Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great:
Research Paper by Simon Euteneier #997011987

Professor Rubincam
Winter-2013-CLA347H5
Alexander of Macedon is unquestionably one of histories most important figures. His conquest and unification of Greece and the Persian Empire led to an unprecedented blending of cultures and peoples. It also resulted in a much-needed period of peace within the ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern worlds. Although the outcome of Alexander’s conquest was generally good, what was Alexander’s true character and what were his true intentions? Modern scholars have interpreted the primary sources in different ways. Some cast Alexander in a positive light, claiming that he was a brilliant strategist, and righteous man. Other scholars claim that Alexander’s motivations were darker in nature. In this paper, I will examine the works of two predominant scholars on Alexander. The first, W. W. Tarn, gives an overly positive portrayal of Alexander, while the second, Peter Green, presents a more critical and overly negative account of Alexander. In this paper, I will also examine what environmental or personal factors may have shaped their divergent interpretations of this historical figure.
William Woodthrope Tarn (1869-1957) was raised in Dingwall, Scottland. He was educated in England at the university of Cambridge. He was not enlisted into either of the wars that he lived through, although he did do some intelligence work in London. Due to disability, Tarn was unable to travel during his lifetime. He lived a quiet country life in Scottland and it is within this environment that he wrote the book that we will be discussing, titled “Alexander the Great”. He was an eminent scholar in spite of never having held an academic position and he was knighted in 1952. Many have acclaimed Tarn to be the world’s leading authority on Alexander the Great and this book is the culmination of his life’s research and work. His research and publications are mainly concentrated in the areas of Alexander’s life, conquest and the subsequent Hellenistic world. Peter Morris Green was a British man born in 1924. He was educated at the University of Cambridge in England, and he briefly lived on the island of Lesbos in Greece where he conducted research. He also served briefly with the British Air Force in Burma at the end of World War II. Has a background in, and has written extensively on the ancient Hellenistic world. He has also written extensively on ancient Greek and Homeric mythology, as well as Greek and Roman poetry and literature. The book we will be examining, “Alexander of Macedon” was written while Dr. Green was holding the Mellon Chair in Humanities at the University of Tulane, New Orleans.
Tarn starts his book by introducing Alexander. He states that Alexander inherited his father’s military talent and practicality and his mother’s passionate spirit. Tarn also states that Alexander carried a strong love for mythology with him into adulthood, even sleeping with a copy of the Iliad under his pillow. He also describes Alexander as possessing the following traits: masterful, generous, loyal to friends, and interested in science. He goes on to say that these traits bore fruit for Alexander’s later care for his army in Asia. Here we already see that Tarn is presenting Alexander in an overly positive light by using colourful and highly subjective language (which Tarn does not support with examples or evidence) to describe Alexander (Pg. 1-2). It is as if he is unaware Alexander executed some of his friends (such as Parmenio) on suspicions substantiated by little evidence, and attempted to make an exhausted and weak army which was on the verge of mutiny march 12 days across an Indian desert to the river Ganges. Later in the book he does little to justify his initial portrait of Alexander. When talking about the murder of Parmenio Tarn merely brushes over the episode and states “there were of course terrible crimes…the murder of Parmenio… perhaps only those only who have known the temptations of power can judge”(pg 125).
Jeanne Reames also found that Tarn gave Alexander an overly positive treatment. In her review of his book she states “Tarn's portrait of Alexander turned the Greek conqueror into a proper Scottish gentleman (as was Tarn himself). Engaging in sometimes elaborate apologetics to explain away Alexander's questionable decisions, Tarn painted him as the original philosopher in armor, a chivalrous young king who brought higher Greek culture to the poor benighted barbarian”.
Green starts his book by stating that Alexander was a product of his father, Philip, whom he shared many traits with. Green goes on to describe Philip as a strong man, addicted to drink, women and occasionally boys. He describes Alexander as having adopted a policy of “racial fusion” from his father and from his tutor, Aristotle. Green states that this policy equated barbarians with beasts and he compares the ambitions and intentions of Alexander to those of Adolf Hitler in this respect (pg 59). Here we see that Green oversteps what the evidence warrants in an attempt to paint Alexander in a negative light. In contrast, we are not given very good reason to think otherwise by Tarn. When talking about Alexander’s reasons for invading Persia he simply states that Alexander “never thought of not doing it”.
John Briscoe also notices Green’s overly negative review of Alexander in his review of the book. Briscoe describes Green’s Alexander as being very grim and also writes that Green “goes well beyond the evidence” in some respects. In what is perhaps the first major event that gives us major insight into Alexander’s inner character and qualities, we get very divergent interpretations of the primary literature from Tarn and Green. Regarding the comment made by Attalus (uncle of Cleopatra, at her wedding to Philip), which insinuated that Alexander was not a legitimate heir to the Macedonian throne, Green goes into great detail describing the implications of the incident and speculates that a plot to assassinate Philip may already have been in the making. He names the people who were involved in the plot: Alexander, Olympias and Antipater. Green draws on Plutarch and Justin and makes a strong argument implicating the three in the assassination. He argues that because Alexander felt that his claim to the throne was threatened by Philip’s marriage to Cleopatra, he enlisted the assistance of his mother and Antipater to exploit Pausanias’ anger toward Philip. Pausanias was angry over having been sexually abused numerous times by the king. Green argues that the three used this to entice him to carry out the crime. Tarn on the other hand merely brushes over the comment at the wedding and fails to acknowledge that this event highlights a very plausible motive for Alexander and Olympias to have been involved in the assassination plot. Tarn goes on to state “Antipater’s attitude absolutely acquits Alexander of complicity”. This statement fails to acknowledge that both Justin and Plutarch (two of the best and most reliable primary sources for Alexander’s life) state that Alexander and Olympias were involved in the assassination plot. It also ignores the fact that Antipater himself may have been involved in the plot. After all, he had a great deal to gain by demonstrating loyalty to Alexander following Philip’s death, as he would have wanted to serve as a military general under Alexander. Justin writes “Olympias and her son… incited Pausanias to proceed to so heinous a crime… Olympias had horses at the ready for the assassin’s getaway”. Tarn’s careless statement is unfounded and demonstrates a severe negligence in failing to record all of the facts associated with this event. His intention was probably to cast Alexander in as positive a light as possible. It is impossible to say what Alexander’s true motivations and ambitions were. It is likely that both Tarn and Green have misrepresented him to some degree. So why do Tarn and Green present Alexander in such differing ways? They both come from a similar academic background, and they both grew up in locations far removed from the Mediterranean and southern Asia. They both had some involvement in a war during their lifetime and they both were experts on the Hellenistic world. There is however one major difference between them: the time period and academic climate they were writing in. Tarn is described as a proper Scottish gentleman with traditional and chivalrous values. He began his academic career in Cambridge during a time that encompassed old English values such as chivalry to woman, and respect amongst men. The academic trend at the time was to project these values onto Alexander. Tarn’s writings on Alexander were no exception and he published his first idealized accounts of Alexander’s conquest in The Cambridge Ancient History in 1928. His later book in 1948 presented the same righteous and chivalrous version of Alexander. Tarn projects his own old English values onto Alexander. Green wrote his book in the early nineties. The academic climate in the nineties was quite different than the climate Tarn wrote in. Green wrote in a time that idealized accounts of history were not acceptable. The academic trend in the nineties was becoming far more modern. Critical reasoning and new theories were being put forward in order to give a broader, more realistic account of Alexander. In being highly critical of Alexander, Green offers alternatives to the more traditional, idealized accounts that are offered by scholars like Tarn. Green overstates himself in some respects in an attempt to put forward new and alternative theories on the life of Alexander. In conclusion, Tarn and Green present very divergent representations of Alexander the Great. Neither account can be accepted as wholly true. Both authors allow their environment to skew their representations of Alexander. Tarn projected his own values onto Alexander, as was the academic trend at the time he was writing. Green overstated himself in some respects when presenting his version of Alexander. This was an attempt to present new theories and an alternative version of Alexander, as was the academic trend in the nineties.

Bibliography:

[1] Tarn, W. W. Alexander the Great. Cambridge [Eng.: University, 1948. Print.] [2] Cambridge Times Newspaper Obituary – “Obituary for William Woodthorpe Tarn 1957”. Retrieved 2013.03.13 [http://www.rgreen.org.uk/WWT.html] [3] Green, Peter, and Peter Green. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Berkeley: University of California, 1991 [4] Green, Peter – Career of Peter Green. Retrieved 2013.03.13 [http://www.uiowa.edu/~classics/people/petergreen-cv.html] [5] Reames, Jeanne. "Beyond Renault: Alexander the Great in Fiction". Retrieved 2013.03.13 [http://myweb.unomaha.edu/~mreames/Beyond_Renault/beyondrenault.html] [6] Review of Alexander of Macedon by: John Briscoe The Classical Review , New Series, Vol. 26, No. 2 (1976), pp. 232-235 [7] Justin 9.5.8-9. Taken from Heckel, Waldemar and Yardley, J. C., Alexander the Great - Historical Sources in Translation (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004). pg. 23 [8] Plutarch 10.5 Taken from Heckel and Yardley, Alexander the Great - Historical Sources in Translation - pg. 28 [9] Green, Peter, and Peter Green. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Berkeley: University of California, 1991. Print. Pg. 483

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[ 1 ]. Cambridge Times Newspaper Obituary – “Obituary for William Woodthorpe Tarn 1957”. Retrieved 2013.03.13 [http://www.rgreen.org.uk/WWT.html]
[ 2 ]. Green, Peter, and Peter Green. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Berkeley: University of California, 1991
[ 3 ]. Green, Peter – Career of Peter Green. Retrieved 2013.03.13 [http://www.uiowa.edu/~classics/people/petergreen-cv.html]
[ 4 ]. Reames, Jeanne. "Beyond Renault: Alexander the Great in Fiction". Retrieved 2013.03.13 [http://myweb.unomaha.edu/~mreames/Beyond_Renault/beyondrenault.html]
[ 5 ]. Review of Alexander of Macedon by: John Briscoe
The Classical Review , New Series, Vol. 26, No. 2 (1976), pp. 232-235
[ 6 ]. Justin 9.5.8-9. Taken from Heckel, Waldemar and Yardley, J. C., Alexander the Great - Historical Sources in Translation (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004). pg. 23
[ 7 ]. Plutarch 10.5 Taken from Heckel and Yardley, Alexander the Great - Historical Sources in Translation - pg. 28
[ 8 ]. Green, Peter, and Peter Green. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Berkeley: University of California, 1991. Print. Pg. 483