Dave L Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> We know the Greeks had a massive chip on their
> shoulders about the Persians, and they also had a
> great deal of admiration for their own culture and
> learning. How can you say that Alexander would
> not have been influenced by Aristotle, and by
> these ideas. Surely it would be more unlikely that
> he wasn't?
>
> Dave L
This is long and i want to elaborate on this:
A/ Polemical, but i've mentioned this before and i'm surprised this has been talked about. Macedonians were not Greek, simply because both Greeks and Macedonians did not see Macedonians as Greek. This is NOT a political claim on my part. Greeks went bonkers over ethnicity (what was barbarian), and it is only because of them that i can firmly state this here. Isocrates was explicit in describing what he called a panhellenic crusade against the barbarian Persians led by a king (Philip) who claimed an Argive ancestry, but ruled over "a non-kindred race" who were "outside Greece completely".
B/Alexander can still claim that he fought for the glory of Greece, but sources make it clear that these claims were made to impress Greeks whose loyalty were questionable -- any rebellion was "restrained rather by fear than by any good-will". If Alexander made a panhellenic declaration, his Macedonians (who formed the majority of his army at Gaugamela) would probably run off, as i would if i were Macedonian and i think they did! I tend to liken this to the way the Manchurians subdued the Chinese under the Qing dynasty and needed something to impress the "conquered".
C/Aristotle was employed by philip for political purposes. This apparently tied the Argive dynasty with both the academy and a powerful relative of Aristotle's (some Hermias of Atarneus). It is clear that the Macedonian hetairoi had trouble with "court philosphers" from the time of Philips brother and therefore preferred a Greek from the Chalcidice, whose father served as court physician and would know his place. Even then he was installed at Mieza, a safe distance from the capital.
D/We have no direct evidence of Aristotles effect on Alexander, accounts of which have been overlaid with romance. Statistically, Alexander placed very little power in the hands of Greeks, and his policy towards them was marked with extensive caution to say the least. They, in many cases, were not welcome. It is conceivable, though not proved, that hellenism was an indirect and i can think of numerous examples were this kind of cultural diffusion has happened.
Ps. This belongs to history! I'm sorry if it does
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2005 10:22AM by darkuser.
