Alexander The Great Leader In Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince
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Imagine if there was a specific guide that every leader had to follow. If there was a standard way of ruling a country, how different would our governments be? Would everyone eventually clash? These are things that I think about daily when it comes to the leaders of the world. There isn’t a true guide to how to be a leader, however Niccolò Machiavelli gave his opinion on what makes a great leader, in his book The Prince.
In The Prince, Machiavelli explains what it means to be a great leader. Throughout the book, lies advice on leadership. Doing so, he lists qualities that he believe a prince should have. However “A prince may not have all the admirable qualities we listed, but it is very necessary that he should seem to have them.” He explains these leaders only have to “act as if they possess them to show leadership to the inferior.” By doing so, the people will have a sense of security, therefore it would be hard for the prince to be overthrown or disliked. (Machiavelli)
He also implies that it is a great idea to follow great leaders of the past. He points how Alexander the Great followed the path of Achilles. According to Machiavelli, “A wise prince ought to do likewise.”(Machiavelli) We…show more content… In this case, he would be considered a Machiavellian leader. Alexander the Great possessed many of the traits of a Machiavellian leader. From birth he was aspired to be great for the simple fact that he was basically raised by Aristotle As Machiavelli suggest, it is "much safer to be feared than loved" (The Prince, Chapter III).” As stated, it is clear that Alexander did not rule with love, but instead fear. A prince who rules on love wouldn’t survive because their feelings are involved. When he explained that one must be feared rather than loved, he states “ men love as they please but fear as the prince wills ” meaning the leader is who create the boundaries because he has the higher position.