Does power corrupt?

            Power is the ability to control. It can be the ability to control something such as the TV remote or something as big as a piece of property or land. But it can also mean the ability to control somebody. Either way power is power, and that power can be the cause of a lot of different effects such as corruption. Power can certainty corrupt you, because with that power there also comes responsibility which can be easily misused. But more importantly you have to be able to handle that power correctly or you have the risk of being corrupted. This power corruption has been seen throughout history especially in one of the memorable Greek leaders, Alexander the Great.

            Alexander the Great inherited the thrown after his father was assassinated by the captain of his body guard. Alexander was then pronounced king at the young age of twenty. From then Alexander conquered many city states of Greece including one of the most powerful, the Persian Empire. With every victory, Alexander only gained more and more power and with that power he also gained confidence. Then soon enough Alexander proclaimed himself as undefeatable, a god even. And eventually the famous Alexander the Great was corrupted by power.

            After King Darius of the Persian Empire was killed by one of his men, Alexander the Great didn’t have another enemy to fight. So as a solution Alexander went after Bessus, the man from the Persian army who killed Darius his king. While on the move to defeat Bessus and his army, Alexander also captured many other city states in central Asia renaming them all to be called Alexandria. During the time, Alexander also acquired the Persian name of “king of kings” and adopted some other Persian customs. He began to dress in some of the Persian robes such as the custom of proskynesis which was either a symbolic kissing of a hand or prostration on the ground. Alexander the Great was influenced greatly by the Persian customs rather than Persia becoming more Greek.

            Power corruption is all in the head. It is a certain thought process that is caused from a great access to power. But with this power also comes responsibility, which is where normally all chaos breaks out. To have this possession of power, you also need to be able to be rational. But because of this possession of power, you also build confidence. The confidence mixed with the power then overtakes the rational part of your brain. Then with too much power and too much confidence, you can become power corrupted.   

            The possession of too much power can change a great leader into a bad one. Power corruption can twist the thoughts in your head into something greedy and selfish. Because after you are corrupted by power, that power is all you want. You begin to lose interest in the wellbeing of your people and the safety of your men. But more importantly you don’t do what is right anymore. Instead you worry about yourself and what you want. Then you find yourself willing to do anything to get more power. Alexander the Great was said to be corrupted by power, and I agree.