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Why do we glorify horrible people from the distant past? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 3 months ago by Konis to c/[email protected]

112 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Julius Ceasar, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and many more...

These people had beliefs and worldviews that were so horribly, by today's standards, that calling them fascist would be huge understatement. And they followed through by committing a lot of evil.

Aren't we basically glorifying the Hitlers of centuries past?

I know, historians always say that one should not judge historical figures by contemporary moral standards. But there's a difference between objectively studying history and actually glorifying these figures.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

There is a strong argument that but for the existence of tyrants humankind would have gone extinct before written history. They allowed humanity to evolve and flourish as the social creatures we are today.

While a tyrant does suppress freedoms, and costs lives (in both subjects and opponents) what they provided was stability and strength for the community. This stability enabled ALL discoveries up until, and including democracy. Set aside the luxury of contemporary morality when examining history to understand all its complexities.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

I think the question really is, why do we glorify people at all? I know that the type of people you mention exist, but I hold them in no high regard. What causes people to admire and even worship others? Why don’t we as a species realize that we all meet the same end, and what causes people to believe that we somehow transcend the inevitable extinction of our species?

Answer these questions, and perhaps you answer your own.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

But Alexander the Great literally has the Great in his name.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Not in every culture/language. It's like knighthood, people are going to call a knight "sir" even if they are at odds with the British.

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