pothos.org

Hi!

I was just wondering if anybody here is aware of any known quotes by Alexander regarding the topic of fear, say conquest or overcoming of it?


Rob

"I am not afraid of an army of Lions led by a sheep, I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion."

Thank you, Spitamenes

But I wonder if that one could really be credited to Alexander?

Probably not. But I personally wouldn't take many of the quotes attributed to him as his actual words anyway.
It's a nice quote though!

I found this quote on Plutarch,On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander, 345 B:
"He (Alexander) cried aloud to his Companions (when wounded by the Mallians): 'Let no one be faint-hearted even for my sake! For it will not be believed that I do not fear death, if you fear death for me!'."
Best wishes

There's this one too, from Curtius

Curtius 3.6.4
[4] Meanwhile he received a letter from the most faithful of his officers, Parmenion, in which he was told not to trust his life to Philip who, according to Parmenion, had been bribed by Darius with one thousand talents and the prospect of marrying the king's sister. [5] The letter had caused Alexander deep concern and he was now secretly calculating and weighing up the divergent courses of action suggested by fear and hope. [6] 'Should I go ahead and drink?' he mused. 'Then, if it turns out that I have been given poison, I shall be thought to have deserved whatever happens. Should I accuse my physician of disloyalty? In that case, am I going to face death in my tent? No, better to be killed by someone else's crime than my own fear.' [7] For a long time he weighed his options. He told no one of the contents of Parmenion's letter, which he put under the pillow on which he was lying, after sealing it with his own ring.

Now many words/sayings/speeches directly attributed to Alexander have been put under the microscope, so to speak, because sometimes it can be very difficult to tell if they are his true words or are instead the words of the author, put into Alexander's mouth for effect. The above quote is one of the most questionable. I mean, if Alexander was alone in his bed and "secretly" musing on the letter, telling "no one" of the contents, then how on earth could Curtius (or anyone else) have known of his thoughts and words? We can suppose that Alexander told his friends (or Philip) of his feelings after the fact, and that his words were then recorded. Or is it just a situation where Alexander's subsequent actions - i.e. drinking the draft - indicated to all his lack of fear and the words above are Curtius' elaboration on the event?

Either way, the whole story is a neat little insight into Alexander's character, IMO.

Best regards,

Alexander on the Dimnus Conspiracy at the trial of Philotas (Curtius 6.9.23): “How much happier to have fallen in the fighting, felled by a foe, rather than die by a countryman’s blow! Now, preserved from the only perils that I feared, I am beset by threats that should never have appeared.”

Alexander in the prelude to the Battle of Gaugamela (Curtius 4.13.23-24): “When Darius was scorching the earth, devastating villages and spoiling provisions, it drove me round the bend, but now indeed what have I to fear, when he gives me a battle to contend?”

Best wishes,

Andrew

Taphoi wrote:Alexander on the Dimnus Conspiracy at the trial of Philotas (Curtius 6.9.23): “How much happier to have fallen in the fighting, felled by a foe, rather than die by a countryman’s blow! Now, preserved from the only perils that I feared, I am beset by threats that should never have appeared.”

Alexander in the prelude to the Battle of Gaugamela (Curtius 4.13.23-24): “When Darius was scorching the earth, devastating villages and spoiling provisions, it drove me round the bend, but now indeed what have I to fear, when he gives me a battle to contend?”

Best wishes,

Andrew

Who translated Curtius in rhyme?

Best regards,

amyntoros wrote: Who translated Curtius in rhyme?

Me, I'm afraid. They are both from my Reconstruction of Cleitarchus. There is evidence that Cleitarchus wrote in meter, so I have echoed that with some reconstruction in verse, particularly for the rhetorical bits.

The first is from Alexander the Great in Afghanistan (Books 7, 8 & 9 of Cleitarchus). The second is from Book 5 (not yet published).

Best wishes,

Andrew

Taphoi wrote:Me, I'm afraid. They are both from my Reconstruction of Cleitarchus. There is evidence that Cleitarchus wrote in meter, so I have echoed that with some reconstruction in verse, particularly for the rhetorical bits.

Indeed: why depart from your usual practice with the sources?

Thank you Amyntoros, Taphoi and Paralus

Thank you for your time and effort - I'm truly grateful and proud to be in the company of such knowledgable, well-versed and scholarly partisans

Yes, indeed it is a tall order to set one's hand to a task such as this one. Who can truly know what was said and what wasn't? But I think that we can all be in general agreement on that the man was truly fearless. He's nothing short of being a symbol of fearlessness and the pushing of boundaries...

robbie wrote:I'm truly grateful and proud to be in the company of such knowledgable, well-versed and scholarly partisans

Don't encourage them too much!

Ha ha ha! You're a darling, Marcus

Might I add that the first and last time (as far as we know) that Alexander sacrificed to Phobos [Fear] was - according to Plutarch (31.9) - on the eve of the Battle of Gaugamela.