Unbreakable.

[dean]

Hi, no matter what I read about Alexander- one of the areas of his "superhumanity", that I find most fascinating is his constitution.He was unbreakable. Just a couple of days ago was reading about the arrow injury- the one that Perdikkas intervened in. I won't go into the gory details but let's suffice it to say that the arrow- measuring over a metre long, had penetrated his armour and just to get the armour off must have been sheer hell. I know it is not such a pleasant subject but I think it certainly worthy of study. There were in fact several occasions when he was "knocking on Hades door". I suppose that the mere fact that he had as many injuries as his men was one compelling reason for their legendary loyalty. The frozen river Cydnus and his little swim while under the influence was also another close shave. I mean I think that the guy "courted" death or at best showed no care whatsoever for his body. I am sure if you could list his injuries- I mean injuries that were life threatening I think that you would need more than one sheet of A-4. From what I understand- the arrow injury previously mentioned must have punctured his lung or the tissue surrounding, causing immense pain every time he breathed deeply. I get my medical info from Renault(she was a nurse during WWII after all). I think it was a miracle that he lived until his 32nd birthday- maybe he was the true son of Ammon after all...Any thoughts? All the best, Dean.

[Tre]

Hello Dean:I am currently working on an article for Pothos on Alexander's death and I will be covering the lung injury in some detail (yes, Nick, I know I'm late). There are a number of articles by doctors and ancient historians on Alexander's various injuries and illnesses. However, since such an undertaking requires both historical and medical knowledge they tend overall not to be well-balanced.Renault rightly points out that Alexander could have survived a lung injury and there would have been permanent consequences. He would not have expected to live a long life after receiving such an injury. As for the Cyndus, I believe Renault refers to it fictionally as being an incident after drinking, but historically, that is not the case. Alexander immersed himself in the coldish Cyndus after a long and exhausting ride in the heat. It is very likely he was already ill and appears to have had a convulsion and was carried back to his tent. Regards,Tre

[marcus]

Hi Tre,Goody goody! I look forward to your piece on Al's death.I wouldn't worry too much about it being late - I promised a piece on Seleucus about 3 weeks ago and I haven't even started it yet! :-)All the bestMarcus

[wmp]

Hullo Dean:Tre's right - there are quite a lot of articles out
there, but often slanted towards either medicine
or ancient history. There's one, for example, that
goes into Alexander's eye colour - whether the
reports of him having different colour eyes was
due to concussion / brain damage...What gets me is the toll it must have taken, &
the increased effort Alexander must have made
just to go about "normal" life. Many years ago I
got a spear in the spine (blunt, otherwise I'd not
be here today, rabbiting on!) and once the
bruising had gone, I had muscle spasms down
one side of my body (which locked one arm) at
intervals for six months. One day when I was
complaining, a chum waved Arrian at me, &
muttered "read & weep"... :)But apart from this - I, too, am looking forward to
Tre's article!yourswmp

[agesilaos]

Certainly Alexander suffered many wounds but the life-threatening ones you can list on the fingers of one hand; the catapult bolts at Tyre and Gaza, and the Mallian arrow; the convulsion after his swim and the dysentry in Scythia are not really wounds but certainly life-threatening. He was lucky to have been a king in the hands of the best doctors and from a culture that approved of cleanliness, else the fabric pushed into his wounds could have lead to gangrene, also he was well nourished and physically fit. I would suggest that anyone with these advantages stands a reasonable chance of surviving the penetrating wounds he suffered. Many of his less fortunate subjects could have died from the infection of even minor wounds, though I suspect that a people living in filth build up an immunity of sorts, how else cold the Huns have survived even a scratch?

[nick]

Tre wrote:
"yes, I know I'm late"
But, Tre, you know that we are always waiting for you. And extremely patient with you as well!
Regards -
Nick

[dean]

Hi, thankyou for your comments. I too look forward to your forthcoming article on the site regarding Alexander's blurred/confused/mysterious(I can't think of anymore adjectives to describe it)death. I honestly was unconscious of the fact that the drinking picnic by the River Cydnus- although it must be said that when you are drunk you do very silly things, (I know from experience)maybe untrue.The main point I was trying to make is that after all is said and done and you just take a quick glance at the distance he covered in his short-fleeting life while healthy but also whilst terribly injured- he must have been made of iron- not only physically but psychologically as well. I am also convinced that there must be countless other injuries that he sustained which Ptolomey never remembered in his old-age. Best wishes and thanks again, Dean.

[dean]

Hi there! You seem to have grasped perfectly what I was talking about. Today people have a little cold and are bed-ridden for days. Humans I think are these days quite susceptible to illnesses and give in too easy- don't get me wrong I don't think that every ill person is faking I just think that we are a lot stronger than we imagine. All the best, Dean.

[dean]

Hi, thankyou for correcting me- after my grossly hyperbolic sentence. The life-threatening wounds/illnesses are much less than I attempted to infer. Although I still think that his stoic resilience is exemplary, especially considering the vast distances he travelled and explored. From an anthropological viewpoint I think that man has not topped this to the present day.

[marcus]

WMP,You got a spear in the spine?I won't even ask! :-)Marcus

[George Crater]

Marcus,Will you be posting your article on Seleucus???
Are you studying Ancient history?
Thanks for all your help.
george

[marcus]

Hi George,I haven't written it yet, due to other constraints, but will do as soon as I can.I did study ancient history at university, many years ago! I majored in Philip and Alexander in my final year, but took quite a long break from him until about 18 months ago when I re-read my library and found Pothos. Now, of course, I can't get enough of him! :-)All the bestMarcus

[wmp]

Marcus - I make no secret of it - I had a
misspent youth & a predilection for dangerous
weapons! wmp