More on that history series
"In short, Alexander was Great, because others decided he was Great. Because they chose to admire and emulate him. Yes, Alexander was a great general. Yes, he conquered a lot of land. The Situation is also really good at picking up girls--of a certain type.
We made Alexander 'Great', just as today we make people great when we admire them and try to emulate them. History has traditionally been in the business of finding and celebrating great men--and only occasionally great women--but this obsession with greatness is troubling to me. It wrongly implies that first, history is made primarily by men, and secondly, that history is made primarily by celebrated people. Which of course makes us all want to be celebrities.
Thankfully, we've left behind the idea that the only way to become an icon is to butcher people and conquer a lot of land, but the ideals we've embraced instead aren't necessarily worth celebrating either.
All of which is to say that we decide what to worship and what to care about and what to pay attention to. We decide whether to care about The Situation. Alexander couldn't make history in a vacuum, and neither can anyone else."
We made Alexander 'Great', just as today we make people great when we admire them and try to emulate them. History has traditionally been in the business of finding and celebrating great men--and only occasionally great women--but this obsession with greatness is troubling to me. It wrongly implies that first, history is made primarily by men, and secondly, that history is made primarily by celebrated people. Which of course makes us all want to be celebrities.
Thankfully, we've left behind the idea that the only way to become an icon is to butcher people and conquer a lot of land, but the ideals we've embraced instead aren't necessarily worth celebrating either.
All of which is to say that we decide what to worship and what to care about and what to pay attention to. We decide whether to care about The Situation. Alexander couldn't make history in a vacuum, and neither can anyone else."