Further back in the footsteps of Time

I've become quite fascinated with Alexander the Great - my next obsession, I suppose, after the medieval English Kings.

It started off with Mary Renault's "Fire From Heaven",which covers Alexander's childhood. Renault cover all the legends associated with it- Alexander and Beucephalos, Aristotle - before he became famous- the time spent teaching Alexander, but have been a formative experience for both of them- his parents - Olympias, who creeped me out a little- his father Philip- both an inspiration and a rival. She brings out also, the nature of the Macedonian court- distinctly different from the Greek,  wilder, with drunken revels and blood feuds and brawls.

His early friends, many of whom would accompany him in his conquests- Ptolemy- Pharoah of Egypt after Alexander's death, Hephaestion- whose death may have contributed to Alexander's...

The one thing that annoyed me was Alexander's belief in his own divinity. In this day and age, it sounds like madness, though it may have very well been accepted in those days. But it makes just a little harded to take Alexander seriously.

Renault continues with her Alexander saga with"The Persian Boy", Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire, as seen through the eyes of his concubine, Bagoas. Again, it may be natural that Bagoas adores Alexander, and sees all that he does as right, but to an outside viewer, the lack of perspective is a little annoying. There is no excuse for example, for Alexander's killing of a general in a drunken rage, and the politics of the court is rarely seen with an unbiased eye.

More interesting is Steven Pressfield's "The Virtues of War" which detail Alexander's Persian conquests, as though narrated by himself. It brings out Alexander's military genius, from his use of every weapon given to him, his ability to change tactics to suit the time, his understanding of men, his own and the enemy's, his limitless courage- or maybe, sheer fearlessness is a better word- his unrelenting ambition and utter ruthlessness. What emerges is the portrait of a man who would have been a brilliant leader in any age.

I particularly loved the description of the Bactrian campaign, the unheroic war, which even Alexander could only end by marrying a cheiftains' daughter for an alliance (though there may have been more to Roxanne than that). But the description of unconventional warfare could apply even to the wars in Afghanistan today - over the same terrain- against different tribes, and this passage stands out in its relevance over time. The other thing that came out was how much of war was luck and how much it depended on a commander's ability to turn things to his advantage in moments, as they happened- and that quickness of thought and action Alexander had in full.

In some ways Pressfield's book was a little like a play. It was almost as though I was reading little scenes with peope playing roles. I was unconvinced by the role of Hephaestion though, as conscience to the king. Somehow, rather than admiring his Homeric nobility and gentleness of spirit, I couldn't help but recall Shakespeare's "Thus does conscience make cowards of us all...and enterprises of great pith and moment, with this regard their currents turn awry".

Now I've moved on to Robin Lane Fox's "Alexander the Great". Again, this one starts off at childhood, and really brings out how much Alexander owes his father- it was Philip who ensured that Alexander had the cosmopolitan education that ensured his understanding of the world he was about to conquer, Philip who first created a standing army for Macedonia and perfected the use of infantry and cavarly to balance out the army, and the wedge formation, which allowed him manouverability, that would prove so essential to Alexander.

Still Alexander's brilliance, his sheer adaptability to every circumstance comes out, even as he secures Greece before he marches off to Asia. Alexander thought utterly unconventionally, as seen when he had steps carved into the mountain for his army, rather than take a narrow pass that would leave them defenceless- because this was the sort of man who would move mountains to suit himself.

There is not much news otherwise- I heard a concert a couple of weeks ago in Connecticut- by Susmit Sen, Indian Ocean's lead guitarist, and it was excellent. I also went to a long concert by Sudha Raghunathan here in NJ, which I left after three hours, though I was amused to hear that she was still going strong an hour later. I'm recreating my "youth" now, lying on my bed with a bunch of Agatha Christie's from a Used Book Sale at Wrightstown library...