Term Papers

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), the king of Macedonia that conquered the Persian empire and annexed it to Macedonia, is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. He is the first king to be called “the Great.”

Alexander is one of the most fascinating personalities in human history. Although he was the son of a king and inherited an empire that included most of the Greek city-states, Alexander’s own conquests are what have made him admired, vilified, emulated, and studied for over two millennia.

Alexander, born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, was the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, and of Olympia, a princess of Epirus. Philip and Olympia wanted nothing less than the best for their son, so when he was 13, his parents hired Aristotle to be his personal tutor. Alexander was trained together with other children of the nobility at Aristotles Nyphaeon.

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According to Egyptian legend, the first kings of Egypt were to become some of country’s most famous gods. We really do not know whether these individuals actually existed in human form or what regions of Egypt they may have ruled over.

Only at the end of the Predynastic period, prior to the unification of Egypt, can we recognise specific kings who most likely ruled over either Lower or Upper Egypt.

The Pharaoh’s responsibilities as the political ruler of Egypt can be compared to almost any monarch around this time. The Pharaoh’s duties ranged from commanding the army, to settling legal disputes.

Origins of the word Pharaoh are from the term “per-aa” that means “great house” and developed via the Greek, into the word we now use today. “Per-aa” was originally used to describe the royal court or the state itself, in the sense that the “great house” was the entity responsible for the taxation of the lesser houses (”perw”), which were the temple lands and private estates. From the late 18th Dynasty and onwards, “per-aa” had begun to be used to refer to the actual king himself.

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Do we transform our life into a rigid Spartan-like system based solely on the dissemination of information and the single-minded and rigorous development of skills?

Do we take a more Athenian approach and teach in such a way that we create a thinking citizen who can make good decisions when faced with the complexities of a democracy and the challenges of the 21st century? Are we Sparta or are we Athens? Read the rest of this entry »