Why do you like ATG and how did you "meet" him ?

[Ariadne]

Hello ! Luis posted and interesting message a few days before, but unfortunatly it desapeared in the hidden pages of this forum .So I ask the question again. There was anpther question about your origins.I think it's interesting to continue ...Bye ! Ariadne

[kate]

Hi Ariadne,Yes, I saw Luis's post and meant to reply, but it disappeared before I got round to it.As for me, I'm a Brit, originally from the north of England, but now living near London. I first "met" ATG as a little girl - many years ago! -when my grandfather used to tell me stories about him. My interest was sparked off then and it has stayed with me ever since. As for why I find him so fascinating, I suppose it is because of his achievements. To do all the amazing things he did, he must have been a really exceptional man. When you add on to his good looks, his personal charisma and dying so tragically young it makes him makes him irresistible!Cheers,Kate

[ruthaki]

I met him briefly when I was sixteen in a grade 11 history class. After that, I spent all my time in the library reading and researching about him. He captured my imagination (and heart). An amazing character, fascinating and to me (especially in my teens) a 'super hero'. I've been reading and writing about him ever since...and the greatest thrill has been when I first went to Greece and walked in his footsteps, s journey I've done many times since my first visit in 1978.

[dean]

Hello,I have to confess it was Valerio Manfredi whose book Alexandros really captured my attention to him for the first time. Up till then I knew he was a king but that was about as far as my knowledge went.Now I seem to spend some time out of every day studying or reading about the guy no matter how busy I am.I used to live in Leeds, England but now I live in the Canaries.I guess I find Alexander very interesting obviously for his achievements- his genius- and that upward heavenly gaze that I will never be able to explain...Best regards,
Dean.

[rollsrite]

hi, this is such a great question. i first met atg via mary renault. i read "the last of the wine", loved her writing and continued to read all her books. as many of this forum know mary renault loved atg. i am again reading "the nature of alexander." as to why i like him.........that is an even better question. i'm going to have to think on that awhile, but will get back to you. i admire him for many reasons. i think he was brave and certainly a forward thinker. he took hurt to heart and always rewarded his friends and the sure was havoc for his enemies. mostly i admire him because he was not judgemental, he accepted peoples ways and respected their gods. this he did on his own because when studying with the greeks; he was taught everyone but greeks were barbarians. he did NOT accept this fact and this is what i admired most about him. i live in the u.s.a. and have not been able to see the movie. i live in a rural area and because the critics panned the movie; the atg movie did not visit my local show. i'll have to wait for the release on dvd. i'm glad to hear everyone's view point on the movie though and for this i'm grateful. good question!! tina rollsrite

[lucian]

Actually I was 7 years old and I saw the Black Stallion, and in the movie a father tells the story of Alexander taming the horse Bucephulas to his son Alec Ramsey (Alecsander Ramsey) who of course finds the stallion in the island..blah blah.
But it was in sixth grade history class, that while waiting for the teacher to arrive I flipped the pages of the book and saw a close shot of the mosaic, it hit me like a ton of bricks, and it was "love at first sight". From that moment on I grabbed every book I could get my hands on, and pretty much anything else having to do with him.
This is going to sound weird, but I actually managed to buy the 8 feet by 5 feet vinyl poster of ALEXANDER, with the 6 main characters, and it's on my wall - quite proud of it actually :0) Why?
How can I not? He was young, handsome, brave, old for his years, tutored by a philosopher, tamed a black stallion, fell in love with a young man and didn't care who said anything about it, conquered the world, died young..was a drama queen half the time, and a god at other times. Either that man was lucky as hell, or he was chosen by some god. He knew he was special, and so do we.

[Ariadne]

Hi Tina ! I think Mary Renault is responsable for many passions for ATG in our times ...
I read their books at 14 (chocking for the ladies of the library , cause I was yet interesting by everything about ancient Greece.
I've studied history at university, but not specially ATG, even if I read several biographies. I think I am not as impartial as history needs when I speak about him. I like him for this will to go still far and discover new lands, to be still the best on everything, and also for this feeling of tragedy behind success. And how can you resist to an handsome warrior who reads poetry ?
But of course this is just a dream, a dream many writers an artists have created during centuries (in fact ATG himself began to creat this image), and we would be very disapointed on meeting the real Alexander...I leave in south France, what explain my bad english ! I think Olivers Stone's film is bad, not really on history's point of view, but on cinema's point of view. It is only my opinion (I made a little review about it in an old post.)C'est si bon de r+¬ver....Bye bye !Ariadne.

[Jooles]

Hi
I am probably the oldest person on this forum. I studied ATG at primary school and then I actually managed as a child to see the first ATG film with Richard Burton and that was it. Not that I was particularly fussy at that very young age about quality of films as such but ATG has stayd in my head and heart ever since. I originally come from a classical oriented generation and country (Italy) and moved to London many many moons ago. It has been relatively easy for me to pick up a lot of info about ATG as ancient history was taught from primary school level throughout high school and quite thoroughly in those days.
Been to Pella few years back. Lovely wine around there(Naoussa). Also, I read Mary Renault trilogy when it came out in the 70s and I was hooked (again). It is impossible for us to imagine what sort of charisma he must have possessed from an early age. ( I do not think he was particularly handsome - see Azara Herm). What I admire most is his courage (physical and mental) and his stubborness and his inability to take no for an answer (from anyone - until the second mutiny). In another era even our modern one, I think he would have still shown the same courage and his strong mindset even if probably applied to different kind of enterprises, not necessarily wars or conquest. Possibly exploration.....or unity of mankind, war on poverty... Who knows??
By the way, I think the bravest thing he ever did was to step down in the midst of the angry mutineers.... Phew..

[Linda]

"I met him in the candy store.." sadly, no. I met him, as others did, through Mary Renault. I read Fire from Heaven, and started Arrian, when I was 14, and read The Persian Boy 20 years later. I loved The Persian Boy, and was torn between lovely Bagoas and his unrequited love, and feeling outraged that Hepahestion should have been supplanted. And, like lots of others, I started writing some fiction to show Hephaestion's point of view. But it was not very good, and I realised that I knew nothing of the time apart from what was in Renault, so I started reading Arrian and Curtius,a nd my view of Alexander is from them, not Renault, really. Renault's Alexander is quite a distant figure - enough to make you long for him, but a much richer character comes from reading Arrian etc. I like him - do I like him? I am fascinated by him, but also by the times - the plays, the poetry, the philosophy. I like Lucian's description: was a drama queen half the time, and a god at other times. He had attributes that fascinate us - for good or bad. Just elemental - he was fast, intelligent, powerful, successful, glamorous, determined, loving, mercurial..he has a great name, and a hint of tragedy. He was also an engima - why did he do what he did? And he was so darn good at it - and that is attractive. Of course, he had a dark side, and that is satisfying, in purely story-telling terms. But it is not just him - it is the time as well.Oh, and I don't write stories of him any more. There is enough out there...Linda