Alexander on the radio

[Linda]

Hi folksThere is a BBC radio drama on Alexander on at the moment - see:The fourth episode is this morning (I am listening to it at the moment). It is sub-Shakepearean to say the least, and everyone seems very angry in it so far. Alexander has just said "I have the business of my life to see to.."http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/drama/He actually sounds a bit like Michael Wood, and according to his men ("Holy Apollo, Babylon? I thought that was just talk..."), he smells of thyme and roses.

[J%hn]

Thanks, I managed to catch the end of it from the internet:The Greek tries to give Darius some helpful information about Alexander, but Darius found the Greek's candor too painful, and had his throat cut, instead of hearing him out.Funny. I was just thinking of candor -v- hurt-feelings on this forum, and Nick, who has a website devoted to Darius. Ooops, better watch my tounge...John

[J%hn]

...'Course, Alexander, too, could be intolerant of too much freedom of speech (Cleitus). (What did someone say? Alexander's companions were safer on the battlefield than at his parties.) I admit I just got mad at Nick after reading his "deleted messages" post, wondering what I missed. And have some of the participants not even returned?John

[susan]

It's almost certainly the radio series that ran about 12 years ago, with Michael Maloney, I think, as Alexander. It was very turgid stuff - Olympias shouts all the time and is a real harridan - there are a lot of drum rolls and portentous noises. Achilles and Patroclus sit on a cloud watching Alexander, but they are middle-aged English gentlemen. The winds of history audibly whistle around the studio. I don't know why they persevere in making programmes when the script was so bad - it doesn't need an expert in Alexander to realise that it's very weak. Nobody would have followed this Alexander to the local Spar shop, let alone the ends of the earth. When it was first on, I moved heaven and earth to record it, but I only listened to 10 minutes before realising it had almost no merit.Susan

[nick]

Hi John -Please don't get mad at me. Deleting messages is not something I easily decide upon on my own - usually there are one or two contributants who have already mailed me saying they find a certain discussion inappropriate. In this case, the tone of voice became abusive. I like the Forum to be a save place. I rather see a one person not returning because his/her message was deleted, than a person not returning because he/she has been abused in the Forum.About the throat cut incident: that is one of the first articles on the Darius III website (the Charidemus case) - it is a perfect starting point for an analysis of Persian kingship...Best regards -
Nick

[Linda]

It *is* awful. There isn't a cast list on the web site, but it could be Michael Malony as Alexander. An annoying chorus drives the action along, in between torrid conversations between Alexander and Hepahestion (or Phaisty..). Alexander and Barsine. Olympias is depicted as a monster.Fot those objecting to the anglification of his name, he is addressed "Xandros", and is very very irritating.

[J%hn]

They gave the cast credits after the show. I remember hearing the name Malony, so it must be the same show Susan's referring to.John

[J%hn]

It seems like throwing the baby(s?) out with the bath water, though. I mean, the discussion topic sounds great ("What would Alexander think about the war against Iraq?"). Personally, I think he would point his finger at the looted History Museum, and say, "I would never have let that happen." Because Alexander wasn't so sloppy. This present conquest of Iraq reminds me of Julius Caeser's conquest of Alexandria, Egypt. What? The library burned down? But what is that in comparison to my glorious conquest?JohnP.S. Are deleted posts lost forever to history? All that thought, that emotion, lost forever? The horror! I just can't bear to think about it!!

[dsymes]

John,I asked the question that became the subject of the deleted messages. Several posters responded with interesting thoughts. But one person directed internet expletives (#%^*!!) at me for asking the question and demanded immediate censorship, all apparently because of her personal views on the war.I responded to the censor that I had asked a legitimate question about Alexander's psychology, not the war in general, that could be debated without getting into personal views. After all, I have seen debate on the forum about the 2000 crucified at Tyre. The poster wrote back that I was "stupid" for even suggesting that debate on how Alexander might view things could be done without resort to personal feeligns.I responded in what I thought was a professional way, but perhaps with a bit more fire than I should have. (I would disagree that anything in my tone of voice was abusive.) Nick then deleted the string.Nick,While I certainly agree that the Forum should be a safe place, and I do understand your decision to delete the string, I do wonder whether you jumped the gun by deleting the entire string. In any event, I did not leave and do not plan to leave the Forum because of this incident, although I do approach it more tentatively and with a different feeling.To the poster, if she's reading, I am sorry to have offended you with the question and undersand (and even empathize with) the emotion behind your apparent views on the war in general. But I stand by my belief that the question was legitimate. I truly hope all can be forgiven.Best regards to all.David Symes

[nick]

Hi David -Yes, your question was legitimate as far as my opinion is concerned. And yes, I decided to delete the entire string: the other option would be to censor certain messages. Now that becomes tricky. I could always be accused of censoring persons - which I do not do and never want to do - instead of censoring certain topics. So, even though I regret this myself (I do not like censorship at all), the least controversial way would be deleting the entire string.I am happy that you are still around here. And yes, since I discovered pothos.org in 1999 my views on the Forum changed various times: moments of joy and moments of feeling 'this is going wrong'. I think that is all part of interaction on the web. In general: we have kept the Forum decent, to the point and interesting for almost five years now. That is - in retrospect - quite an achievement.I will be looking forward to your next postings.Best regards -
Nick