Alexander the great Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Alexander the great - Essay Example As these anecdotes were around for a long time now and as Alexander even though historical, flourished better as a legend, leaving all of them out would have made the narration curt and dry. But a highly focussed decision maker like Alexander being portrayed as soothsayer dependent might not go well with the historical facts and figures. It is also mentioned by many that an ‘uncommon viewpoint’ is provided for the actions of the Greek poleis and the responses of King Philip. While writing about a king who had enormous effect on his subjects who looked at him for guidance, unintended exaggeration creeps in and that is nothing extraordinary. Green’s showing the step-by-step conviction that Philip was a god himself, is the psychological assurance of an adoring child to whom the father could do anything. But it is difficult to find precedents for Green’s argument, because we do not come across any other writing that says that Alexander was so impressionable. Another point that is difficult to agree with Green is that Alexander became more and more impervious to the needs of the people under him. History books say that he discarded ideas of further pressing forward in India because his soldiers were unhappy to go further. They had left their land long ago and wanted to return and he agreed. It is impossible to agree with Green that Alexander was evolving into a hard-headed dictator. The legends show that Alexander appreciated the heroism of Indian king, appreciated Indian philosophy and looked after his soldiers to the best of his ability. He always discussed matters of importance and mourned the death of his close friend for months and he had been kind to not only his people, but also to the vanquished. Green does not rely much on facts and real research and instead, relies on unconfirmed material. â€Å"Nevertheless, few have been as free as Green in accepting uncorroborated slander as fact†¦.it should not be a book to be introduced students to

Death Penalty Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Death Penalty - Term Paper Example It was mostly used in the ancient times, although many countries still use capital punishment. It has not yet been proved whether administering death penalty is effective in deterring crime (Beck et al 2007 p. 66). There are many reasons why death penalty needs to be abolished. This paper is a critical evaluation of these grounds. Capital punishment does not deter crime where it does not take time to plan it. This is because for a crime that does not take some time for the criminal to plan the offence, considerations about the consequences of committing it are usually absent. It is therefore not likely to prevent such a person from engaging in crime. According to Charlie (2007 p. 68), â€Å"the criminal will most probably act upon the prevailing circumstances†. Crimes such as murder committed under such situations should not be subjected to capital punishment if it is meant to prevent people from committing such crimes. Lack of certainty that an individual is actually the one who committed a crime is usually a problem in many criminal justice systems. More often than not, people are punished because of crimes that they never committed. A good example is the case of many death row suspects who have been freed after the realization of their innocence. This means that many innocent people have been executed because they can not proof their innocence. The irreversibility of punishment through death becomes very painful especially if it turns out to have been meted out on a person due to improper criminal justice systems. At times a person may be executed by mistake, which becomes problematic when the real offenders are known (Michael and Clarissa 2006 p. 85) The feelings of desertion, fear and regret cause a lot of trauma and can have dire consequences on the relatives of the convict. In a religious point of view, it is apparent that doing something wrong to counter a crime does not