OCR Text |
Show The Character of Alexander It has been said that none of mortal birth ever went through such an ordeal as Alexander the Great; and Arrian insists on certain points which ought not to be forgotten in forming an estimate of his hero. He was the son of the able and unscrupulous Philip and of the violent Olympias. He was brought up in a court notoriously licentious. His ??? a ??? at twenty the greatest monarch of the world before thirty. A general who never knew defeat, he was surrounded by men ??atly inferior to himself, who intrig??? For his favor and flattered his weakness. Thus inheriting a fierce and ambitious temper and placed in circumstance calculated to foster it, it would have been little short of a miracle had Alexander shown a character without ??? To stand on a pinnacle of greatness higher than man had ever reached before, and to be free at the same time from vanity, would have required a combination of virtues impossible before Christ, perhaps never possible. Alexander was beyond question vain, impulsive, passionate, at times furious; but he had strong affections and called out strong affections in others. A man of energy and ambition, he was the hardest worker of his day both in body and mind. Incapable of fear, he foresaw difficulties or combinations which others never dreamed of, and pre??? Against them with success. Amid endless temptations this son of Philip remained comparatively pure. Unlike his fellow countrymen, he was (says Arrian) no great drinker, though he loved a banquet? and its genial flow of conversation. On one point in his character Arrian dwells with an admiration in which we may heartily join. Alexander, he says stood almost alone in his readiness to acknowledge and express regret ??? having done wrong. It would be difficult to conclude this short sketch of a hero??? life more aptly than in the words of Bishop ???all "Alexander was one of the greatest of earth's sons - great above most for what he was in himself, and ?? as many who have borne the title for what was given to him to effect great in the course which his ??tion took, and the collateral aims which ennobled and purified it, so that it almost grew into one with the highest of which man is capable, the desire of knowledge and love of good in a word, great as one of the benefactors of his kind." |