pothos.org

Here's an 'article' on some website, listing Alexander amongst the many historical people who "suffered" from a hyperactive disorder. For some reason it rather annoyed me.

That's not to say that the idea is ridiculous - perhaps Alexander was hyperactive, although hyperactive doesn't necessarily mean "hyperactive disorder" unless you are specifically diagnosing ADHD or something similar - which is what the author is clearly talking about. Anyway, the author rather lets her argument down (in my view) by including in her list "Lancelot - if he existed". Feeble. I think that's what annoyed me the most - she takes a not unreasonable hypothesis and then effectively makes it a fairy tale.

Anyway, thanks to David Meadows at RogueClassicism for this one.

ATB

I like that David Meadows suggested this would be a good addition for the Pothos.org Internet Myths page and gave a link. This is one of NickGÇÖs pages though, and I havenGÇÖt seen him on Pothos lately.

IGÇÖve been clearing out my mailbox and discovering all kinds of info IGÇÖve saved (and forgotten about for the most part), including quite a selection of Alexander myths, many of them related to food. Technically, some of these arenGÇÖt really myths. AlexanderGÇÖs conquests resulted in the opening up of trade routes to India, so in a roundabout way he probably was responsible for the introduction of many foods to Europe. However, the authority with which some of these tales are presented is quite amusing. One tongue-in-cheek article from the Philadelphia Daily News (URL outdated) claims that "Alexander and his team of scientists and botanists propagated Europe with the citrus plant, leaving the Mediterranean seaboard lemony fresh." Another article from the United Nations says GÇ£More than 3,300 years after Alexander the Great ate a banana in India, liked it and introduced it to the wider world . . .GÇ¥ Hmmm, didnGÇÖt the bananas make his troops constipated (or was it the other way around?), so Alexander forbade them to eat any more on pain of death? The Manila Bulletin (another expired link) insists on the mystical significance of onions and tells us GÇ£Even Alexander the Great believed in its magical abilities like restoring courage, and so he fed his armies large quantities of it.GÇ¥ Now, as onions are wont to give a person gas, eating large quantities of onions would have made for a very interesting situation, donGÇÖt you think? If this tale were true, it could have been one mightily malodorous Macedonian army that advanced upon the enemy . . .

In addition to the above, Alexander is also credited for the introduction of the peach, apricot, mango, and rice. I know of no evidence, however, that when Alexander first tasted the peach,GÇ£he vowed to share it with the world.GÇ¥ Also, thereGÇÖs this about saffron. GÇ£Legend has it that Cleopatra used saffron in her baths while Alexander the Great used it to cure battle wounds.GÇ¥

Other than the food myths, hereGÇÖs one from a book written in 1942 by a commander of the United States Navy who apparently thought that the Alexander Romance was a history book - Serpent of the Seas by Harley F. Cope. GÇ£Alexander The Great, around 330 B.C., had a hobby of being lowered into the ocean in a glass water-tight barrel to sit and watch the sea creatures. Once a whale tried to carry off his submersible, and he responded with "gestures of derision". Could a naval commander really have believed this? For once, IGÇÖm at a loss for words . . .

My favorite of the crop, from the East Valley Tribune - "ItGÇÖs said that Lord Byron, Jesus, Alexander the Great, pianist Liberace, poet Kahlil Gibran, actress Lillian Gish and ShakespeareGÇÖs Hamlet were among those born with cauls, a phenomenon, by one account, said to occur about once in every 80,000 births." Apparently it isnGÇÖt just GÇ£ailmentsGÇ¥ that are credited to Alexander!

Finally, I figure this would be a good place for another link from todayGÇÖs Rogueclassicsm GÇô Has History Taught us Nothing? It isnGÇÖt about Alexander but IGÇÖm sure everyone here will appreciate it - check out the video and see this Australian TV(?) showGÇÖs (mostly successful) attempts to GÇ£parkGÇ¥ a Trojan Horse.

Best regards,

Hello Marcus,

I find these comments that usually include a long list of famous names, also annoying. They are usually written by people who think that others are going to blindly accept what they are writing and be awestruck.

It is nevertheless possible that Alexander was hyperactive, who knows?
I loved the quote in the nature of ALexander, when she says how Alexander was questioned how he took Thebes so quickly? He avoids answering the question, saying, by not putting off anything for tomorrow.

Best regards,
Dean

amyntoros wrote:I like that David Meadows suggested this would be a good addition for the Pothos.org Internet Myths page and gave a link. This is one of NickGÇÖs pages though, and I havenGÇÖt seen him on Pothos lately.

I just went to the main site to see whether I would be able to update the myths page, but find that my editing rights appear to have disappeared. I shall have to badger Thomas on that one - but if Nick doesn't pop in for a while I *might* be able to do the updates (subject to Thomas).

ATB

Dean Hi

The qoute about not putting off till tommorow. Ive heard that quote many times and doubt it Alexanders I could be wrong. I dont know if any of the sources give any catagorical staetements about anything Alexander said. IF so I doubt if they really know and a lot must be added to the Alexander Myth and legends as they fit and maybe we could imagine Alexander saying these things. If so he would have made a great comedian with some of his sarcy remarks and comebacks particulally the ones against Parmenion.

Kenny

amyntoros wrote:The Manila Bulletin (another expired link) insists on the mystical significance of onions and tells us GÇ£Even Alexander the Great believed in its magical abilities like restoring courage, and so he fed his armies large quantities of it.GÇ¥ Now, as onions are wont to give a person gas, eating large quantities of onions would have made for a very interesting situation, donGÇÖt you think? If this tale were true, it could have been one mightily malodorous Macedonian army that advanced upon the enemy . . .

From a wikipedia article on Diet in Ancient Greece, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_of_Ancient_Greece:
As for onions, these were symbolic of military life. In Peace (v. 529), Aristophanes uses the smell of onions as typically representing soldiers; in verses 1127-1129, the chorus, celebrating the end of war, sings Oh! joy, joy! no more helmet, no more cheese nor onions!
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/pt ... =&loc=1127

Perhaps because onions were relatively less perishable and could be transported along with grains, had a strong odour which could mask most things, and could impart a strong flavor to bland food, they were popular in the army?

Coral wrote:From a wikipedia article on Diet in Ancient Greece, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_of_Ancient_Greece:
As for onions, these were symbolic of military life. In Peace (v. 529), Aristophanes uses the smell of onions as typically representing soldiers; in verses 1127-1129, the chorus, celebrating the end of war, sings Oh! joy, joy! no more helmet, no more cheese nor onions!
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/pt ... =&loc=1127

Excellent! I like that.

You're probably quite right that onions would have been a popular (or at least sensible) part of the soldiers' diet. Which means that the article Amyntoros quotes might be true - that Alexander "swore by onions" ... what a shame there's no actual evidence of it!

ATB

amyntoros wrote:Finally, I figure this would be a good place for another link from todayGÇÖs Rogueclassicsm GÇô Has History Taught us Nothing? It isnGÇÖt about Alexander but IGÇÖm sure everyone here will appreciate it - check out the video and see this Australian TV(?) showGÇÖs (mostly successful) attempts to GÇ£parkGÇ¥ a Trojan Horse.

G'day Amyntoros!

Hahahaha! Yes indeed it is Australian. It is, in fact, the entirely disrespectful The Chaser's War on Everything. We have a rather different sense of humour over here you see. If our PM declares (along with Dubbya) a war on "terrism", our "comic poets" declare war on everything.

It can be an acquired taste. Their previous effort "CNNNN: We report, you believe" was even better.

Loved the Army HQ wanting to check inside first.....

amyntoros wrote:I like that David Meadows suggested this would be a good addition for the Pothos.org Internet Myths page and gave a link. This is one of NickGÇÖs pages though, and I havenGÇÖt seen him on Pothos lately.

Thanks to Thomas patiently prodding me out of stupidity and ignorance, I have now regained my editing rights to the main site. Unfortunately, some of the articles are locked to me (as they always were*) and the Internet Myths is one of them.

I'm afraid we'll have to wait for Nick to re-appear ...

* Can't be trusted, you see ...

ATB

marcus wrote:You're probably quite right that onions would have been a popular (or at least sensible) part of the soldiers' diet. Which means that the article Amyntoros quotes might be true - that Alexander "swore by onions" ... what a shame there's no actual evidence of it!

IGÇÖm not going to question the popularity of onions, especially as IGÇÖve never forgotten about the wine in the Iliad GÇô wine served with barley, cheese and an onion. And no, not served WITH the wine, but IN the wine! Yeuk! Am not sure though that it would have been a staple of AlexanderGÇÖs army; at least, not while campaigning in Asia. Onions are a weighty vegetable and even if every man started out with a ration of 10 pounds apiece they wouldnGÇÖt have lasted too long. Plus, ten pounds is a substantial weight when added to the rest of the equipment that a Macedonian soldier had to carry. OTH, if each soldier didnGÇÖt carry his own long-term supply of onions, try and imagine just how many carts would have been needed for just ten pounds of onions per soldier! Carts that would have been much better utilized for the transport of grain, IMO. And this imagined supply of onions would have to have been constantly replaced!

I can see each soldier bringing their own small supply and then foraging (or purchasing) for more as the campaign progressed. What I canGÇÖt imagine is onions being shipped huge distances in unbelievably large quantities. And, yes, I know about the shipment of apples to Bactria (was it?) but, to my recollection, the sources donGÇÖt say that there were enough apples received for the whole army. Even if there were and whole harvests had been shipped to Alexander, thereGÇÖs no indication that they were a staple of the diet for the remainder of the campaign and that shipments were being constantly received. So - getting back to onions - I think of the logistics of transportation as explained in EngelsGÇÖ book and just canGÇÖt see mass quantities of onions being carried along with the grain.

It would have been very different for the armies fighting on the Greek mainland, of course, where travel distances were shorter and supplies were always close at hand. The quote from Aristophanes also mentions cheese, doesnGÇÖt it? Once again, I question whether it was a daily staple of the Macedonian army. They would have been able to commandeer supplies of it as they passed through each city and farming community, of course, but I doubt they had an army of goats following them on campaign GÇô goats in numbers sufficient to supply each and every soldier with a daily ration of cheese!

All just my opinion, of course, (and I do so enjoy this kind of debate).

Best regards,
_______________
Amyntoros

P.S. to Paralus,

I must share in the Australian sense of humor. I thought the video was absolutely hysterical!

Hello,

just my curiosity getting the better of me again- anyone by any chance know where the quote about Alexander saying he conquered Greece so quick not putting anything off until tomorrow? Renault doesn't give a reference in the Nature of Alexander.

Cheers
Dean

Can't recall the sourde of the info but, the thrust was the staple of Athenian sailor provisions during the classical period. Something along the lines of onions, garlic and, of course, their grain ration. Mention too of dried fish.

I may, though, be confusing myself with the hoplite rations....

Either way, you'd not be caught on the rowing benches minus air filtration equipment methinks.

the video was just awesome! i sent it to all my contacts!

alejandro

Paralus wrote:

amyntoros wrote:Finally, I figure this would be a good place for another link from todayGÇÖs Rogueclassicsm GÇô Has History Taught us Nothing? It isnGÇÖt about Alexander but IGÇÖm sure everyone here will appreciate it - check out the video and see this Australian TV(?) showGÇÖs (mostly successful) attempts to GÇ£parkGÇ¥ a Trojan Horse.

G'day Amyntoros!

Hahahaha! Yes indeed it is Australian. It is, in fact, the entirely disrespectful The Chaser's War on Everything. We have a rather different sense of humour over here you see. If our PM declares (along with Dubbya) a war on "terrism", our "comic poets" declare war on everything.

It can be an acquired taste. Their previous effort "CNNNN: We report, you believe" was even better.

Loved the Army HQ wanting to check inside first.....

I finally sat down to have a looksee last night - fabulous. I totally agree, Paralus, about the Army HQ. I also thought the Turkish Consulate one was great - a shame that the laughter partly obscured the fact that they said it was a gift from the Greeks! Priceless

ATB

G'day Marcus.

This probably belongs in miscellaneous but I couldn't resist.

Here's a couple to tickle your fancy. If you're up against Fox and CNN, then you need to offer something....more shall we say.

Or, what countries do average Americans believe shoud be the US's next target?

Read the ticker tape....