent back to Greece was a huge quantity of frankincense and myrrh sent

to his tutor, Leonidas. The reason for this was that when Alexander was

still a boy, Leonidas had told him not to use so much of these spices in

the sacrifice he was performing, saying: " When you have conquered the

countries where these things grow, then you may be more liberal, but for

now do not waste the little that we have. " Alexander sent the following

note with the gift: " We send you plenty of frankincense and myrrh so

that in the future you will not be a niggard to the gods. " ;-)

 

> If you-know-who had won WWW II European schoolkids would

> now be reading history books (in German of course) about

> the Unification of Europe by " Adolf the Great " .

 

There was a big difference twixt a benevolent conqueror who allowed the

conquered to assimilate and a mad man who was into genocide. Plus the

few thousand years between them and different norms. Alexander's

actions were acceptable norms .. Hitler's actions were not acceptable.

 

> I probably would not have been around to read them, due to

> Jewish father.

 

Yep .. I agree .. but Alexander had no prejudice .. he liked all the

folks he conquered .. in fact, his soldiers got a bit upset because he

adapted the Persian norms a bit too readily.

 

> I will always have a soft spot for honorable warriors.

 

Me too .. even if they be the enemy .. as long as they are honorable I

feel closer to them than I do my own politicians. Terrorists are a

different sort .. there is no honor among them regardless of some

efforts by Hollywood and others to romanticize their actions.

 

> We digress.

 

It was a nice digression .. and it was clearly marked as OT. ;-)

 

> Let the stars speak. Or, perhaps not.

 

I agree .. that is what drove Alexander the Great .. it was written.

More than one astrologer and more than one oracle foretold the destiny

of Alexander .. so he was just doing what was natural.

 

> Butch, I did a little thumbnail sketch of your son.

> Since astrology can be an invasion of privacy,

> I changed my mind about sending it to the group.

 

Thanks for doing it .. appreciated it is. :-)

 

> You can either prefer to not know anything, or

> share my blatherings with all, or choose to have it

> sent privately. Your choice.

 

I'm happy to let the group read it .. we mark it OT and those who aren't

interested can zap it and all will be well. :-)

 

> Ien in the Kootenays

> http://freegreenliving.com

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

[Guest guest]

Hey Butch, is he spoiled yet ? Please don't take offence but from your posts, I

picture you as a some-what gruff, maybe a bit rough around the edges but under

it all lives a lovable miltary man. I bet all that rough and tough guy stuff

melts away and you turn into a marshmello when you hold that little guy and he

looks deep into your eyes. Is that a fairly accurate picture of you or am I

totally off base ? In your posts about Alexander and your adventure into

parenthood, it sounds like you are just glowing with happiness.

Paula .......... in Michigan

I used to have super powers but my therapist took them away