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I have always, so long as I can remember, been fascinated and captivated by stories of mythology, no matter from what part of the world they came. It was not until I began to read about Alexander that I realised that he was the living embodiment of so many of these legends. And even if the tales about him are not all true, he is the nearest flesh and blood to Achilles there has probably been.In short, a hero who really did live and die.Rochelle

great question. makes you wonder? when i was very young my father would always tell me stories and talk about 'Megas Alexandros' (ATG) constantly. and he still does! What fascinated me was my father would talk about ATG like he was a God? the one and only true conquerer to ever walk this earth. Since then i have been hooked.

You should consider yourself lucky, I had to study Australian history. 200 years of Yawn. I feel like nodding off just thinking about it.

Dave,Does Australia *have* 200 years of history?

Ha! Good one. Yes, some of these people don't know how good they had it!

I agree that it is amazing, and yesterday while at a local department store, I noticed that the lady who did tip me to the time of Alexander looked a bit downcast. She is actually the person who introduced me to Alexander. She is an author of a book on Egypt, and is from Alexandria. She works in the cosmetics department of a local department store, and was using the number 300 which caught my attention. She kept saying Alexander, that it is Alexander. So more or less, she is responsible for my looking into Alexander. I think that she looks a lot like the woman who plays the part of a Prostitute in Nights of Cabirini. I just that movie last night, made in '57 by Federico Fellini. It is a wonderful movie, and the actress is great! That led me to learning that Philip had met Olympias in Cabirini. Is there a connection?

The aboriginal people might think so....

Jan, i believe you're talking about Fellini's wife - Julietta Mazina. Wonderful actress and wonderful movie, i agree. But about Phillip and Olimpia's (i think she was called Myrtilla back then, but maybe i'm wrong) first meeting place being Caribini - i'm really not sure, so can't comment on this one. However, I'M SURE, there're plenty of experts on this board to clear the subject.

Hi all:Jan, I didn't understand this:"She... was using the number 300 which caught my attention. She kept saying Alexander, that it is Alexander. So more or less, she is responsible for my looking into Alexander."Please clarify?Love & peace,
Karen

Yes, I have read that she was called Myrtale, but her name was changed to Olympias because of the Olympic games. Just read it, so that I can recall it readily. Supposedly, Philip fell in love with her while at one of these rites. It is interesting and fascinating to consider, isn't it?

Hi Karen,Well, I was deep into a study of the Versailles and Louis XIV and had a book in my hand at the time. This lady is Greek, and has lived in Alexandria, having worked as a journalist and author, and is very knowledgeable about Egypt and Greece. She wears an angel pin and calls herself Angel. She has written her own book, but it is published by the Greeks and can be found on the internet. She had trouble finding an American agent. I do not know what she meant when she said that but we began to talk and she told me that Alexander is her favorite. The number 300 caught my attention but it pertains to me, and is a sore subject for me right now anyway. I showed her why it is me she was talking about. Anyway, to make a long story short, I found the book on Alexander the Great by Weigall, and woke up fast and with a start. The book is at least 6 years older than me, and I began to think it had been a blueprint for my life's story.Gotta close now, but will confide more later...Jan

Very funny Marcus,Yep we do, some Guy found it , Britain dump some unsavoury and unwelcome citizens off. The there was a gold rush, and then I was born and Thats 200 years.

You're right about Olympias' real name being "Myrto" (sp?)(myrtle as in the bush) She named herself Olympias after the mountain where the gods dwelled. An amazing woman. Whenever I finish this never-ending saga about the fall of Alexander's dynasty I am planning to write a novel just about her.

I can't wait til you do. I just read an interesting description of her in some novel that is on the web. But it is author's imagination also. I would love to know more about your investigation into her past. It sounds very interesting.Jan

Dear Gayle,While reading Weigall's book which I am now in the process of rereading, I began to see so many similarities between Alexander and myself that I began to believe that his life is a script to understand myself in this period of my life. There are so many situations in which I am reading what sounds like behaviour of myself that I began to think that I must have somehow or other become an echo of Alexander. By the time we got to some point in the book, I decided well, if he really is me, he would have to do such and so, which finally he does do. That made me feel a whole lot better. I was a bit exasperated to say the least. I could hardly believe it. And so as I read on, I began to realize why so many experiences and situations have played out to me as they have, and it really jolted me. But I decided that I had had enough with incarnations of previous heroes or infamous peoples, for I have been coping with some real giants in history, and it has been quite an eye-opening experience, and I thought, what, not Alexander too. So I decided that I would not claim Alexander unless I could get into his skin and see through his eyes. That is my test for my own personal quest to learn what I can of my own soul.While it all sounds grandiose and self-inflating, the truth is anything but grandiose. The truth is something that I require to satisfy my own needs, and I would not deceive myself. I know that people of the past are only hosts upon which the parasitical world of historians, biographers, and authors, film makers, etc. all feed. That does not bother me. But in soul searching, I want only the truth, and as Alexander seems to have even influenced Adolph HItler and Osama bin Laden as well as hosts of others, it is important that I learn the truth.I saw a comparison on the movie Hitler the other evening to Alexander, and it struck me when I saw it. I am certain that to today's world that Alexander is much worse than Hitler was.But according to Arthur Weigall who explores Alexander from a point of view that today's scholars do not, the resemblance between him and me in character and personality is uncanny, and it really moved me. I could hardly believe it.Do I laugh about it? Well, I take soul seriously, and stories lightly. Unless I can prove it to myself, and believe in it, I won't admit to such a character as this.I have decided this morning after reading about Zeus Ammon last night that the name Zion is a combin