Pop Culture Alexander

[amyntoros]

I seem to collect these little bits of (mostly) pop-culture Alexander - accidentally, I might add - I certainly don't go looking for them! Anyway, I thought Pothosians might like a little light entertainment.http://www.dailyrepublic.com/articles/2 ... /book2.txt
A mystery book called Map of Bones by James Rollins, with a storyline including "A clandestine religious group dating back to the time of Alexander the Great with a nefarious goal to change the world." Let's hope Rollins at least made the religious group pagans! http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.as ... 2005_pg3_7
Will Cuppy's satirical piece from his book The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody. Cuppy died in 1945 and I know I've seen this article before - it's probably the source for the internet myth about Alexander throwing Nectanebo down a pit to die. Still, it's a bitingly funny article, designed to offend just about any admirer of Alexander, and some of you may not have read it.http://www.hamilton.edu/news/more_news/ ... fm?ID=9307
An article about a Robert Garland lecture on Celebrity in Antiquity. Garland, who is a lecturer on Classics at Colgate University has this to say about Alexander: "Alexander the Great consciously cultivated a public persona to make himself known to subjects across his empire, Garland explained. He had himself depicted as the reincarnation of Achilles in a widely disseminated portrait statue, and the public perception of Alexander, even today, is bound up in that image." A widely disseminated portrait statue of Alexander as Achilles???? Hmmm, I'd think he had mixed Achilles up with Hercules, except that it was the Hercules image on *coins* that was widely disseminated. Either way, I expect better from a classics professor. Unless he knows something we don't!http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 64,00.html
This article begins with, "Was Alexander the Great a bastard of the Persian Shah? Why did Ancient Greeks find cucumbers droll? In their spare time did Indian concubines form a bodyguard of female archers? Like what song the Syrens sang, these are puzzling questions. But they are not beyond conjecture at the annual meeting of the Classical Association, which opens at Reading University today." Unfortunately, it doesn't go on to answer any of the above questions. I wonder what they decided...

[amyntoros]

http://www.lexpress.mu/display_article_ ... s_id=39240
An Alexander myth I've never heard before: "Far-reaching though his territories were, his last wish before dying was something unheard-of: he had asked the courtiers to cover his whole body but to let his arms be stretched out of the shroud with his hands open. This was to show that he was carrying nothing with him from his conquests and vast possessions when he was leaving the world. So many centuries after Alexander's death, his distilled philosophy of life that nothing is yours forever has not yet been well learnt. "

http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/te ... 11,00.html
An interview with William Shatner. "'HeGÇÖs (Captain James T. Kirk) a true hero. At the time of Star Trek, I had just come back from playing Alexander the Great, and I was filled with the Greek ideals of heroism. This character had a little bit of Alexander the Great coming into Star Trek,' Shatner said. (Shatner had the title role in a TV version of Alexander the Great, which also starred Batman actor Adam West.)" Now, if anyone has actually seen that ATG TV pilot, you'll know that Shatner's characterizations of Alexander and Kirk are virtually indistinguishable - in fact, the pilot could well be one of those "going back in time" Star Trek episodes. Still, you've got to admire Shatner's ego for thinking that he'd captured even a little bit of Alexander's persona.

Amyntoros

[jan]

Thanks, Linda Ann, I enjoyed all your hard work and effort as I read every last word. Some are funny, and some are thought provoking. The quotation about always having nothing is pretty apt after all. I liked that one. The Shatner and Star Trek strike me as nothing short of amazing.

[marcus]

These are great!The one about Alexander's dying wish should be added to the Internet Myths section at once ... unfortunately I can't do it myself, for technical reasons, at the moment.I was hoping that the Times article about the Classical Association meeting would give more detail on the questions posed ... naughty Philip Howard for not expanding. However, he does usually give a review of the actual meeting, so keep your eyes peeled on The Times!ATBMarcus

[Linda]

Actually, I think Star Trek's Captain Kirk is quite a good "reimaging" of Alexander. In a sixties tv context of course, but Kirk had his own Gordian knot situation - in a simulated battle, he reprogrammed the computer. Some of the Star Trek plots were based on Greek myths. I am *not* a trekkie, though - I don't know the minute details..

[marcus]

Are you *sure* you're not a Trekkie? That sounded like fairly detailed knowledge to me ... :-)ATBMarcus

[ancientlibrary]

[ancientlibrary]

(Gives Marcus the Vulcan death grip.)Joke spoiled by the fact I included it in angled brackets, which Pothos apparently takes as HTML.

[marcus]

LOL!I thought the blank message was some deeper Star Trek joke ...Still, I might make fun, but wait till you get me on to Doctor Who ... :-)Marcus

[amyntoros]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I liked the ancient Greek storylines in Star Trek and recognize the less obvious Alexander allegories in other episodes. I just find it amusing that Shatner, himself, thinks he captured the spirit of Alexander. Alexander in media sci-fi can be fun. I'm particularly fond of the Red Dwarf episode where Rimmer tells of finding out that he had been Alexander the Great's chief eunuch in a previous life! Which, he goes on to say, explains why, when in the company of a group of women, he has an uncontrollable urge to smother their bodies with warm olive oil!Then there are the less obvious examples, like in Babylon 5, where amongst the various ships called Achilles, Agamemnon, Apollo (of course), Hyperion, Nemesis, etc., there is one called the Alexander.:-)Amyntoros

[amyntoros]

Another one for the myth section, this time from the Dallas News. You won't be allowed to access the page without registering, but I'll include it anyway.http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... ml"Finding solace in music is not new. In the Old Testament, David played his harp to help King Saul escape his demons. Historians say that Alexander the Great was restored to sanity by the music of a lyre. Today, science continues to evaluate the restorative powers of music."Restored to sanity, eh? Wonder when it was that he supposedly lost it in the first place. And just who are these *historians*?Amyntoros

[marcus]

That's fantastic! I'm racking my brains for his moments of insanity, and mentions of music alongside them ... nope, can't think of any.When Hephaistion died, wasn't one of Al's grief-laden edicts that the playing of music was banned? Perhaps this myth stems from that ... somehow ...?ATBMarcus

[amyntoros]

These little tales are just incredible, aren't they? I do wonder how and when history gets twisted in this way, but the web, of course, makes the myths grow stronger. There's one that's been going around for years about Alexander and aloe vera, currently enjoying a new spurt in papers all of the country - I'm guessing because it's in a syndicated column.) In one version Alexander first brought aloe vera back from the east, having used it on the wounds of his men: in another variation, Aristotle asked him to find the island where it grows and send some back to Macedonia. It's a perfectly harmless tale and the only basis for it, as far as I can tell, is that Alexander probably travelled through the region where it originally grew. If that's the case, then he may well have sent it back to Macedonia, but I know of no historical source that actually confirms this. I imagine some junior PR writer somewhere adding it to a publicity piece on aloe vera, and then the tale circulates via the web, changing as it goes along, like that children's game where one child whispers in the next child's ear, and so forth, down a line.Not a bad thought about the death of Hephaistion, but it would take some imagination to turn Alexander's banning of music into a little 'music restoreth the soul' vignette. I can only think of one so-called historian with that kind of imagination - the one who thinks Ptolemy killed Alexander!! (Sorry about that, it seems I can never resist an opportunity to take a dig at Doherty.) As for *real* history, the only tale about Alexander's reaction to music that I can think of, off hand, is one from the Moralia, 335 A."For once upon a time, when Antigenides was playing on his flute the Chariot Song, Alexander became so transported, and his spirit so inflamed by the strains, that he leapt up and laid hands upon the weapons that lay near, and thus confirmed the testimony of the Spartans who used to sing, 'The noble playing of the lyre is meet to match the sword.'"Quite the opposite of the 'music soothes the savage breast' version, isn't it? :-)Best regards,Amyntoros

[marcus]

Oh, pop away at Doherty. Only Graham Phillips rivals him for being able to construct pure fantasy. :-)You would have been proud of me, as far as proper scholarly rigour was concerned. My sister had written an article about commissioned art, and included a paragraph about ancient art. I suggested that she include that Alexander only liked Lysippus to do his sculptures - I *almost* said the same about Apelles being the only one he wanted to paint him, but couldn't find a reputable source, so kept quiet. I'm not prepared to allow an un-referenced citation in a case like that!(Of course, I'm far less rigorous on Pothos )ATBMarcus

[amyntoros]

Because it fits perfectly in a pop-culture thread, here's the latest on Luhrmann's Alexander. Not looking so good...http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/co ... mlLuhrmann to try luck with period drama
Lawrie Zion, Film writer
April 14, 2005WITH his proposed film about Alexander the Great looking increasingly unlikely to be made, Baz Luhrmann appears to be considering following Moulin Rouge with a romantic period drama set in Australia.According to The Hollywood Reporter, the screenplay will be written by the Los Angeles-based Australian Stuart Beattie, who also wrote the recent thriller Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. Luhrmann was unavailable for comment last night, but the report said he had begun meeting with actors about various film projects, and the untitled Australian epic, which is being compared to Gone With The Wind, appears to be among the possibilities. Reports last July suggested that Luhrmann's Alexander movie had been "temporarily suspended" so he could spend more time with his family, and the Australian director has never specifically said he has abandoned the project. But Luhrmann is maintaining his silence on the prospect of its revival.