For a long time, history was all about the Study of Great Men, and it was common to call people as "the Great," but these days historians are less likely to do that, because they recognize that one man's Great is generally another man's Terrible.
And also "the Great" has some misogynistic implications, like, it's almost always men who are called "the Great". You never hear about Cleopatra the Great or Elizabeth the Great.
There was, of course, Catherine the Great of Russia, but for her masculine Greatness she was saddled with the completely untrue rumor that she died trying to skoodilypoop with a horse.
Saddled? Get it? Anybody? Saddled with the rumor?
Anyway, they could've soiled Catherine the Great's name just by telling the truth: which is that like so many other Great men and women, she died on the toilet.
Get it? Soiled? Toilet? Yes? Yes!
So, quick biography of Alexander of Macedon, born in 356 BCE, died in 323 BCE at the ripe old age of 32.
Alexander was the son of King Philip the 2nd, and when just 13 years old he tamed a horse no one else could ride named Bucephalus, which impressed his father so much he said: "Oh thy son, look thee at a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee." By that time, he was already an accomplished general, but over the next decade he expanded his empire with unprecedented speed and he is famous for having never lost a battle.
Today we're going to look at Alexander of Macedon's story by examining three possible definitions of greatness.
First, maybe Alexander was great because of his accomplishments. This is an extension of the idea that history is the record of the deeds of great men.
