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.

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

George 'W'...

Julius Ceasar wasn't so bad. Parenti's book The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome is an interesting read, looking at his assassination as a reaction from the ruling class who felt threatened by his reformist policies that benefited the lower classes.

In general though we do seem to value the lives and experiences of people in even recent history as lesser. I don't know why, it's a good question.