Classical Wisdom Weekly/ Wednesday, November 5th, 2014 Questioning Stereotypes, Always consider your position, Alexander the Great: Warrior or Philosopher? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deep in the heart of Texas... Dear Classical Wisdom Reader, After 6 months of taking trains, planes and automobiles all across the European continent, we’ve finally returned to the U.S. of A. Yes, we’ve come to visit family in Texas... east Texas to be precise. Can I hear a collective “Yeehaw”? Now this is certainly quite a change for us. Not only have we left the freezing snows of Helsinki and Stavanger for the sunshine of the south, we’ve also entered the land of bigger is better. And we must say, it’s absolutely true... everything is indeed bigger in Texas! Our rental car, for instance, is absolutely huge. We feel like a small child trying to scramble up the innumerable steps just to get in the thing! The homes we visit could house small nations, with kitchens large enough to supply food to their entire population. We swim in our 10 gallon hats and struggle to sit atop our giant galloping horses while hefting up a 10 lb semi-automatic to shoot down enormous buffalo. Hunting season has just started, after all! Now, now, before we receive hate mail, we should clarify that the above is a bit of a tall tale... we don’t even have a hat! But over the years, that small fact (our lack of a gallon hat that is) hasn’t stopped people from asking us absurd questions about Texas both within the US and abroad... See we once lived here as a child and our mentioning the name has certainly allowed us to hear the many and varied stereotypes of the place. Do folks ride horses to school? Does everybody have a gun? Is everyone a fat, ignorant redneck? Really, no question was rude enough. Especially during the Bush years! Unfortunately we found that a lot of people didn’t want to hear the reality... That this obese, war mongering, gun toting corral could be, in fact, a multicultural, intellectual and artistic hotspot. We imagine many of you are also having your doubts... But within the fourth largest city in America, you have a majority of minorities - representing every culture and ethnicity you could imagine. Our closest friends when we were young, for instance, were Korean and Iranian immigrants. There are also all those “idiots” at NASA, the “morons” at the medical center (with some of the greatest cancer hospitals in the world), and the “fools” and “Ignoramuses” leading the international oil companies. The latter has also supplied a great deal of funding to the arts - including the Rothko Chapel, the Menil Collection, and the innumerable art and science museums which attract over 7 million visitors annually. The Houston Theater District offers year-round resident companies in all major performing arts, and, in fact, is one of only five cities in the US to do so. And we haven’t even mentioned that it’s the largest port in the United States... Now at this point, I’m sure you are asking what in the world does Texas have to do with the classical World? Not much to be honest... But before y’all have a conniption fit, just listen - we’re fixin’ tuh y’all No, seriously, stay with us a minute... Our point is, while some stereotypes can be true, they often show just one side of a story. Sure, a lot of people want to hear that tall tale and maintain the same ole narrative - but to those with inquisitive minds, this is dishonest and often unfair to the person or persons who suffer under the popular impression. So, with that in mind, we will look at a very famous and often controversial Ancient Greek figure who has a reputation for war mongering that just might be one sided as well... This week Abigail Russell investigates the tradition and the reality of Alexander the Great... Enjoy! Sincerely, Anya Leonard Project Director Classical Wisdom Weekly ---------------------------------------- Quotes of the Day: “What an excellent horse do they lose, for want of address and boldness to manage him! … I could manage this horse better than others do.” - Statement upon seeing Bucephalas being led away as useless and beyond training, as quoted in Lives by Plutarch, as translated by Arthur Hugh Clough “If it were not my purpose to combine barbarian things with things Hellenic, to traverse and civilize every continent, to search out the uttermost parts of land and sea, to push the bounds of Macedonia to the farthest Ocean, and to disseminate and shower the blessings of the Hellenic justice and peace over every nation, I should not be content to sit quietly in the luxury of idle power, but I should emulate the frugality of Diogenes. “But as things are, forgive me Diogenes, that I imitate Herakles, and emulate Perseus, and follow in the footsteps of Dionysos, the divine author and progenitor of my family, and desire that victorious Hellenes should dance again in India and revive the memory of the Bacchic revels among the savage mountain tribes beyond the Kaukasos…” - As quoted in On the Fortune of Alexander by Plutarch, 332 a-b ---------------------------------------- Aesop Fable: The Kid and the Wolf A Kid standing on the roof of a house, out of harm’s way, saw a Wolf passing by and immediately began to taunt and revile him. The Wolf, looking up, said, “Sirrah! I hear thee: yet it is not thou who mockest me, but the roof on which thou art standing.” Time and place often give the advantage to the weak over the strong. Read more Here! ---------------------------------------- The Poet King and his ‘Kingdom’ By Abigail Russell Alexander the Great Alexander’s brief and militant kingship won the renown of the ages and awarded him the title ‘Great.’ He is revered among the greatest military geniuses in history and with good reason! Bringing the mighty Persian Empire to its ruin, decreeing himself Pharaoh of Egypt, and spreading Greek culture as far east as India, Alexander amassed an Ancient Empire to rival any contester. This impressive, militant, and somewhat brutal side of Alexander is often presented without hesitation and has crowned him the Warrior King... and rightly so. But while many think of him only as the warrior, there are those who keep a watchful eye from Mount Olympus that would frown at such an injustice. The Greek biographer, Plutarch, said in his Life of Alexander: “For it is not Histories that I am writing, but Lives; and in the most illustrious deeds there is not always a manifestation of virtue or vice, nay, a slight thing like a phrase or a jest often makes a greater revelation of character than battles where thousands fall, or the greatest armaments, or sieges of cities.” Plutarch understood that achievements alone do not completely illustrate character and therefore sought to show us the man underneath the helmet. While his military achievements and undoubtedly brutal conduct cannot, and should not, be dismissed, it is not the Warrior King to whom I pay homage. It is, instead, the Poet King. By ‘poet,’ I do not mean to imply that Alexander was a profound writer, although that is not entirely farfetched either. Poet, here, denotes a man capable of poetic, idealistic, and creative thinking and whose life is shrouded in romanticism... something that began long before Alexander’s military endeavors. So, with Plutarch as our guide, here begins the story of the Poet King and his Kingdom. Alexander and Aristotle Ushered into this world by the hands of a goddess, Alexander lived a life full of divine encounters, dreams, and visions. His father commissioned the great philosopher, Aristotle, to tutor the young prince, and it was through his influence that Alexander developed a love of learning which lasted his entire life. Aristotle also fostered in his pupil an intimate relationship with Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad. A gift from his teacher, Alexander slept with the work under his pillow and next to his dagger. He carried it with him on expeditions and considered it to be his most valuable possession. Enraptured with the story of the great hero Achilles, Alexander found both a role model and companion in the legendary warrior. His fascination with this work of fiction, and his constant attachment to it, likely influenced his own character and actions. Alexander on a horse Coursing through his veins were stubbornness and competitiveness, mixed with a healthy amount of sentimentality. As a young boy he watched his father give up on a difficult horse and decided to take up the challenge for himself. Whether led by his competitive spirit, or by an instant connection to the animal, Alexander convinced his father to let him try and tame him. When, to his astonishment, his son succeeded, King Philip gave perhaps the greatest commission ever given by a father. He said: “My son, seek thee out a kingdom equal to thyself; Macedonia has not room for thee.” And so it was with that charge that Alexander set out to conquer the world. Accompanied by his new hooved comrade on his militant endeavors, his idealistic, romantic nature and his desire for civilized, educated subjects remained strong. In Plutarch’s analysis of Alexander’s fortune and virtue, he claims that it was, in fact, this side of Alexander’s character that made him a successful military commander in the first place. “Was, then, Alexander ill-advised and precipitate in setting forth with such humble resources to acquire so vast an empire? By no means. For who has ever put forth with greater or fairer equipment than he: greatness of soul, keen intelligence, self-restraint, and manly courage, with which Philosophy herself provided him for his campaign?” Plutarch goes so far as to call the people Alexander conquered his pupils and puts them on a level with those of Plato. Alexander and Diogenes From this we can see that despite his martial methods, Alexander’s vision for a unified kingdom went beyond the vast geographic empire of which he was ruler. Instead, he sought unification in morals, knowledge, marriage practices, and language. Quite an ambitious and, dare I say, poetic ideal... don’t you think? Yet it is not this noble, albeit morally suspect quest that paints Alexander as the Poet King in my mind. No. Instead, it is his founding of one city; one among many that bore his name. Alexandria, Egypt soared far above the rest in its purpose, intent, history, and the romance that radiates from its existence. Alexandria Library One might easily conclude that Alexander’s charge to “seek thee out a kingdom equal to thyself” was accomplished in his immense geographic and cultural empire... and certainly for the Warrior King this is true. But I present that for the Poet King this single island city on the northern coast of Egypt was the “kingdom” equal to Alexander and the triumph of his identity as a poet, over his occupation as a warrior. Legend tells that Alexander wanted to build a city of minds, where great thinkers could meet, learn, teach, and debate. Indeed, it would be the focal point of an intellectual empire. The story goes that the location came to him in a vision, in which his beloved Homer told him to build on Pharos, an island off the northern coast of Egypt. The building of Alexandria commenced under the watchful rule of Ptolemy, Alexander’s friend and officer. Alexander continued on his campaigns elsewhere, but left instructions for a great Library to be built with the grand intent that it would house a copy of every book in the known world. Light house Moreover, Alexandria became home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Lighthouse of Alexandria. As magnificent as the lighthouse might have been, I believe Alexandria’s true glory shines from the very foundation of her existence. Imagine a city, home to the vast extent of the knowledge of man and gods, with streets walked by the greatest minds in the entire world, and walls that echoed with teachings of men and women like Hypatia, Archimedes, and Eratosthenes. I don’t know how much more poetic you can get than a city that seems too wonderful to be true. Alexander and Apelles Regrettably, Alexander never saw the completion of his beloved dream city, but he can rest in peace knowing that it was accomplished. His death at the young age of 33 from a mysterious illness marks the final flourish of the Poet King. Was it poison? Treason? Disease? From his birth to his death, Alexander the Great has remained shrouded in mystery and romance. Indeed, he carries with him a story worthy of Homer. This Warrior King, so admired through history, is dishonored when remembered for nothing more than military conquest. As a poet, warrior, builder, and philosopher, Alexander deserves to be celebrated for all his being, not just the part that conquered the world. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 16:59:44 +0000
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