Alexander the Great--- or not so great?

Alexander the Great is known all around then world, but are people really aware of what he actually did and the characteristics he possessed? Alexander the Great lived a very short but yet very fulfilled life. Alexander was only thirty-two when he died and much of his life was spent in battles. There were three major battles that Alexander and his army were able to win. The first battle he won was the Battle of Granicus, the second was the Battle of Issus, and the third major battle was the Battle of Gaugamela. During these battles many lives were lost and Alexander still wanted to continue on his expedition. Although Alexander the Great was a very powerful and determined king it is debatable whether or not Alexander the Great was really all that Great. Alexander the Great's theory was that he wanted to conquer the entire world. And who really wants a ruler with those intentions?

Once Alexander conquered a city, many of those cities were named after Alexander the Great himself. It seems to me that he wanted every ounce of power he was able to get a hold of and his armies following him did not really mean that much to Alexander. In the latter battles his armies finally convinces Alexander the Great that their many conquers were enough and that it was time to head back to the beginning of their expedition. If this were to not have happened Alexander the Great may have actually conquered the entire world, just as he had planned to. If he would have in fact conquered the entire world he would have an extreme amount of power. Probably too much power for one person to possess. Having one ruler with too much power would also lead to many other issues, such as, trying to overthrow him as a ruler, and Alexander trying to control every aspect of every ones lives. Too much power is not always a good thing, and I do not think Alexander realized how much power he would really receive.

Personally, I feel that even though he may have led on that he wanted to continue and would not stop until he had rule over all that nations, this may not be entirely true. After the many battles Alexander later died. His body was growing tired from too many battles, and during the end of the battles I think he was ready to be done even though he did not allow anyone to know that.

Alexander was a strong-willed man and he did achieve some of his many goals he had set. He may not be as great as many people say he is, though. With some more knowledge about the details of his life I think many will re-think his ever so popular name.