Why are people so quick to judge Alexander as a narcissist, even Olympias? when it is obvious that someone who has a lot of power is going to act selfishly or think that he is the best, worse someone who achieved what he achieved.
First, let me sort out a couple different things.
Using the term “narcissist” is automatically problematic, as we throw it around in common conversation, but it’s a medical diagnosis. Also, despite the bow to the myth of Narcissus, it’s not an ancient concept. Ancient Greeks would strike most moderns as incredibly arrogant. Humility was not a virtue. If you didn’t toot your own horn, nobody would toot it for you. And believe me, they tooted their own horns frequently.
Similarly, for the Greeks, kleos, or fame was a perfectly valid goal. Back to “humility was not a virtue.” Greeks just didn’t DO the “humble brag,” or the scripted, “I was just thinking about the team, trying to do it for the team…” ESPN soundbyte.
Remember, while they had ball games and such, team sports weren’t part of their Olympics. There was also no “silver” or “bronze” medal. One won. Or one lost. They didn’t even permit ties. Any tie in a race meant running a tie-breaker.
This is WHY Alexander was so admired by later Greeks and Romans for saying and doing things that would get him dragged by the interwebs today.
Their values were QUITE different, and some would appall many moderns. “Help your friends but hurt your enemies!” None of this “turn the other cheek.” Oh, no—turning the other cheek wouldn’t be taking the high road. It’d be immoral, or at least bizarre.
Yes, the Greeks did recognize hubris, but hubris specifically involved offending the gods, usually by daring to tread on the hem of their garments (e.g., do things reserved only for gods). It’s a RELIGIOUS offense, not evidence of an Axis II Personality Disorder.
Alexander was accused of hubris by some in antiquity, but most were his political rivals (such as Demosthenes). Further, the overlay of later Roman influence on our surviving sources makes it very difficult to fish out what he actually claimed or thought about himself, versus what others claimed about him.
In the ancient world, great success was equated with the gods’ favor. One was not only allowed, but expected to brag. That’s not just a Greek idea; it was widely accepted. It’s the basis of “Deuteronomic Theology”: “Good things happen to good people; bad things happen to bad people.” The Babylonian Ludlul-Bel-Nimeqi (Poem of the Righteous Sufferer) and later Hebrew Book of Job were both composed to challenge such notions. Yet neither reflected the beliefs of the average farmer in the (Babylonian or Judean) fields.
Greek philosophers also elucidated more nuanced ideas, but again, most Greeks weren’t reading Plato, or Aristotle. Of course, Alexander did read such things. Yet no matter how educated one might be, continued success is a heady drug. Also, and despite his philosophic education, Alexander was deeply devout. He believed in the gods, and that they favored him.
In short, the almost unbelievable scope of his success told him to keep on doing what he’d been doing; he had their seal of approval.
It can be tempting for modern readers of any stripe (not necessarily historians) to settle on a “thumbnail sketch” of Alexander as narcissistic or megalomaniac either out of ignorance or because they’re playing for humor. And some historians do because of how they read and interpret the ancient sources (although especially recently most would avoid the clinical term). The sources themselves present wildly divergent views of Alexander, so it should come as no surprise to find similar divergence among historians utilizing them.
Last, I want to address the matter of Olympias. I’m not sure where the asker got the idea that Olympias thought Alexander narcissistic, but she didn’t. Perhaps it stems from a misunderstanding? Again, narcissism is a modern concept. In general, Olympias was both supportive and defensive of her son. Ironically, some of those who do call Alexander a narcissist point to Olympias for fostering that idea in him.
Edited to add: the original messaged to say they meant Olympias was considered narcissistic, not that she thought Alexander was.
