A high-pitched voice?

[S]

Greetings,
Errr, I never noticed anyone get a higher pitched voice from riding horses, bareback or otherwise.. but I can imagine what a hilarious scene it could make with a movie. Imagine the battle cry!!!

Regards,
Sikander

[Link]

Hello Sikander, that film's (The day of the real saddle sore) war cry would be maybe, oOOUUU!But we know Alexander and the Macedonian's cry is the same as Arrian says, ENYALIUS :-)If you have time take a quick look at the riding positions from the Zarkopvigus sculprures in Istanbul, the tumba paintings and also the *asymetric* evidence of those nonspecific contact areas in the lion hunt mosaic..ouch. After so many years and months ov riding and action, the voice would be prone to change, it's biological. And the eyes would water often ;-)Cheers

[John.]

It's a "fringe element" thing, not from the ancient sources.There was another young warrior who led her nation to glory on the battlefield, Joan of Arc. I don't know THAT much about her, but wasn't she successful for a while passing herself off as a male?If only he would have grown a beard, like ALL the male kings before him!John

[Linda]

No - the whole point was that she was a "maid".There have been successful females who passed as men soldiers, but I have never really heard that about Alexander...well, "never really" as in "never never"Maybe you dreamt it. :)As for fringe element, are you talking about Farrell's hair in that photo. Talk about a fringe - he looks like Siegfried and Roy, one or the other, or both...

[John.]

I know I saw a documentary on Joan of Arc that said she disguised herself as a male (at least for a while.) Maybe the documentary was wrong.You never heard that about Alexander? I've even heard someone say that about George Washington. I remember thinking, "how can you say that about George Washington?" He was just trying to be funny, I don't think he believed it. The same guy said Socrates had a woody for Alcibiades. THAT I could believe, and it was funny, too. - Now you know what I mean by the "fringe element."John

[Linda]

I think she dressed as a man for safety's sake, but she never pretended to be a man to her followers..Socrates being in love with Alcibiades is in Plato's Symposium. I thought that was well-known..

[John.]

Yes, but was Socrates' love for Alcibiades merely platonic, or was it something "more"?John

[S]

Greetings!
*My* eyes are watering from laughing at the battle cry!!
Though seriously, I think we have to take into account that the positions shown in the sculptures, etc may only be "artistic"- those who ride bareback know it takes all of about 5 minutes to figure out where to sit- the action of the horse itself as well as the placement of the withers creates a "natural seat".. after that, it is about riding correctly and using leg strength to hold oneself in position.
That said, I now have an image of the movie "Saddle Sore Warriors" that will not go away!!! You made my day!!
Regards,
Sikander

[Linda]

I thought platonic love was taking desire, or regard for beauty and trasferring it to something spiritual. So, Socrates felt like having a "woody" but transcended that desire to a higher plane of wisdom and beauty.I can't believe I just typed that...

[jan]

This is a strange question, but I am confident that Alexander's voice could be heard far and wide in his deliverance of his speeches.

[ruthaki]

This might be a reference to the time when he was a young boy and he sang for a delegation of Athenians. Philip was angry about it because he said Alexander (whose voice was apparantly very sweet and melodic) sounded like a girl. Heaven forbid that he should pursue a career as a singer!!