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Why do we glorify horrible people from the distant past?
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2024
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Asklemmy
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Do we glorify them, or do we just learn about them because they had a huge impact on the world?
I don't think I've ever heard of anyone holding Genghis Khan up as a role model.
People with a breeding kink and weird desire to populate the world with their shitty sperm abso-fucking-lutely look up to Genghis Khan and the whole "so many people are related to Genghis Khan because he fathered so many children with so many women" thing.
See: Elon Musk. Or even better, don't see him.
Genghis Khan isn't as glorified as the rest, because, ..., he's not white/European. He's glorified in Mongolia and some other Asian countries, but not in the western world.
But the rest of them? Yes, we do. Maybe not always so overtly, but the implied greatness of most of these figures is tied to how much wars they waged and how many peoples they subjugated. And if you simply go to any primary or middle school and ask the kids who are into history, you'll find lots of boys (mostly boys) who will rave on about how this or that was the absolute GOAT.
Go to Mongolia and you will see it.
We literally call Alexander "the Great", and Caesar's name was adopted as a title more than once by powerful rulers (e.g. Kaiser and Czar). Sounds like glorification to me.
...because that's his name. It was how people referred to him. It's not like people are going "He's Grrrreat!" like Tony the Tiger.
Is this just a case of "great" having changed meaning subtly? Now it's a superlative more than anything else, but in this usage I feel it meaning is much more about scale of what they did. Not a judgment on the morality of what they did.
It wasn't for him, but for those who were named after him it was used to symbolise that they - like Caesar - were one of "the greats"
Great doesn't mean good nor does it mean benevolent.
Homer's crime was very great!
Exactly. I was kinda confused when I read the question because I dont think they are glorified at all. They probably arent shamed as much as Hitler for example because they dont have such a direct impact on our lives.
There is a huge statue of him in Mongolia, and one of the apparently most popular Mongolian song is titled "In praise of Genghis Khan" so now you heard.
In some countries, it's so "machismo" that being a descendant of Genghis Khan gets you a consumer's discount in some establishments.
Probably more people are descendents of Ghengis Khan than aren't. Certainly nothing special.
Either way, it's definitely a close call.
The guy killed by the girl he was trying to rape becoming a symbol of machismo is oddly fitting.
And Julius Caesar is literally known for being hated and brutally murdered by those closest to him because he was such a shit.