something for everyone.

[spitamenes]

So i had an idea for this thread. Nothing serious, might even be fun and hopefully a little thought provoking.
What was it about Alexander that first caught everyone's attention, and or imagination?
Mine was originally the siege of Tyre. The fact that he built a causeway from the shore to an island, and succeeded in taking over the city in less than a year, was simply amazing to me. And that the causeway is still there and the island is now forever a part of the mainland because of one man and his army seemed very exceptional.
Tyre was not my first introduction to Alexander though. I joined the navy when i was young and ended up in some of the same areas that Alexander and his army were in during they're Persian campaign. My commander was an Alexander buff and had arrowheads, coins and artifacts said to be from the time of Alexander by the locals. His stories and the enthusiasm he had while telling them captured my imagination very quickly. The knowledge that i do have of Alexander has come from my own free time. And though i would have loved to have had the opportunity to formally learn about Alexander and the Macedonian people, it never came to pass.
I'd love to hear anyone else's stories of how they were introduced to Alexander and why he seems worthy of all the time and energy people spend on studying him and his accomplishments, and failures.
All the Best...
Spitamenes

[marcus]

Well, my introduction to Alexander was reading Renault's "The Nature of Alexander" when I was around thirteen or fourteen. Immediately I read her Alexander trilogy, and became interested. But I have to say that I didn't pursue my interest until I was making my university choices, and it was when I saw the course that I ended up taking that I said to my parents "that's what I'm going to do!" (It was an ancient history course, with the chance to specialise in Philip and Alexander in my final year.) That was what really got me going.

As it happens, however ... although I was vaguely interested in Alexander during my teens, one thing which made me take a bit more interest was when I was learning Arabic at school, and our teacher produced the Arabic version of the old Ladybird book on Alexander, and we used that as a translation exercise. I think it was that which woke my latent interest, and it was that which made me sit up when I saw the university course!

ATB

[Alexias]

Sinbad the Sailor. At age 9, our teacher used to read us a story on a Friday afternoon. She read us a version of Sinbad's adventures, followed by a children's version of the Odyssey (the two are forever muddled in my mind). This lead on to an interest in Greek mythology, followed by Greek history, which lead to Mary Renault's Theseus novel The King Must Die, which lead onto Fire From Heaven.

[amyntoros]

Sinbad the Sailor. At age 9, our teacher used to read us a story on a Friday afternoon. She read us a version of Sinbad's adventures, followed by a children's version of the Odyssey (the two are forever muddled in my mind). This lead on to an interest in Greek mythology, followed by Greek history, which lead to Mary Renault's Theseus novel The King Must Die, which lead onto Fire From Heaven.

Wow, an almost identical experience for me - same age exactly except that my teacher began with Tom Sawyer and then moved on to a children's version of the Odyssey! (I didn't discover Mary Renault until much, much later though.) The library books on Alexander that I read at this early age were very, very old - probably nineteenth century - and the atrocities of war were glossed over to a great extent. All this rather fed my childish impression of Alexander as a fairy tale prince come to life. Then, at around age 11, I was let loose in my grandfather's library and took home some books written by prisoners of war in WWII and Korea. To say I was utterly appalled and devastated by man's inhumanity to man is an understatement. To this day I can still remember whole passages of those books, and all my interest in Alexander and his conquests flew out the window and didn't resurface until I was an adult and came across The Search for Alexander: An Exhibition in a Barnes and Noble clearance center. Those amazing images contrasted with every impression I had garnered about ancient Greece from the old books and movies, and I had to find out more about Alexander and his time. At this point even the libraries in the NYC suburbs weren't a whole lot better than those of my childhood, but I did discover almost all of Mary Renault's books in a thrift store, which definitely fed my renewed interest. As they say, the rest is history ...

Best regards,

[ScottOden]

I have Harold Lamb's Alexander of Macedon to thank. I don't remember my age, but I came across it in my grade school library and devoured it -- checking it out time and time again. I recall it had the most fascinating map inside the front cover: Alexander's route through Asia Minor, seen from a 3/4 perspective. My interest lay dormant for many years, until I found a copy in a second-hand store. It inspired the idea for my novel, Memnon . . .

Best,

Scott

[spitamenes]

I believe i was about 16 when i first started really becoming interested in this time period. I never had the fortune of reading any of Mary Renaults work. Which i do plan to when i get time. I believe i came across a copy of Arrian, and that set it in motion for me. The maps also, i remember looking at the map of his entire conquest and think about how physically demanding it would be to not only cover those distances on foot, but fight horrific battles and build cities along the way. i have a fourteen year old son,(his name is Alexander ) and even He has taken interest lately in the times of Alexander. Our public schools do not cover much of anything on Alexander, i believe it was no more than a paragraph or two during my high school days. And my son, when the small discussion DID arise in his class, knew more than the teacher about Alexander and Macedonia. He was quite proud of himself that day. as was I.
Thanks for the replys everyone.

[marcus]

Sinbad the Sailor. At age 9, our teacher used to read us a story on a Friday afternoon. She read us a version of Sinbad's adventures, followed by a children's version of the Odyssey (the two are forever muddled in my mind). This lead on to an interest in Greek mythology, followed by Greek history, which lead to Mary Renault's Theseus novel The King Must Die, which lead onto Fire From Heaven.

Well, of course, there are a number of similarities between Sinbad and the Odyssey - the eternal quest theme is present in both. Sinbad is perhaps a little more 'trite' than Odyssey. I wonder whether scholars consider there to be a specific literary link between the two?

ATB

[marcus]

I believe i was about 16 when i first started really becoming interested in this time period. I never had the fortune of reading any of Mary Renaults work. Which i do plan to when i get time.

When and if you get the chance, make sure you read "The King Must Die" and "The Bull From the Sea", Renault's two novels about Theseus. A lot of people consider "The Last of the Wine" to be a true classic; but I have to say I prefer the Theseus books.

Of course, I do mean that you should read those *as well as* the Alexander trilogy!

ATB

[spitamenes]

Will do Marcus,
I have a birthday coming up soon, so Renault might be a good little gift idea. Ill start planting the hints today...

[derek]

All,

I was aware of Alexander as a child through having the Ladybird Alexander; the picture of his men climbing the Sogdian Rock was the one that stuck in my brain. As I got older, I had no special interest in him, but loved anything historical.

I always wanted to write and could knock out short stories, but could never think of a plot that would fill a full length novel. After twenty odd years of writer’s block, I was playing a computer game, “Great Battles of Alexander”, with 10 battles to choose from. And then it came to me – Alexander. He’d done so much there’d be more than enough for a book. So that’s when I started studying him.

I also had “Great Battles of Ceasar” and “Great Battles of Hannibal” and it was a toss up for a while, but Alexander won.

For my birthday a couple of years ago, my brother bought an original 1960’s copy of the Ladybird Alexander from some antiques website. As good as I remembered it.

Derek

[marcus]

For my birthday a couple of years ago, my brother bought an original 1960’s copy of the Ladybird Alexander from some antiques website. As good as I remembered it.

Yes, I managed to get a good condition copy of the Ladybird book from Amazon a couple of years ago, for around £1.50. Fantastic! And, as you say, just as great as I remembered it to be ...

ATB

[spitamenes]

Im of course biased towards the Tyre siege. Just because that was what originally got me so involved into this subject. But I have always thought that situation alone would be a good basis for a book. (Or maybe a big budget Hollywood film? )... I vote DeCaprio as Alexander this time! Haha

[spitamenes]

...or maybe that kid who played supertramp in "into the wild"

[marcus]

But I have always thought that situation alone would be a good basis for a book.

Try The Curse of Ezekiel by Nabil Saleh. The siege of Tyre forms the backdrop to the novel.

It isn't a very good novel, unfortunately, or so I felt when I read it. It's OK, but not great.

What I did like about it was that it was told from the Tyrian persepective, and also includes Abdalonymus as a major character.

ATB

[spitamenes]

Thanks Marcus,
I'll definitely check it out. Hearing about Alexander from other perspectives besides the western points of view has always fascinated me. I wish there were more historical accounts dealing with the Persian campaign from the Persian perspective. I believe all I have run into were trade records and things of that sort. Which do tell certain tales in they're own right, but if there was a Persian "Arrian" for example. Im certain it would have the potential to change many of our ideas of how this campaign actually went down.
So, is there anything of the sort that I have missed out on?