Alexander Movie: Pella, Gaugamela, Babylon and India

[Cyrus]

Someone dies in Babylon, an old story-teller in Alexandria, Alexander and his mother in Pella, Alexander fights against someone in Gaugamela and then he enters a city (Babylon) that all people wait for him, ...I finally saw the Alexander movie, I don't want to say that it was a bad movie but it could be too much better than this!

[jona]

Hi Cyrus,Does this mean that the movie can be seen in Iran?! That's great. I already saw it, but seeing it a second time in January in Esfahan or Shiraz or Tehran would be even better.Jona

[Cyrus]

Yes as someone who sold this movie to me said Alexander DVD has been available in Iran for about two weeks!

[jona]

But is it in the cinemas?Jona

[saif]

i think it was a pirate DVD

[jona]

I am afraid so. I always like visiting cinemas when I am abroad; cinemas tell a lot more about a foreign nation than the official monuments. And usually, it is an easy place to meet "real" people.Jona

[Cyrus]

Jona you know Iran is ruled by Muslim clerics and they never these movies to be shown in the cinemas!

[jona]

That's why I was so surprised, especially because I think the movie contains all Greek clich+¬s about effeminate Asians. In fact, the portrayal of Darius is entirely incorrect; the great king is shown as a coward who is the first to flee from Gaugamela, whereas we know for certain (thanks to the Astronomical Diaries) that this is simply untrue. He was a brave man, and Stone's movie is a murder of character. The suggestion that the Iranians were HAPPY to be "liberated" is outrageous.Jona

[Kostas]

Hi Jona,We all know the history of Alexander and Darius as recorded by Greek historians (where no-one of them wrote about any bisexuality of Alexander). What is the view of the Persians? Was he a hero? I think he was a hero but he had to flee to save himself and regroup to attack Alexander. But he was betrayed by his own people. (all absolute rulers have the same fate when they become weak). Common people also at that time of many ethnic backgrounds living in the same empire, city they did not have any national concience. Thus Alexander was another king at the place of the previous something which happened before anyway. Alexander also made sure to gain them by keeping the Persian army and its leaders, adopting customs, mixed marriages etc and creating a new empire with Hellenic (Greek) influence. What is the view of Persian historinas? Do today's Iranians study about these historical events e.g. in the schools? Kostas

[jona]

"What is the view of the Persians?"Cyrus Shahmiri can answer this question, I suppose, for the present.What _I_ do know is that in Medieval Persia, there were two visions: the original, Zoroastrian vision, which presented Alexander as one of the plagues of the devil; and a more positive vision, inspired by Arabian culture. The Arabs had translated the Alexander Romance, and the Iranians, when converted to Islam, copied this.One of their "improvements" is that they changed converted Iskander into the first-born son of king Dara; Iskander was the lawful ruler of Persia and his conquest was simply re-taking what was his, but had been stolen by his younger brother, Dara son of Dara (=Darius III).Jona