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My young daughter sat with her mum yesterday watching Alexander. She is only five and kept asking her mum to replay the taming of Bucephalus Scene. She just loved it.

I was wondering about this event and how muche credibility is put to this story. If true its stuff of fantasical proportions it turns out not only was Alexander a great warrior and soldier he was also a Horse Whisperer at a very young age.We had seasoned cavalry officers unable to do anything with the horse. Yet Alexander does a jackanory and rides it.

kenny

jasonxx wrote:My young daughter sat with her mum yesterday watching Alexander. She is only five and kept asking her mum to replay the taming of Bucephalus Scene. She just loved it.

I was wondering about this event and how muche credibility is put to this story. If true its stuff of fantasical proportions it turns out not only was Alexander a great warrior and soldier he was also a Horse Whisperer at a very young age.We had seasoned cavalry officers unable to do anything with the horse. Yet Alexander does a jackanory and rides it.

kenny

Hi Kenny,

It's a difficult one, because the only source we have for events of Alexander's childhood are in Plutarch, so we have no moderating sources to work with. There are some elements in Plutarch which have the whiff of myth about them. The Bucephalus scene is, I think, generally accepted, although one could always argue that a certain level of spin was put on it - for a start, as Philip had spent years building up a superb cavalry wing to his army, and the Lower Macedonians had been horsemen for many more generations, I find it a bit hard to believe that the grooms were so unattuned to the horse's "issues", and Alexander was the only one who spotted the problem.

Maybe that's another one for Andrew Felando - in such a horsey culture, how likely is it?

ATB

You seem to be forgeting something. We are talking about Alexander here. The man didnt lose a battle. Why not tame a horse that no one else could? Even at that age.

Also Alexander was probably the only one that approached the horse with a gentle manner, whispering to his ear. Although a skilled trainer would know that approach, i dont think they bothered to do it when taming horses.

Marcus Im sure the taming took place one way or another. But the little writen about it we cant really say exactly how it went. And as you say a little heroic slant put on the story.

But theres nothing wrong with a little romantic adition.But we gotta give some of the stories a little slack and not believe everything that was rosey in the garden.

When I first found Alexander I believed all the good stuff without a flick of an eye. But the more you read and try to understand. Especially with the times and how society was and somewhat hasnt changed. I dont discard out of hand some of the accusations made about him, although they are my own opinions.

I dont blame Alexander for Clietus Death. Thebes been smashed even Tyre been whipped. I even excuse Alexander wanting Parmenio Dead and Philotas. They were all aspect of survival of the fittesst amongs warriors. I even accept he may have been involved with Philips death, and would bet my bottom dollar he was in the frame with Darius death.

Kenny

A friend of mine gave me as a gift a copy of Nick Kazantzakis's book, Alexander the Great. It was written for younger readers and after reading it I found it to be a quite accurate portrayal of Alexander without highlighting the ugliness so stressed in the film.

jasonxx wrote:Marcus Im sure the taming took place one way or another. But the little writen about it we cant really say exactly how it went. And as you say a little heroic slant put on the story.

But theres nothing wrong with a little romantic adition.But we gotta give some of the stories a little slack and not believe everything that was rosey in the garden.

Absolutely. I'm sure it happened ... whether it happened quite as Plutarch says, of course ...

ATB

Its a lovely heart warming story. And great for the Romantics and kids. Id love to say for sure it happened in sucvh a way. But well never know.My daughter loves it

So far as to say when she gets toy horses she calls it Bucephalus. Though Pegasus is her favourite horse.

Kenny