About 2000 years ago a man named Alexander of Macedonia was born and lived to be a hero. His military skill and genius war tactics earned him a huge empire and he soon was known as Alexander the Great. But after recently learning a little about philosophy, a question pops up, what is great? To be called great the person must have certain qualities. He or she must be trustworthy, honest, and treat all people as if they were equal and not think they are superior over anyone else. Does Alexander the "Great" meet these standards? Is he really great? Alexander the Great was the first person to be called "the great" but the question is, should he have been given this prestigious title. .
Someone who is great should be trustworthy. Would anyone call somebody they couldn't trust great? Probably not considering trust is the basis of many things. Alexander the Great has not always been trustworthy. This is because he killed his best friend who saved his life. Not many people would trust someone who killed their best friend who just happened to save his life previously in time. He also lied to people; he told his people he was a god, which was not true on any terms. Alexander the Great also demolished Thebes. Perhaps his people did not trust him. They were just afraid of being demolished like Thebes so they obeyed him. He was an ill-tempered person and sometimes had temper tantrums. When he did kill his best friend it was because of a temper tantrum when his friend claimed that the only reason he was so successful is because of his army.
Alexander the Great seemed to be fairly honest. There is no doubt that he was not always completely honest but he did not tell that many outstanding lies. On the other hand he did tell people he was a god. He claimed that god spoke to him and referred to him as "my son". That was most likely a lie to keep the people from rebelling because they would not want to make the gods angry.