Alexander's Quiz - is this fun?

[nick]

Hi Companions -Happy new year to all of you.http://www.pothos.org/alexander.asp?paraID=109I was thinking about a 10 or 12 question "really interesting" Alexander Quiz for people visiting our site. (What you can see here is just a dummy version with two absurd questions.)So - is there anyone with suggestions for 10 or 12 superb (intriguing, fascinating, funny) Alexander questions? Please post them here, or, if you prefer that, email them to nick(at)gaugamela.com (Nick Welman).Is this a fun idea? If so, I would like to have the real quiz running by, say, end of January.I suppose by working together we can produce the best Alexander Quiz ever!Regards -Nick

[marcus]

Nick,Great idea. I am ashamed to say that I got 0% on your dummy questions - Alexander obviously didn't like Baklava (wise man).I assume we'll have "What was the name of Alexander's horse?" as one of the questions? :-)All the bestMarcus

[nick]

Hi Marcus -Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I have been thinking about that kind of "What was the name of his horse?" questions, but I thought that is too obvious (boring). So, can we think of something NEW?The head of Alexander's horse Boukephalas is said to have resembled which animal?
a. a rhino
b. a lion
c. a duck
d. an oxHmm... still not 100% statisfied. Get the idea?Happy new year!Nick

[Sandra]

hmm, second one- who was best friend of Alexander?

[nick]

Yes, I thought about that one too. Again, I would like something very NEW and creative. Who was the WORST friend of Alexander?Please let inspiration and fantasy and creativity run free. Let us come up with those Alexander questions nobody has ever seen before!Thanks for the input. Happy new year.

[C.benjamin tracy]

This is an innovative idea, Nick! Here is a question that has an answer: "What was Alexander's favorite fruit?" I found this bit of information in a Greek cookbook.

[nick]

Yes, I like that. So, what was the favorite fruit? Why? (Which cooking book is telling us this? Based on which source?)Thank you!

[c.benjamin tracy]

The "apple" was Alexander's favorite fruit. "...Philip of Macedon and ATG were apple lovers. According to Athenaeus, Alexander, when in Babylon, filled his ships with apples." ("The Food of Greece" by Vilma Liacouris Chantiles). I visualize a fourteen year old Alexander devouring apples and, perhaps, peaches while conjugating verbs and declining nouns during his attendance in Mieza. Hope the answer and resource is helpful.
Me filia!

[nick]

Yes, very helpful. This is fun. I will try to sneak that one in somewhere.Regards -
Nick

[wmp]

While searching for a decent meat in red sauce
recipe at the week end, I too found a cookbook
that stated that Alexander must have loved
vegetables as he found so many in his travels
(citing onions in Egypt, haricot beans in India)
and, having tried them out on his troops, found
they were good & exported the vegetables back
to Greece... I couldn't help thinking this would produce the
question: "Why did Alexander try out the
vegetables on his men?" - & answers such as
(i) he thought veggies were nice & wanted them
to have some too (ii) As an excellent strategist
he knew an army marches on its stomach, &
gave them good food to fill it (iii) he was being
malicious...yourswmp

[susan]

There's a novel by Aubrey Menen - A Conspiracy of Women, in which one of Alexander's wives, I think Roxana, tries to please him by cooking him a stew and he threatens to have the cook hanged as he's a 'roast-meat' only man. Susan

[nick]

Yes, yes, I like those questions and I have been trying to find that Athaeneus quote - but I won't put anything in the Quiz until there is a reasonably reliable source confirming Alexander's taste.In Athaeneus I found little so far. Maybe someone is able to point me to the correct text?The Quiz has matured by now. Hope everybody likes it. I am quite willing to move or swap some less appetizing questions.Regards -
Nick