Search found 155 matches
- Fri Aug 17, 2018 12:38 am
- Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
- Topic: Why is Cleitus called Black?
- Replies: 15
- Views: 33295
Re: Why is Cleitus called Black?
Kleitos Melas (which means "dark" not "black") was called that most likely because he had dark hair (and possibly eyes). Kleitos the "Light" was probably blond. We happen to know Kleitos came from an upper-class Macedonian family, so no, he wasn't himself a migrant from...
- Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:58 am
- Forum: Art and Culture
- Topic: Aegae palace
- Replies: 2
- Views: 6004
Re: Aegae palace
I was just there in May, before this part of it opened. It's nice, but I confess, I will miss being able to walk the entire site, as I was able to do in 1997. The restoration of the mosaics is impressive. BUT I was seriously NOT impressed by the "Disney-does-Greece" museum atmosphere in Ve...
- Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:16 am
- Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
- Topic: Philip's sight
- Replies: 3
- Views: 12341
Re: Philip's sight
Possible. Possible also that Alexander had better sight in one eye (this is before the days of glasses, ha), or better *hearing*. I had several bad ear infections as a kid (no tubes in those days), which hurt my hearing. For a while, I was all-but-deaf in the right ear and half deaf in the left. Eve...
- Sun Apr 01, 2018 7:30 am
- Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
- Topic: Hephaestion
- Replies: 27
- Views: 57091
Re: Hephaestion
Some general observations from somebody who's lived with this guy for 25+ years: 1) Too many people misinterpret and freak out over the fact Hephaistion was primarily a diplomatic & logistics officer. Those inclined to dismiss him, including a lot of my colleagues, see him as unimportant and inc...
- Wed Mar 28, 2018 8:23 am
- Forum: Alexander the Great in the Media
- Topic: Nikos Kazantzakis 'Alexander The Great'
- Replies: 5
- Views: 10873
Re: Nikos Kazantzakis 'Alexander The Great'
Stone stole a lot, with no acknowledgement. The problem is that only characters and specific dialogue is copy-writable, not scenes, etc. It's considered too vague. But anybody familiar with ATG fiction recognizes things Stone "borrowed" without admitting it. And not just from fiction, but ...
- Sat Mar 10, 2018 6:14 am
- Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
- Topic: Pella mosaic
- Replies: 13
- Views: 20914
Re: Pella mosaic
The double-bladed axe is not an association of Hephaistos. Hephaistos's symbols are hammer and tongs, and a particular cap, sometimes a donkey. He's not shown with the double-bladed axe, which is specifically Minoan. But also THRACIAN . And that's a lot closer to home. ;) We find it's representation...
- Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:24 am
- Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
- Topic: Pella mosaic
- Replies: 13
- Views: 20914
Re: Pella mosaic
I don't think it's either one. Not sure why Waldemar thinks so.* This is a case of "looking for famous people in every image..." ;) Now, one can make a pretty decent case that the lion-hunt mosaic has Alexander in petasos (hat) on the left, and Krateros running up to save him on the right,...
- Mon Feb 26, 2018 7:45 am
- Forum: Art and Culture
- Topic: Reconstuctionof the palace of Aegae ( Alexander s home !)
- Replies: 5
- Views: 5290
Re: Reconstuctionof the palace of Aegae ( Alexander s home !)
It is a shame that the article i sent was in Greek , i assume you are unaware of the language, which difficulty forces even me (!) to open the dictionary on occasion.The Aegae s palace is internationaly recognise as the " Parthenon of Macedonia ", due to its amazing architecture which was...
- Fri Feb 23, 2018 8:02 am
- Forum: Art and Culture
- Topic: Reconstuctionof the palace of Aegae ( Alexander s home !)
- Replies: 5
- Views: 5290
Re: Reconstuctionof the palace of Aegae ( Alexander s home !)
A correction ... Aegae was not Alexander's home, quite. It was the old traditional capital. The palace at Pella would have been his "home." Speaking as someone familiar with archaeology and how quickly it advances, this "reconstruction" appalls me. See, when you recreate, you des...
- Sun Feb 04, 2018 4:33 am
- Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
- Topic: The excavation of Amphipolis continues
- Replies: 11
- Views: 8516
Re: The excavation of Amphipolis continues
I'll do my best. Amphipolis isn't on my list, but if we can get there, we will, even if just to see the outside. My chief research interest is different, however.
- Fri Jan 26, 2018 6:16 am
- Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
- Topic: The excavation of Amphipolis continues
- Replies: 11
- Views: 8516
Re: The excavation of Amphipolis continues
Thanks for the update. Hope to be back in Macedonia in May, although probably won't get here. Hoping to do lowland and some highland museums and other tombs. I know Lefkadia takes an appointment.
- Sun Dec 31, 2017 9:08 am
- Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
- Topic: Conquest of Italy alternate history
- Replies: 5
- Views: 13435
Re: Conquest of Italy alternate history
There is a novel by SF author Melissa Scott, called A Choice of Destinies , which posits that ATG turns back from Baktria (no India) in order to deal with rebellion in Greece, and then invades Italy. Godawful cover, but it's actually pretty good as alternate history. Some of the changes to history a...
- Fri Dec 08, 2017 6:56 am
- Forum: Book reviews
- Topic: Olympias: Mother of Alexander the Great
- Replies: 1
- Views: 6449
Re: Olympias: Mother of Alexander the Great
Short answer. Yes.
Beth is the leading scholar on Olympias, hands-down.
Beth is the leading scholar on Olympias, hands-down.
- Wed Nov 29, 2017 6:16 am
- Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
- Topic: Good sources for this paper.
- Replies: 12
- Views: 3706
Re: Good sources for this paper.
I want to echo the difficulty in nailing down what motivated Alexander. A number of articles have been published on this, with oftentimes divergent conclusions. Ada Cohen wrote about Alexander and Homeric views, Brunt's article was already named, Ernst Badian wrote on ATG and the Loneliness of Power...
- Sun Oct 22, 2017 6:09 am
- Forum: Art and Culture
- Topic: Alexanders telescope / spyglass
- Replies: 6
- Views: 3669
Re: Alexanders telescope / spyglass
We have the Chaldean Astronomical Diaries, but they were using fairly simple tools to map the movements of planets (and stars). Ephimerides (where the planets were located on any given day) was their chief interest. They did not need even primitive telescopes; they were using much simpler instrument...