Was it Alexander the Great that left us the heritage of Greece?

Question

Was is Alexander the Great that left us the heritage of Greece, or important people IN Greece before him? If you think that the culture in Greece and the heritage truly developped before his conquests, please state some examples of important people. Thanks.

Answer 1

Alexander certainly helped spread Greek culture via his military conquests, but I'd have to say that Greece's heritage was passed on more effectively by other means. Alexander's conquests focused mainly Eastward, and the cities/military outposts he created (as referenced above) usually ended up blending the Greek, "Hellenistic" culture brought by Alexander's army's with indigenous culture. I'd have to say that the most permenant vestige of Greek culture was passed on via the mechanism of its intellectual heritage. figures like Plato and (even more so) Aristotle helped to create the intellectual ideal of "arete," intellectual and moral excellence, that was the backbone of what today is considered "Classical" Greek culture. arete was essential to the education of young Greeks (paideia), an educational model that was adopted by Rome centuries later and then spread throughout the (Western) world.

...it's also worthwhile to note that Alexander was not even Greek, but was actually Macedonian. His knowledge of Greek culture was that of a conqueror, acquired during during his father's unification and conquest of the various independent Greek states and by his tutor, Aristotle.

iguana, please identify sources where Alexander calls himself a true Greek. sources below indicate that the Greek city-states were (under the time of Alexander) Macedonian territories, many of which actively rebelled against Macedonian rule (i.e. Thebes, Athens). this would suggest that Macedonia was NOT an "Hellenistic" (or Greek) kingdom, but rather the other way around.

re:sources
Thank you. Would you argue that while sources make it obvious that Alexander identified himself as being a true Greek, that the Athenians and peoples of the Ionian peninsula shared this view and identified themselves with him politically? Also would or wouldn't the "approval" of Athens and southern Greece be necessary to designate Alexander a "true Hellenas."

Answer 2

Well Plato,Aristotle,Hepokrates, Sofocles,Pythagoras,Homer and many many more great minds affected dramatically the modern world and they lived before or at the same time as Alexander. Alexander being a true Hellenas(Greek) as he declared several times ,from the hellenic kingdom of Macedonia (and this is to answer to a false statement by a previews answerer)had a dream of unifying all the greek city states and spreading greek culture and civilsation to the rest of the world. This he achieved very well and its a fact that a whole historical era after his conquests is caled ''Hellenistic Era". After Alexander, the Romans did pretty much the same thing in a different way by implementing and adopting many greek customs , from architecture and art to military combat and philosophy.

Answer to ''just an''
the greek city states were constantly fighting each other for rule over the hellenic world.If Sparta was ruler then the others objected and fought over Spartan rule.Same case with Macedonia. Macedonia was part of the Hellenic world,the word Macedonia itself is greek,Olympus mountain of Greek gods is in Macedonia and thousands of other sources prove that easily.The fact that Macedonians were highlanders and not educated as the Athenians made other hellenic states not to think much of them.King Philip tried to change this by building an unbeatable army and by bringing many phillosophers in order to educated his people.Alexander declares himself a Hellene and this comonly accepted as well by the huge majority of historians.Also if you refer to Aristotle as a Hellene how can yoy doubt Alexander since both of them were born in Macedonia?Aristotle is from Stageira in Chalkidiki,which is the penisula in north Greece.

Answer 3

Yes and no. Alexander spread Greek culture over all of the middle east and north Africa. But what emerged was a blend of indigenous culture and Greek culture. So elements of Greek culture came down to us. However, so did some pure Greek culture as well as Romanized Greek culture. Any precedent culture arrives at the present, filtered through cultures that intercede between now and then.

Answer 4

Well, Alexander was just one of the many important people.