Alexander the Great: Crash Course World History #8
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- čas přidán 10. 05. 2024
- In which you are introduced to the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great, his empire, his horse Bucephalus, the empires that came after him, and the idea of Greatness. Is greatness a question of accomplishment, of impact, or are people great because the rest of us decide they're great?
Also discussed are Kim Kardashian and the Situation, gender bias in history, Catherine the Great's death (not via horse love), the ardent love other generals--from Pompey the Great to Napoleon--had for Alexander, and a bit of Persian history.
Chapters:
Introduction 00:00
What Makes Historical Figures So 'Great?' 1:19
The Life of Alexander the Great 2:01
Death & Legacy of Alexander the Great 4:28
The Legend of Alexander the Great 6:11
An Open Letter to the Ladies 7:29
What Makes Alexander So Great? 8:34
Credits 10:29
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Imagine that in the future, Kim Kardashian's daughter would go to CZcams and watch this Crash Course episode to genuinely learn about history but instead sees John Green dissing her mom.
this is likely to happen and that pleases me
she would probably have more than one daughter, with her skoodily-pooping
One can only hope.
Whahhhh....I'm sure she'll cry into her money. 🤷♀️ Mot to mention learning how her mother became initially will be therapy enough.
The fact that you diss her when she’s finally becoming a decent human I-
Alexander: Let’s go restock supplies at Alexandria
Army: Ok, but which one do we go to cuz u literally named every city Alexandria
*Alexander* : The closest, *YOU IDIOT*
thank you for explaining the joke
"Hey Alexander, naming all those places after yourself is hurting your public image. People are saying that you are a narcissist."..."Ahh, ok...I will name one after my horse."
Mah horse
He chased king darius because he wanted to catch him alive so he can "legally" crown himself as king of persia. Sorry for my english it's not my first language.
That doesn't justify the act...
Clearly he failed...
Your English is better than most native speakers
yeah its just about spot on
Hermann Schloffer von Graz He failed due to the incompetence of Darius satraps and their inability to rally around a king.
Johnny OP so that’s why Octavian wanted Cleopatra to remain alive after he invaded Egypt?
>"Alexander couldn't make history in a vacuum, and neither can anyone else."
Neil Armstrong would like to have a word with you.
piecheese1214 you... i like the way you think...
What about space walk and the travel to the moon?
***** What about Yuri Gagarin?
See, we Russians have better astronauts.
Imperios Had
+piecheese1214 I once read somewhere that Neil Armstrong used to make unfunny jokes about the moon and then be like, "You had to be there."
Napoleon looks at a map and sees Egypt. Looks at a picture of Alexander
*Kylo Ren Impression
Napoleon: I will finish what you started
+Inaccurate Stormtrooper Lol nice
+Inaccurate Stormtrooper THAT
*gives gold* oops sorry wrong site...
+Inaccurate Stormtrooper THIS VIEWER KILSS MONGOLS
+Inaccurate Stormtrooper *holds up target*
I guess Alexander could say...."Iran across Iraq to kill Darius."
And IRAAAAAN, I ran so far away 🎶
“The situation” has mercifully faded from memory. Kim kardashian is now an occasional humanitarian and the person who has to put up with Kanye.
zach crenshaw yup. Tbh, I had forgotten about the incident.
Yes!
I didn't even know what 'the situation' was til now because i live in a deep dark hole called "not caring"
i dont think i couldve predicted that in 2012 lol....first i never wouldve thought he'd still be alive in 2020
Chris Davey “kim kardashian convinced friend of her husband Kanye West, president Donald Trump, to free a woman from prison”.
Family Guy writers would have called that line too outlandish for a joke.
"Legacy. What is a legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see."
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me- America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me!
annaivanova its doing stuff for people who needs it, its passing down your gens, its making a difference as little as it may be
Highest form of legacy is Immortality.True Hellenes valued immortality more than anything else but only few acheived it.
who tells your story...
Michael Enquist you and many other millions of living people still speak of them so in the world of ideas they live on, on the other hand when YOU die no will speak of you after thousands of years.
See that is a form
of immortality and only a few can and will ever achieve it.
Alexander was called "the great" because nobody dared call him "Alexander the so-so"
- Mad magazine
Its genies!!!!!!!!!!!!
my favorite thing in the world is julius ceaser weeping on the ground in front of a statue of alexander the great because he'd never be as great as him
See if I had teachers like you in school, I'd be in honors for all my classes. You teach very well and you would make the class fun :)
Maybe your just not a good student
@@ethancleland4203 wym?
Ethan Cleland - it could very much be the teacher 🤷🏽♀️
#MakeAlexanderGreatAgain
+JorisEnter true
I'm pretty sure that's the sentiment this time around.
*America
Play Civilization 6 and pick up the Macedonia & Persia DLC.
The only good things to come out of the 2016 presidential election are the 2016 presidential election memes
Chased Darius for no real reason? lolz There's a little too much 'crash' here and not enough 'course'...
Letters from a Psychopath tru dat!
I'd like to know the reason
In Alexander's own words (from written communication with the Persian 'King'):
"Your ancestors invaded Macedon and Greece and caused havoc in our country, though we had done nothing to provoke them. As supreme commander of all Greece, I invaded Asia because I wished to punish Persia for this act-an act which must be laid wholly to your charge….[M]y father was killed by assassins whom, as you openly boasted in your letters, you yourselves hired to commit the crime; you unjustly and illegally seized the throne [of Persia], thereby committing a crime against your country; you sent the Greeks false information about me in the hope of making them my enemies; you attempted to supply the Greeks with money, your agents corrupted my friends and tried to wreck the peace which I had established in Greece-then it was that I took the field against you….By God's help I am master of your country. Come to me, therefore, as you would come to the lord of the continent of Asia….Ask me for your mother, your wife, and your children…and in the future let any communication you wish to make with me be addressed to the King of all Asia. Do not write to me as to an equal. Everything you possess is now mine. If, on the other hand, you wish to dispute your throne, stand and fight for it and do not run away. Wherever you may hide yourself, be sure I shall seek you out."
Alexander wanted him captured, but in the end Darius's own cousin killed him.
Letters from a Psychopath Alexander didn't need to run around Iraq and Iran to find Darius. He could have just sent, you know, lots and lots of men out into the countryside to find him.
***** where's the fun in that
Through action, a man becomes a hero Through death, a man becomes a legend Through time a legend becomes myth And by learning from the myth, a man takes action - A great quote I got from the comments of a video somewhere.
"And Kim Kardashian is good at.......... wait Tim what is she good at?"
I just loled
Alex army: Hey Alex, you know what would be awesome?
Alex: what?
Alex army: Not marching.
Alex: k fine....
No, not Alexander Hamilton, Alexander the Great. The guy this entire video was about.
no, they were fine with marching, they just wanted to march in the other direction, to go home, they even threatened Alexander saying that they were going back, with or without him.
It was more like " Ok, we beat thebes, can we go home now?"
No, our neighbors are not yet submitted to us.
Ok we beat Athens, can we go home now?
No our neighbors are not yet submitted to us.
Ok we beat Sparta, can we go home now?
No, our neighbors acorss the sea are not yet submitted to us.
Ok we beat Ionia, can we go home now?
No, we're still threatened by the empire of Persia
Ok we subdued the mighty empire of Persia , there's really no reason to keep us away from our wives, which are all 10 year older now, we're going home now.
No, we're going to india
Thats it, kill him.
Khai Alexander
His name means the man eho take the men away
James Lourenco it's debatable whether or not Alexanders prime intention was to punish his men. After all he split his force in to three, and only took one of them through the desert; sending one back through the Hindu Kush, and another by sea.
It's far more likely he wanted to further his legend and be the first man to successfully march an army through the Gedrosian Desert, which many famous Kings had failed to do. It was his arrogance that got so many of his men killed, not his spitefulness.
Do you know what Winnie the Pooh and Alexander the Great have in common ?
They share the same middle name.
Sorry I had to share the joke.
xD
Magali you know because americans have middle names it doesn't mean the whole world has middle name
Catholics have middle names. The really good ones have loads of them.
Jay Em
Google could have saved you that comment.
I'm Irish.
I have three middle names.
Not a yank in my tree. A few under the yard, but not one in the tree.
Lol 😂😂😂
Alexander the Great. His name struck fear into hearts of men.
Alexander the Great. Became a God amongst mortal men.
Yeah, doubt that.
Maiden!
Genghis Khan was better
@Miguel Baham In a society that was largely based on such relationships. Odd that, how ancient Greeks looked at sexuality. Weird for us, but totally normal for them.
@Miguel Baham are you looking for homosexuals?
"The biological weapon known as Kim Kardashian Gold"... I'm dead
GHOST!!!
this episode isnt really about Alexander the great is it......
It's more like a clip on the mysogyny of history
It's about his legacy rather than his life. Not so useful for character pieces but incredibly satisfying in a retrospective way.
@@Powd3r81 That was a small part of it. Don't be 'that guy'.
Alexander the Grape
It precisely was, that was the point. And you completely missed it. You wanted to have a video that strokes your ego about a mass-murder murdering and burning cities, but you see him vilified and his memory frowned upon, yet somehow that threatens you. That says quite a lot. The misogyny portion of this video was, which was barely 12 seconds of the whole video, seems to have produced enough salt to provide a salt-mining industry for the ancient Persians.
"It's the soldiers who win the war while the generals win the credit"
-Napoleon B
Really? And how will an army do without a competent leader? Or without any leader for that matter?
Nappy Bonny was a git.
so you're saying Alexander didn't do anything? Xerxes and Leonidas are great leaders but they can't conquer the world then Alexander was born and destroyed everyone without losing a single battle. Give credit where credit is due lol
A V suck a stupid quote . Even a bad general can destroy an army with no general notice how everytime darius flew the battle alexander won . You cant have a battle with no armies but its the generals who decide who wins.
"If you build an army of 100 lions and their leader is a dog, in any fight, the lions will die like a dog. But if you build an army of 100 dogs and their leader is a lion, all dogs will fight as a lion"
"Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment"
"A leader is a dealer in hope"
Your earlier quote might not be the best choice of quotes from him I must say. Napoleon was a huge believer in the idea that the right leader could have an enormous influence on an army.
I love it when he adds the existential topics of discussion and makes you actually think about what you're learning. John Green is my freaking hero
True, Alexander was just a toxic man full of masculinity I am sure that he shot women who pointed out his masculinity who knows maybe he was Hitlers, cousin ? either way, we need to destroy any evidence of his involvement In history and write more fictional female rulers it doesn't matter if it's real as long as it is female.
I like the way you talked about leaving a legacy... And how you included celebrities to make your point. Thanks
Alexander was not just Great. He was the Greatest man who walked on this earth.
Zeus???
What if the god that he believes in never walked on this earth?
Gods don't walk. ;)
Anastasios B' lol they strut
Anastasios B' Gods don't exist. ;)
No Mongol jokes?!
Wow, I have top comment...?!
People really do appreciate these jokes... ._.
*_-MONGOLS-_*
This was a weird episode... Seemed like you were kinda downplaying Alexander The Great's accomplishments.
He's a toxic masculine figure, he must be evil.
Of course. Hes making the point that alexander was not the only one responsible for those successes
Also, I'm from India but even I must agree that Alexander the Great was a genius as a general, a true conqueror and a great king. He without a doubt was an innovator. Look at his military reforms.
It was just awful. He total disregard the blending of Greek and Persian cultures, military accomplishments. I could go on. ..
Oxy Gen he hates white history for some weird sense of white guilt.
My new favorite word: "skoodlypoop"!
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
These words of John Greene stuck a chord with me "It's not about money, if that is the case, our tabloids would be devoted to the lives of Bankers. We all want to leave a legacy. we want to be remembered, we want to be great."
YEEEEEEEES! I couldn't help but think about Hamilton the whole time (not even talking of the same first name and all). When John spoke about "legacy", I was like "what is a legacy? it's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see"...
That's why I think everything (almost) on Alexander and Darius III are lies. I refuse to believe Darius III was what Arrian describe him as, same as Alexander. There are literally no signs of Alexander in Iran. Zip. None. Many Iranian archaelogists have found peripheral evidence in northern Iraq about how Alexander was defeated, rather than succeeded at the Battle of the Persian Gates led by Ariobarzane, not long after Gaugemala.
love these - you guys should do an art series (classical to modern and contemporary)
- it would help a lot and I think it's fun to learn about in general idk if I'm the only one but I would be eternally grateful
Alexander the Great was taught by Aristotle
Alexander had a passion for learning throughout his life. His Knowledge greatly enhanced his power.
I have a video on this perspective
2018:
1) The Situation is back on Jersey Shore
2) Kim Kardashian is talked about more than ever
wtf is happening
Then just skip the kardashian part. Welcome to the future
Yes 2018 knd Alexander the great, king of Macedon, Pharaoh of Egypt, King of Persia, Lord of Asia is in the same league as Kim Kardashian. It's indeed 2018
Oxy Gen Culture is dying, that's what's happening
Unless you don't watch Jersey Shore... A free life awaits you.
Does seriously anyone still remebers Kim Kardashian at this point?
Alexander's history is also entwined with the history of a great woman: Olympias, daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the fourth wife of the king of Macedonia, Philip II, and mother of Alexander the Great. Her likeness is found on an Imperial Roman medallion with Olympias: part of a 3rd-century series representing Emperor Caracalla as the descendant of Alexander the Great.
Should I be bothered by the fact that this video is primarily composed of value judgments and observations about what makes people revered by others, rather than a history lesson on what Alexander did?
It depends on if you want to view history as a series of facts and dates or as a set of microcosms displaying the fundamental aspects of human nature. The point being, history can show us stuff about ourselves that we don't always notice unless we look at the big picture, and that's part of what makes Crash Course better for stimulation of critical thought than studying for an exam on World History.
Joe Dirt it does depend on what your view of history is and how you study it. At the university level, this is more the stuff we write about in history, the implications of what happened then and how they relate to the world today. And for that, John Green is a great historian. If you wanted to know the history of Alexander, in terms of a timeline of events of his life, Wikipedia it.
Joe Dirt EXACTLY.
Yup, you should be bothered. This video is trying so hard to respecc whamen that it ridicules Alexander's memory by adding all that nonsense. Btw, before anyone call me a toxic white male, I'm a dude from India.
"Olympias" by Elizabeth Carney is the most respected source about the mother of Alexander. Definitely worth a read!!
It's been eight years since you made this video. The Situation is now irrelevant. Kim K is still sort of relevant. Alexander is still taught in schools and is still mostly "Great".
What's misogynistic in the title "the Great"? It's gender-neutral.
By the way, there was also Tamara the Great of Georgia.
***** Judging ancient societies by modern sensibilities is invalid - they were not sexist out of spite or prejudice, they were sexist out of necessity. Stricter gender roles are born from advancements in feudal hierarchy, modern women's rights are born from industrialisation and militarism.
I don't think that he's saying the title "the great" is mysoginistic, but rather that historians have been rather mysoginistic in their application of the title "the great" because it applies more often to male leaders than female leaders.
Not that I'm sure this is true... after all, through history there have been more male leaders than female leaders, and I haven't exactly looked into whether a greater percentage of well-known male leaders are called "the great" than the percentage of female leaders.
I think it'd be more accurate to say that historically, cultures as a whole were mysoginistic because the vast majority wouldn't allow a female to be a leader unless there were circumstances that prevented a male leader to take power. Male heirs and all that.
But you're probably right. Statistically, the title "the great" probably doesn't have any gender-related implications.
SirSoliloquy Not mysoginistic. It is just that early kings and chiefs were first and foremost military leaders, in Russia at least, and it was only after they accumulated more significant political power that female rulers started to appear, like Princess Olga.
Imperios So because human society was sexist for most of human history, we can't call historical societies out as sexist.
Umm... OK?... *puzzled look*
nfinn42 They did not have a choice like we do. Like with slavery. Sure we find ancient practices of it deplorable, but they could not have lived without it because their economy was based on it.
(That being said, martial cultures at the time were more egalitarian by the virtue of women having to do everything while men were off fighting)
And I was talking about rulers in particular. Most ancient rulers were military commanders and not every culture allowed women to fight.
he is the one who found my hometown (alexandria)
True. Did you know Alexandria was the greatest during the reign of Sultans Baybars and Qutuz, who both defeated the Great Mongol Empire!
Hey! Sultan Baybars! My step-brother-ish, its complicated was named after him. And I knew.
He burnt a bteer town that existed there before.
which one?
what Alexandria? There are a lot of Alexandria he conquered so many countries
11 years in the future and Kim Kardashian is becoming a lawyer
all my teachers gave us quizes and tests before the APWH exam so now I gotta cram the day before lmai fml
same lol
same! i'm SCARED.
Can't make history in a vacuum. Pffft tell that to Neil Armstrong.
lol
Technically.....The moon has a very tenuous atmosphere...
+Dale Porter but he was the first man to be in a spacecraft that was in the closest part of the vacuum of space to the moons thin atmosphere. That probably made no sense.
Grex Jr have you ever heard of Yuri Gargarin? Neil Armstrong is not even the first man or the first living thing that went into space.
You stole this joke
I've watched through several of the crash course series multiple times, but I think the histories are my favourite, and this is a particularly wonderful episode.
y’all i’m in college and i’m still watching these videos. it’s crazy to remember this is how i crammed for my ap’s too
I don't know why he thinks Alexander must've been bad at "empire building" (or empire maintaining?). He died as soon as his conquests were finished. And yet he already laid a TON of groundwork by then. All the cities he founded had Greek theatres and libraries, and despite his death still led to Greek becoming a lingua franca. He produced an heir, had already started training a massive new army (made up primarily of Asians/Persians) in his macedonian style of war, and even forced his Greek officers to take Persian wives in order to integrate his peoples together.
Sounds like a solid attempt at laying the groundwork for an empire to me. And this is all despite the fact that he had almost no time at all to do this before dying.
Guys. So interesting that everybody feels such strongly about this. But there is one important thing. History is not the past but it's interpretation. So it has more in common with present time than past. There are things that influence our morals still even after like 2000 years...
The end of this video is so deep Adele could roll in it.
Heh. Get it? No? Okay.
Omg😝
Just please stop :((((
Time to get some Guns & Roses because your pun just triggered a Civil War in the comments section.
TheTaintedWisdom OH MY GOD
Any way we can get these episodes as a podcast? Would love to listen to this while commuting
i love how this was published on my birthday 8 years ago lmao what a gift for the history nerd in me :))thanks crashcourse
Greeting from 2015. The Situation has disappeared.Kim K left.
She is with Kanye though.
+Angry Yogbuscus I meant that Kim K is left. Sorry
What bs are you spouting? It's 2017 and she's still around
you could lead an ancient empire's economy with this much salt in the comment's section.
i get it
So do I. But can you pay all the Roman Legions with this salt?
"lol u buthurt bro :D myisoygyne real bro great is racist lol salty man XDD"
I liked this episode. It's good that you guys make the effort to look at history with a bigger lens... or rather the lens with which you have to step further from the subject matter to get a better picture and understand HOW and WHY we learn history in the first place. I think I get what the Crash Course team was trying to do and I appreciate it. So thank you.
Man reading the stories about some dude way back then and all his accomplishments, man really was a LEGEND.
We started out by dissing Kardashian and the Situation, moved on to dissing the accomplishments o Alexander, then defended women's rights, then pissed on history in general. Any questions?
Can this show not be directed towards kids please?
killing people is an accomplishment? why dont you glorify xerxes then?
how about Harambe The Great
the greatest of all time
everyone is fucked and i love it
Mr Tambourine Man yesh
😢dat ded meme dou👽lmao
Mr Tambourine Man harambe translated means great
omg
I really appreciate that they always work in the social issues, because its so easy to think of history as being this rational static thing, but it was (is) the result of complex social processes which continue today! I know some folks don't appreciate the mentions of social equality, and would prefer strict adherence to "the facts", but I hope they can see how the social aspects of things play a huge role in how those facts came to be. This isn't the way history is usually presented, and not everyone will agree with it, but I think we can agree that being open to different angles and interpretations will make us more informed in the end :)
@crashcourse In school I was always taught Alexander Empire was split between his 4 generals not 3?
MrPeteomatic yeah it was four generals
It's a bit of a historical debate because there was a war between two of the four generals on who would rule what and one of em lost, I believe
Alexander the Great wasn't very good at naming cities...
Agreed :|
+YellowFlareMC Or he happened to be very egoistic :P
+YellowFlareMC bucephalos
Reminds me of the movie The Dictator!
"You are HIV aladeen!"
+YellowFlareMC I've been told that, allegedly, the cities originally were settlements for his soldiers, and that they naturally named it after him
Wow these are some salty comments
+Matt Bloggs you want some fries with that salt?
+Matt Bloggs im not sure what your point is since i only said it once, i didnt use all caps and YOURE the ones who are whining since you cant handle the fact that a stranger on the internet doesnt like an ancient ruler as much as you do
+Matt Bloggs I said the first one. Slendy said it the second time. Reading comprehension
+Matt Bloggs When did I complain? I was just surprised by the amount of anger from the comments. I wasn't singling out either side of the argument or expressing my own take on the subject. People on *BOTH* sides are being salty. I don't understand why you in particular are being so indignant. It's comments on a CZcams video. Do you really think being condescending to strangers is going to teach you anything or that you're going to have an impact on someone else? Or are you just being bellicose?
make a shitty video ya get salty comments
GOOD LUCK FOR TMRW GUYS!!! WE CAN DO THIS
I HOPE SO LOL I'M SO SCARED
ALL CAPS AND ABBREVIATING TOMORROW IS NOT A GOOD START
@@chelseamcghee2869 how you gonna do him like that
We do decide what is great and who, but there are certain characteristics or accomplishments that have been consistently seen as great dating back to the beginning of this series I bet. Well, the beginning of the time period this series discussed. That being the case it's not just a matter of 'deciding' greatness when a pattern seems to hint to inherent attributes of greatness. Now, on a personal level that is absolutely right, but in a historical sense, I bet few people are remembered for being great according to their own local definition of greatness.
Dear Mr. Green,
as a brofessor of swoleology, I am deeply concerned by the swole-shaming in this video. It might not have been overt, but by referring to Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino as a "professional stupid person with big muscles", you are implying a direct causal relationship between Sorrentino's lack of intellect and his gainz. This is a vile stereotype deeply instilled in our society by Broki himself, and it is a struggle we followers of the Iron Path have to face daily.
Considering that CrashCourse is trying to be a socially brogressive channel, I would urge you to refrain from perpetuating such unbrodinly stereotypes in the future.
Aside from this mishap, I have been enjoying the gainz of knowledge this channel gave me. Keep up the good work, and may Brodin bless you.
Wheymen
Love the series but regarding this episode, I would have liked to have learned more about Alexander and less about John Green's thoughts about contemporary pop culture icons. The connection to our choice of which values and figures to celebrate was apt, but should have been more a concluding thought than a thesis to interrogate all throughout what's ostensibly a history lesson. Just my $0.02
greek for the glory i got for winning every single war that i fought
2019 ap exam cramming? just me? okay
hey me too! :)
lol same
Same :)
gang
Same here, good luck to everybody.
Re-watching every crash course in prep for the APWH exam tomorrow
+Atomicnick same
+Atomicnick same
+Atomicnick same
+Atomicnick Help... meeeeee
me too!!
I forgot how uninformative and off topic this episode was
????
Then type it out. Also it really doesn't go over Alexander empire
Well then make a damn series to go through misogyny throughout history don't make on a series that meant to go over history and help students prepare for test. Also the great isn't misogynistic term you can find plenty of women with the great as a title.
+Declan Galvin I hate how whenever he talks about empires and stuff, he never talks about the battles or any other factor on how that empire was created. He just says "Alexander conquered Persia" and chooses to talk about misogyny or make lame jokes as filler when that time could be spent going into a little bit more detail.
+Gustavo Larancia It isn;t in the least, that is a bullshit argument. Usually it is used to distinguish one member of a ruling line from others as being Great, and sadly there haven't been many monarchies with multiple women. It isn;t misogynistic in the least, only in the deluded mind of someone overly obsessed with the topic can it be seen that way.
For example, Queen Elizabeth the First of England will likely go down as The Great once our current Queen kicks the bucket.
These videos always spend more time talking about oppression and repression that it doesn;t take any time to actually talk about what history there is. John didn;t take the time to talk about Enheduanna in his first video about Mesopotamia, even though she was the first known author ever. Who isn;t paying due deference to the women of history here? And didn;t he also just back hand the possible abilities of Roxanne? He dismisses her as a child who'd have been incapable of doing what she's rumored to have done, who is being disrespectful to women? And going back another, he for one assumes that the Chinese never had any empresses, which was wrong, which is to discount their important place in history. (yes I know the correction is in the video, but it is clear he originally did not.)
He should get off his fucking horse.
i like when johns face flashes on the TV screen when the flood happens XD
This is a very good quarantine binge watch
So...was Alexander a hater of women or..you seem crazy focused on it versus the...ya know...subject matter.
Losoyo he was homosexual
He was bisexual, like everyone else at the time, including Persians who fancied their eunich sex slaves, and had many wives, actually
They actually think he was gay
There is no evidence in the ancient sources that Alexander was homosexual or bisexual. To presume that he adopted the same sexuality as other Graeco-Macedonians is completely speculative. The ancient sources did, however, contest that he genuinely loved his first wife, Roxana.
I agree with your sentiment and question. Not that I have an issue with his feminist pursuit but it doesn't fit well with the topic this video is supposed to be about. It should be a separate video.
When you talked about King Darius, and his death. You forgot the part where Alexander the Great gave King Darius a royal funeral.
Instead of focusing on Alexander, you make a point that women accomplished things in history while at the same time making a point that Kim Kardashian is famous for no good reason.
Gabriel BP but Kim kardashian in this is not being held up as an example of all women. She is being used to make the point that people are only great, or famous, because we give them that title.
@@freyakemp2822 What is so great about her? What exactly did she do?OK so she's beautiful, many women are Can anyone answer this?
@@freyakemp2822 Many people have opinions on what Kim Kardashian is, but i don't think anyone would consider her to be some sort of "Great", at least not anything closely resembling Alexander, or Catherine
If Kim was representing all women I would jump of the nearest bridge.
No woman represents all others, that's not how it works.
Exactly, he's making the point of how unimportant Alexander truly was.
Maaaan the fact that he sited "The Situation" here just dates this sooooo much XD
dude alexander was and is and he will always be great he never lost a battle
Neither did Robb Stark... OK, bad joke.
He was great, but you have to admit he was was also amazingly shortsighted. I admit I don't know anybody today who could have successfully made an empire on his own, but if I had one I probably would at least have the forethought to name an heir.
***** That's because he was more of a conqueror than a king. I doubt he had any real interest in ruling the lands he took, he probably just wanted to take them. Napoleon was the same way
"Welcome to Crash Course World History, where no woman has ever been called "The Great" because that would contradict my modern political opinions! Catherine the Great? Who's that?"
1:41?
+Aaron Moore The original posters point is that women have been called Great, and, honestly, so what if they aren't? It does't change the fact that we call it the "Elizabethan Age" after QUEEN Elizabeth and the "Victorian Age" after QUEEN Victoria and that we acknowledge a host of other profound feminine personalities throughout history. And so what if we don't ascribe the epithet "the Great" to women - it doesn't stop us from recognizing their greatness. It is essentially a moot point that we don't CALL women the great, because we readily acknowledge that they were great and are.
+ninetails593 Dido the great? NAHHHHH.
moron
@@mastercaster02 You're so butthurt that he threatened Alexander's name. Just shows how weak Westerners are.
I immediately thought of Jersey Shore when he said “The Situation”
all of the likes are the teachers, and all of the dislikes are the students
I really love that the crash course not only presents historical facts but also ANALYSES them critically. I really appreciate letter to all the ladies yeah that was awesome and sweet!!
Women are not represented as much as men in history because women were discriminated against historically. This makes it hard for women to make great impact in cultures that won't let them lead them, and are biased against them when they do let them lead. The way to fight sexism is not to look for and make bigger women's role in history, but to acknowledge the real historical sexism of the time and why this made it hard for them to have great impacts. It's not sexist to give women a sentence in a text about a society that favored men.
OK. Make a Crash Course video then. Dipersilakan.
Senang mengomong, susah membikin.
Yup, the accomplishments of men must be accredited to toxic masculinity and patriarchy.
Meanwhile the shortcomings of women are a result of said patriarchy because we all know women are the superior gender.
You guys remember that Empire created by women? With a female only army? That conquered the world?
Anton but then how would he respecc whamen?
A true and deep and worthwhile understanding of history has little to do with names and dates and events and so much more to do with themes. John spends the entire episode talking about one of those themes: greatness. In and of itself, Alexander is prone to the same sort of myths associated with Davy Crockett (did he kill a bear when he was only three, did Alexander really tame a horse no one else could tame, did Arthur really pull Excalibur from a stone?) Much of history has to do with the -story part, who wrote it, what were the writer's influences. In terms of fact, Alexander conquered a lot of empty space, so the map we see of his conquests is more impressive than it really is. The true fascination of Alexander from his death to today has little to do with his military exploits (although some of his victories are worth reading about in terms of tactics and weaponry) and is more about how we remember him, and John does an excellent job in discussing this.
I'm sure you got all that before I typed it out, but understand, if you didn't find what you were looking for in this video, move on and find what you need. There are plenty of videos out there that may give you what you were looking for. Crash Course videos have 12 minutes per subject, and like a good historian does, John boils it down to items you can digest quickly, it's told in relatable ways, it tries to be entertaining, and hopefully you see the subject in ways you hadn't considered going in. Me, I learned a little something about how history has treated the memory of Alexander, how time has turned him into something he probably wasn't, and how people would rather honor the mythology surrounding him than the facts, because truly, in this day and age when the more sane among us are reconsidering the glory of war and painting our heroes into demons, it's more satisfying to go with the myth that Alexander saved Europe from the Persians once and for all and spread civilization to the barbarous parts of the world than the reality that Alexander and his army killed many thousands of people and wrecked Middle Eastern society, almost solely to feed his own ego.
Do you have any suggested videos that go into greater detail about how the Seleucid and ptolemaic empires influence transitioned over time in Judea/Isreal?
John Green is just butthurt because Alexander strongly disproves modern historian's idea that the course of history is not decided by great men. The politcally correct bullshit about the title "the great" and its supposed misogyny is also annoying.
Allzumenschliches44 Having watched his other videos, I must disagree with your assessment of Mr. Green.
+Allzumenschliches44
You are an idiot!
So opinions are only in existence from an objective standpoint? He was undoubtedly a bit of an ass.
yes killing and raping thousands to be respected and be famous sure makes you a great person.
+Allzumenschliches44 *"Alexander proves" - fix your double negatives son. Also, please remove the word butthurt from your idiolect.
Any other crammers?
Anyone?
*Don’t let me be alone*
Redwillow of Wattpad AP World Exam is tomorrow and I’m scared 😭. I’m cramming just to be safe.
heck yeah dude
We all here dude 😂
Here--I hope I don't fail lol
kill me😰😰
This video was so interesting because I think it tied in the elusive importance of history, that it isn't just vague stories about people we don't care about stapled onto modern society. It's our story, showing situations that resulted in behaviors we emulate. We are constantly making history. We effect everything that is to come because all of history, the present, and the future is connected. Weird.
Just realized ur Hanks brother, I’ve watched crash course and scishow sooooooo much, and I finally put 2 and 2 together wow
"It's like all the worst parts of baby powder and worst parts of cat pee."
For some reason this episode was chosen to talk about how women are often left out of history?
What does he mean when he says "The Situation"?
Mr. Green lookin' fly af this week, awesome color combos, you go, Mr. Green.
Alexander was great because he was passionate, well educated, powerful and courageous. He was both an idealist and an opportunist rolled into one and that made him very dangerous and mad. He both felt spiritual passion and knew how to manipulate others with that passion. He believed himself to be godly material. He was Melville's Ahab of his time. He could be compared to George Paton in his zeal and madness. Naturally the Persians didn't call Alexander great any more than Moby Dick would have called Ahab great. Even to this day Iranians remember the tornado that was Alexander like it was yesterday.
The Greek legends teach that heroes overshoot into hubris and so it was for Alexander. War crimes and mass killings of innocents are a part of his legacy, especially the punishment of Greek communities descended from those who collaborated with the Persians and were hidden by the Persians in Afghanistan. His temper in killing his friend Cleitus. Finally his men refused to go ever further into India.
He died at 33 in grief for his lover Hephaestion, with war wounds and poisoned with medicine or alcohol accidentally or on purpose. A tragic death.
I didn't know who the Situation was.
Same, I had to google it.
MrSqurk
I'm sorry you had to lose your innocence this way.
I knew it was some famous person. A model or actress or singer person or something.
There's a vlogbrother's video titles "Why are Barns Red and Kardashians Famous"
The best Vlogbrothers video ever was about Snooki (whom is basically Kim Kardashian but more orange). Hank was in an airport when he saw her (he didn't recognize her at first, but he figured it out), when someone looked like they were going to ask for a picture with Snooki, but no. They walked up to Hank, and asked for an autograph. "And Snooki... was confused."
Looking for the democracy and tyranny videos! They really helped my classes when I teaching Greek governments.
I'm sorry to inform you Past John.. but Kim is still pretty popular in 2017
What the hell was the point of that pseudo-feminist filler? He really couldn't have talked about anything else regarding Alexander instead? Like the battles he was involved in and how they were won or something idk?
+Sarbaṇī Paṣtun Does feminism offend you in someway? I'm always interest in why people get their back up when the progress of women is mention in an context. Social, historical whatever. Why does it annoy you so much? The progression on women over time is a part of history.
Ash Bird Lol, I actually like feminism. I can't ever think of a time I made an anti-feminism post on all my years on CZcams besides this one. I just felt it was completely unnecessary and irrelevant over here.
+Ash Bird I'm a feminist myself and I agree with this person's comment... I watched this episode because I needed help with my Ancient History essay but I don't feel like I got much out of it... judging by the title I thought I would be learning about ATG but instead it has a major digression into the role of women throughout history. I think the problem is that the title of the video was misleading - this original comment wasn't being sexist.
+Sarbaṇī Paṣtun "Lol, I actually like feminism"... and that's where I stopped reading.
+Ash Bird "Why does it annoy you so much? The progression on women over time is a part of history."
I think the issue here is that it's not Alexander's history. One could easily have inserted his comments into any video about any person or county and it would have fit just as well, which is to say not very. Sure it's part of history, but so are a lot of things. There wasn't anything about Alexander that made women's lack of notoriety particularly relevant, which really just felt like he was going on tangents for no reason. Maybe in another context, sure, it'd be welcome, but it's like if her started talking about the Native Americans all of a sudden in the name of cultural pluralism. Context is important.
As much as I love your videos and respect you, Mr. Green, I am afraid I will have to disagree that Alexander was not good at building institutions in his empire. I take this view for two primary reasons, first the Alexandrias were meant to be centers of commerce and military might and therefore political administration (and many are still inhabited today). Secondly, Alexander wished to meld Hellenistic culture with the cultures of the east and was very tolerant of different cultures, religions, and permitted a degree of local autonomy and I thoroughly believe, should he have not prematurely died in Babylon, that he would have constructed a stronger and more stable (not to mention a relatively more liberal) state and society around these principles. Keep up the good work, I am a big fan of your new series as well on American history.
Why is no one talking about how this was the best phrase of the week ever?!
tbh I use cc as my main information source cuz it is really useful, so far this video didn't meet up my normal expectations about cc. I love cc but this one is a "nah" for me :
*_"At the start of his reign, the 20 year old Alexander was the crowned King of only Macedon - a crude Greek nation of mainland GREECE. His mother Olympias came from the ruling clan of the North-Western Greek region of Epirus"_* [ David Sacks, (1995) 'A Dictionary of the ancient Greek World', Oxford University Press]
its 3:14 am and I have my AP World EOC tomorrow but i couldn't help notice how john contradicts himself by pointing out how women are always disregarded in history but yet insults the one women he does mention.
Paola Cristina he doesn’t insult her? He criticises the fact that the one woman he can find with the “great epithet” was publicly shamed after her death with the insinuation that it happened while she tried to have sex with a horse. He goes on to make the joke that her actual death was embarrassing enough.
But the point of this was that the one woman who achieved perceived greatness, was shamed after her death.
@@freyakemp2822 I think Paola was talking about Kim K
Matt Kirchner oh, haha probably.
Very inciteful and informative piece of Alex the Great, my son loves this video!