7 ms·

I wonder what Alexander the Great would think about this. Did he think he achieved greatness? Was he happy and satisfied? Or did he suffer from the impostor syn

by azujus 7y ago

I wonder what Alexander the Great would think about this. Did he think he achieved greatness? Was he happy and satisfied? Or did he suffer from the impostor syndrome like many "greats" of today?

simonsarris 7y ago
> Alexander wept when he heard Anaxarchus discourse about an infinite number of worlds, and when his friends inquired what ailed him, "Is it not worthy of tears," he said, "that, when the number of worlds is infinite, we have not yet become lords of a single one?" (Plutarch) (But as far as we know he did think he was great. "Only sex and sleep make me remember I am mortal", "If I were not Alexander I would wish to be Diogenes", and so many other lines suggest he thought he was awesome, note those quotes are my paraphrasing.)
- ohaideredevs 7y ago
  Bunch of punks - Caesar cried at Alexander's grave too. Still, to me, Alexander's father was the man who made Alexander, so he was greater. (I don't mean by birth, the army and previous conquests)
  - abc_lisper 7y ago
    Many people don't know that Alexander was tutored by Aristotle! So yeah, he had a great upbringing.
    - ohaideredevs 7y ago
      His father spent a lot of effort facilitating that as well, so he really was a pretty cool guy.
      - lihaciudaniel 7y ago
        Yeah he even was proud when (as story goes) Alexander at a very young age managed to ride a horse.
nkingsy 7y ago
He had historians follow him around, so greatness in posterity was clearly important to him. Objectively he inherited the worlds best army and a next door neighbor with an empire hanging by a thread. All he had to do was push. The fact that he gets to own the word “great” owes more to his understanding of history than any inherent greatness. Whether he was happy or satisfied or suffering imposter syndrome feels like attaching modern sentiment to classical times. Dude murdered people by hand a lot and drank himself to death. I don’t think he was happy or satisfied, and I think he would laugh at the concept of imposter syndrome.

by azujus 7y ago

I wonder what Alexander the Great would think about this. Did he think he achieved greatness? Was he happy and satisfied? Or did he suffer from the impostor syndrome like many "greats" of today?

simonsarris 7y ago

> Alexander wept when he heard Anaxarchus discourse about an infinite number of worlds, and when his friends inquired what ailed him, "Is it not worthy of tears," he said, "that, when the number of worlds is infinite, we have not yet become lords of a single one?" (Plutarch) (But as far as we know he did think he was great. "Only sex and sleep make me remember I am mortal", "If I were not Alexander I would wish to be Diogenes", and so many other lines suggest he thought he was awesome, note those quotes are my paraphrasing.)

ohaideredevs 7y ago
Bunch of punks - Caesar cried at Alexander's grave too. Still, to me, Alexander's father was the man who made Alexander, so he was greater. (I don't mean by birth, the army and previous conquests)
- abc_lisper 7y ago
  Many people don't know that Alexander was tutored by Aristotle! So yeah, he had a great upbringing.
  - ohaideredevs 7y ago
    His father spent a lot of effort facilitating that as well, so he really was a pretty cool guy.
    - lihaciudaniel 7y ago
      Yeah he even was proud when (as story goes) Alexander at a very young age managed to ride a horse.

nkingsy 7y ago

He had historians follow him around, so greatness in posterity was clearly important to him. Objectively he inherited the worlds best army and a next door neighbor with an empire hanging by a thread. All he had to do was push. The fact that he gets to own the word “great” owes more to his understanding of history than any inherent greatness. Whether he was happy or satisfied or suffering imposter syndrome feels like attaching modern sentiment to classical times. Dude murdered people by hand a lot and drank himself to death. I don’t think he was happy or satisfied, and I think he would laugh at the concept of imposter syndrome.