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Alexander's appearance

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 9:40 pm
by Alexias
In 'Faces of Power - Alexander's image and Hellenistic politics' Andrew Stewart isn't very flattering about Alexander's appearance:
Taken together, the two early traditions are not particularly flattering. Alexander was neither tall (about 5' 7") nor tanned; his neck apparently drooped and was twisted slightly towards his left shoulder, and he held his head high, tending to look upwards; he was clean-shaven; he had a loud, harsh voice; his eyes were limpid and melting; his brow was fierce; his hair formed a cowlick (anastole) above it; and there was something altogether scary in his countenance. P.73
He emphasises that it was Alexander's neck that was crooked, not that he held his head tilted.
..although a head held high and a loud voice were unmistakeable signs of strutting masculinity, white skin, melting eyes, a smooth chin, and a drooping neck signalled exactly the opposite. Whatever this strange and somewhat uncanny fusion of masculine and feminine may have contributed to his electric charisma, it certainly fascinated and perplexed his contemporaries.. P.74
Greek culture has been aptly described as a youth culture, and Apollo, its symbol, had been beardless in painting and sculpture since the sixth century; in the fifth, the younger gods like Hermes and Dionysos followed suit. The heroes present a parallel case: in the Iliad and the Odyssey they were very definitely bearded, but Alexander's ancestor Achilles loses his beard from the late sixth century, followed by many others, not least among them Herakles. Victorious athletes, too, were regularly represented as beardless.

...His was the fresh-faced youthfulness of the kouroi or of Achilles "whom he emulated from boyhood..not only was the usual image of the king as a bearded father figure inappropriate (to Alexander's youthful achievements), but a better model was ready to hand: the eternally youthful hero, out to shape the world anew. P.75
It seems that Alexander was a skinny youth:

Anonymous Itinerarium Alexandri 13 (ca. AD 340)
As a youth he was of medium height and rather dry in the limbs … And as his muscles multiplied and grew, he developed a wonderful sinewy physique.

Re: Alexander's appearance

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 4:46 am
by tei
Well, I suppose it's all a matter of taste :P

Interesting about the twisted neck theory. I remember something about him supposedly holding his head habitually to one side but don't remember where it was from-- however, given that he was seriously wounded in one shoulder at Gaza, it doesn't seem unbelievable at all that it affected his posture for the rest of his life.

Re: Alexander's appearance

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 8:35 pm
by Alexias
Stewart's contention is that traditionally, an all-conquering king was a man in the prime of his life and would be portrayed as bearded, virile and physically imposing. Alexander's youth, small stature, and slightly feminine appearance gave his image-makers a problem. Consequently they stressed the leonine aspects of his appearance, and played up the association with youthful heroes such as Achilles. Personally I think that as Alexander got older, he deliberately emphasised the boyish aspect of his appearance and used it to appear disingenuous, approachable, yet terrifying as he didn't meet expectations.

I don't think the crooked neck, which I find a bit difficult to visualise, was the result of an injury or we would surely have been told, or seen in images, a before and after.