coraldawn

Alexander in color!

2007-04-01T04:28:21Z

Casts from the Alexander sarcophagus at Sidon have been rendered in color, using pigments still found on the marble. The pictures are from a recent exhibition at Athens. For more, follow link.......

Sarcophagus

For more infomation about the exhibition and colors
Exhibition

Tintin, Tintin, Tintin!!!!

2007-03-09T05:32:41Z

I am so happy that I am dancing with joy! Tintin is headed for the movies and "Dreamworks" is taking up the challenge!

Yahoo link

I first read all the Tintin books far back when I was a teen. Even today, I have all of them and leaf through them lovingly every now and then. This is great news! I do hope they don't use live actors or change Tintin's very distinctive looks! Captain Haddock! Snowy! Nestor! Thomson and Thompson! It'll be so great to see you on the big screen...

Screencaps

2007-03-07T03:04:31Z

From the Alexander Revisited Final Cut. More will come as time permits. Enjoy while they are up.

Go to album

3/7/07 EDIT Some Videoclips (NOT mine!) are already on YouTube. Check them out.
Alexander meets Bagoas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER2p4175tBM&mode=related&search=

Alexander + Bagoas in bed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BonpFak0iW0

Alexander's goodbye to Bagoas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mii5B1L4gzs&NR

Modern Alexander art

2007-03-04T06:58:37Z

Many thanks to Fiona, who first learnt about this unusual and gorgeous piece modern sculpture of Alexander the Great by Milton Rosa-Ortiz from a decsription by art writer Rafael Risemberg:

"It's Paradise Found
Milton Rosa-Ortiz's Exquisite Garden of Eden hanging sculptures

By RAFAEL RISEMBERG
Friday, March 02, 2007

I first came across Puerto Rican artist Milton Rosa-Ortiz's work two summers ago, as part of Exit Art's ambitious HomoMuseum group show of gay and lesbian artists. His was a spectacular hanging sculpture of Alexander the Great in bed with his male lover, made of nothing but ammo shells suspended by monofilament (similar to fishing line). The piece was so meticulously crafted, and the content so apropos, I was eager to see an entire exhibit of Rosa-Ortiz's work. Now that a solo show of his most recent work has finally arrived, at Magnan Projects in Chelsea, I am delighted to report that it more than lives up to my exceedingly high expectations."

Another writer, James Wagner, had this to say, about the original show (which was in New York in 2005):

"The New York show is an account which stretches from the immediate past back until, well, ancient history. It actually starts in the mists of pre- history with an image of two female Bonobo apes pleasuring each other under the inquisitive gaze of a young son, moves through the fourth century before the Christian era to a sculpture installation depicting Alexander lying beneath his lover Hephaestion [the medium: suspended empty U.S. military shell cases], and continues to our own moment with projected images of AA Bronson and a description of the opening night performances by black male diva songstresses."

Fiona then hunted down an image of this sculpture.

First impression of Alexander Revisited - the Final Cut

2007-03-01T00:47:13Z

So, I finally got a chance to see the Final Cut - a quick viewing given that it's midweek. More critical reviewing/discussion will come later. Please do not read if you want to avoid spoilers.

First, the editing and back and forth drove me semi-mad. Often they don't make sense. Sometimes they subtract from the film. For example, wouldn't it be better to show Alexander taming Bucephalas as a young boy and their special relationship before the battle at Gaugamela when they ride to face their shared destiny? Second, the ending is really boring with old Ptolemy just droning on and on. That should have been seriously snipped.

Battles: much more gore and blood and violence, especially the Hydaspes battle. I skipped over these parts a bit - will have to see in detail later - it's hard for me to see gutting and exploding and ......

Now, onto relationships. This cut did not much change for me Alexander's relationship with his parents compared to the previous cuts. There certainly are almost dizzying forays back and forth in time, but the final result remains relatively the same. Perhaps I need to view these parts again.

What did change quite a bit for me were Alexander's romantic relationships with Hephaistion, Bagoas and Roxana. Roxana becomes a less important character, and I really feel sorry for her in this cut - a neglected, unloved wife. The wedding sequence is changed so that there is no attraction before the marriage. The sequence is: first wedding, then the generals' fractious meeting, then Roxana's dance, followed by wedding night scenes. During the dance, various people including Roxana's father do proskynesis. Cleitus makes a derogatory remark, Hephaistion defends the King and gets punched in the background. The wedding night scene still has the ring gifting by Hephaistion. After Roxana asks "Do you love him" and Alexander answers "He is Hephaistion", we now see Bagoas in the room. Poor Roxana asks "Boy?" Alexander answers "There are many ways to love." After this there is sex with Roxana (but now this has attained an unpleasant subtext for me, with my sympathies strongly with Roxana and quite against Alexander).

Hephaistion is the best friend and it's clear they had a physical relationship before Babylon. We actually don't see anything more between them in terms of physical expression of their love beyond the theatrical cut. (No kiss!) The balcony scene has more dialogue and Hephaistion identifies himself as Patroclus and Alexander as Achilles. It's a nice scene for Alexander/Hephaistion fans - it also hints that Alexander would have gone west if he had lived, if only to "keep running." The "you strike me still" is gone. The "stay with me tonight" is back in. It seems that once Alexander meets Bagoas, the romantic relationship between Alexander and Hephaistion comes to an end; except for a Ptolemy voiceover when everyone is reentering Babylon at the end when he says that Alexander now had three wives and two lovers! The love triangle in this cut is clearly between Alexander, Bagoas and Hephaistion (it's not clear that Roxana was EVER loved!), with Hephaistion pushed to the periphery and seemingly less important to Alexander as years go by. There are quite a few shots and subtext to show this. Hephaistion has more lines during the Cleitus murder when he tries hard to prevent it. He has a shot of looking sad when the long kiss with Bagoas starts after the dance. He also has more lines when he is trying to rally Alexander in the tent after the Cleitus murder (I thought Jared's acting very good here, with the subtext in mind). The subtext for me here is that although he has now become an "old" lover, and saddened by that, he forgives his friend and is always there for him. In this cut, for me, Hephaistion becomes a more sympathetic character, feeling neglected, but totally loyal and devoted to his King. (Of course, this is about a million miles from my perception of the historical Hephaistion or his relationship with Alexander - but then this is not my film :D). Even Hephaistion's death scene now feels a bit different to me. How grief-stricken is Alexander really? He had not paid much attention to Hephaistion for the longest time and seems not that passionate in his avowal of friendship and love. And almost immediately he lays the blame on Roxana, when there is nothing much to suggest that Roxana felt any ill-will for Hephaistion. (If anything, Roxana should have poisoned Bagoas after the dance in India!) Is this a case of transference of guilt? I am now quite unsurprised that there was no shot of Hephaistion's funeral - it would not fit in with what the relationship had become by the end.

The love affair between Alexander and Bagoas from Babylon till his death, is very important in this cut. Alexander is clearly attracted to Bagoas at their first meeting (their scene is much more than the clip we have seen on the internet); there are many tender scenes between them. Intercut with Parmenion getting killed, there are shots of Bagoas very tenderly kissing Alexander in bed. His dance in India seem even more extended and more erotic to me at first viewing, followed of course, by the torrid kiss. During the scene when Hephaistion tries to reason with Alexander in the tent after Cleitus' murder, it seems that the one person Alexander wants then is Bagoas, not Roxana or anyone else. He clings to Bagoas throughout the scene. On his deathbed, there is a very tender scene between them too. In my opinion, the acting by Bosch is pretty substandard whenever he has to say anything. It's not just the broken English.

This cut, in terms of Alexander's romantic relationships, becomes quite close to The Persian Boy of Mary Renault (though the Renault Bagoas is far more sneakily intelligent than the impression this one gives). Overall, it becomes clear now that Oliver Stone was quite heavily influenced by the Renault trilogy. Any coincidence that there is nothing of Tyre, Gaza, Thebes, Egypt, Siwa, Gordian knot, Troy, spear-throwing on first landing in Asia, in this film? - Renault didn't write about them either!

The Cleitus murder scene is great. It's very visceral and though spur-of-the-moment, does show how dark Alexander truly had become by then.

Why does old Ptolemy drone on about stuff when it would be better to quickly show some of them? And can I just say here that I felt old Ptolemy was miscast? Otherwise, why is he so dreadfuly boring? Once Alexander enters India, it's very unclear as to why he wants to go on. The Hydaspes battle seems a pointless exercise in death and destruction. I really did not like the Alexander of later years in this film. (But more on that another time - and how an edit here may have improved matters). I quite liked Cassander - somehow he seems not too bad a guy in this cut! In a strange subtext (I have to check this later) Ptolemy of later years seems less nice - more a sly sycophant. Attalus is more a villain - there is a nice line of Philip putting him in place during the taming of Bucephalas scene.

Okay, that's all for now. More later as I come to them.

Bottomline: if you are a fan of Mary Renault's The Persian Boy and the Alexander/Bagoas relationship, run and watch this. This Bagoas is uniquely Renault's - no one else's! And this witchy Olympias and this Philip are both quite Renaultian too - from Fire from Heaven. But there are also BIG differences from Renault, most especially in the deterioration of Alexander's character after Babylon (more on this later too, it's quite interesting).

As for me, in terms of Alexander's love life, I prefer the theatrical cut with its subtle emphasis that Hephaistion was Alexander's true love. I find that historically more accurate. For other aspects, there are more historical references to many things in this film, but a LOT of that is droned on by Ptolemy. In that regard, it IS a bit documentary-ish! Somewhat strangely so, given the other stuff it shows as well as the fact that it is a commercial film.

DVD Reviews

2007-02-23T22:50:08Z

Links to reviews for the new Alexander Revisited - Final Cut DVD while we wait. Some reviews contain potential spoilers, so click and read at your own risk!

http://thedvdlounge.insidepulse.com/articles/65108/2007/02/23/ialexander-revisited-the-final-cuti---dvd-review.html
Extremely negative review

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review.php?ID=26729
A very detailed and balanced (seems to be) review. Quotes:
"Alexander no longer comes off as a whiny child with a bad case of an Oedipal complex......."
"While there still isn't much physical expression of their affectin, the relationship between the king and Hephaistion is not shied away from. Their liaison is quite clear. Expanded scenes of Hephaistion counseling Alexander also show their connection is more than physical."
"there is much more in the Final Cut about Alexander's relationship with the eunuch Bagoas, including an unambiguous erotic scene near the end of part I. This brings an added tension to the love triangle that comes to a head during Bagoas' dance scene in India."

http://www.dvdreview.com/reviews/pages/2567.shtml
Very positive review! No spoiler tidbits.

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/homevideo.php?id=116&vid_id=3345&type=dvd
Quite negative review. Interestingly, the reviewer respects that there is more homoeroticism in this one. He comes down hard on the editing. The battle of Hydaspes seems more gory. And more Ptolemy ramblings. And a close-up of Colin's "goody" bag!

http://www.canmag.com/nw/6813-alexander-revisited-dvd-review
Not too positive. More homoeroticism in this cut.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117958890.html?categoryid=2062&cs=1
More Bagoas than before. And Roxane.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/dvdreviewsnews.php?id=19068
"Rather than focusing on his great military accomplishments and failures, we get scene after scene of him bedding various men."
Men? As in plural?

http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id=16831§ionId=2
Four to five more scenes about the relationship between Alexander's lovers? And a SEVEN-minute dance sequence (obviously Bagoas)?
Why not?
This interview tells us that he WAS pretty much influenced by Mary Renault's "The Persian Boy".

Indus Rivers - names both ancient and modern

2006-11-15T01:05:51Z

I was looking this up today and thought I would put it down here for my own reference, since the Ancient Greek names of these rivers always confuse me - the names of the Indus River tributaries that Alexander encountered in India.

The Indus River (Sindhu to Indians) and five of its tributaries made up the Punjab region that Alexander came to. From West to East, the rivers are:
(Modern name(s) ..... Ancient Indian and/or Vedic name ..... Ancient Greek name)

Link to: Map of Punjab rivers

Indus/Sindhu ........ Sindhu ....... Indus
Jhelum ...... Vitasta ....... Hydaspes
Chenab ..... Askhini/Iskmati ....... Acesines
Ravi ......... Parushani/Iravati ...... Hydraotes
Beas ....... Arjiki/Vipas ............... Hyphasis
Sutlej/Shatadru ....... Shatadru or Satudri ..... Zaradros/Hesidros

Given the ancient Indian names of these rivers, one can see how the Greek names were derived. Well, in some cases, it's not ALL that clear.

Hephaistion bridged the Indus.
They fought and conquered Porus' lands along the Jhelum (Hydaspes).
The army refused to go further at the Beas (Hyphasis) - MUTINY time. So, this was the easternmost that Alexander travelled in India. So... poor Alexander never had a chance to see the Sutlej (Zaradros)?
Going back west across the rivers, Alexander came back between the Chenab (Akesines) and the Ravi (Hydraotes). He marched down with a portion of the army between the rivers, while Hephaistion marched down with another branch of the army on the eastern side of the Ravi to wait at the junction of the two, five miles away from the Mallian city. Hephaistion and Nearchus were to establish a base camp at the junction. Krateros was marching down the western side of the Chenab with the baggage train. After Alexander was wounded at Mallia, he sailed five miles down the river to the main base camp at the junction and joined the main army.
They all sailed merrily down the Indus to the delta.

Hephaistion, the "persecuted outsider" - where and how?

2006-09-01T19:24:23Z

In many fan-inspired stories, Hephaistion is the persecuted outsider, the neglected loyal friend, the lonely steadfast lover whose friend Alexander is happy with conquests, Bagoas, Rhoxane, etc.

Recently, Moon71 wrote in a post: "What proof, “Nothing without me” aside, do we have that Alexander was ever cruel, spiteful or insulting to Hephaestion? The fact that the row in India got so much attention indicates to me it was uncommon. Hephaestion as the persecuted outsider, which has no basis in historical fact that I can see, has become something of a convention in some stories and I don’t see why"?

Yes, indeed. The historical sources don't ever imply that Hephaistion was JEALOUS! NEGLECTED! an OUTSIDER! The historical Hephaistion was at Alexander's side from when they were young, till he died. He was second in power only to Alexander, rapidly promoted at every stage despite his relative youth, inexperience and lack of powerful family connections. People were as scared of him and his power as they were of Alexander by the time he died. Despite wives, mistresses, Persian lovers, Alexander held Hephaistion above everyone else, thus inspiring jealousy in OTHERS! He was Alexander's "alter-ego". Alexander deliberately made him "ROYAL" by marrying him into the highest Persian nobility. Even during the scene in India, Hephaistion was pretty aggressive, drawing his sword against Kraterus and his men, and supported by his own men. And the end result, despite the "Nothing without me", was that he stayed close to Alexander, while Kraterus was packed off away from Court to Macedon. Hephaistion fought many battles in India and commanded his own army - he was no "gentle soul" averse to war and "put upon" by Alexander and his bloodthirsty friends.

So, what has inspired the quite different view of Hephaistion? I think the "persecuted outsider", sweet and gentle friend, neglected lover persona was inspired by Oliver Stone's movie and his vision of Hephaistion as played by the beautiful Jared Leto. Also, Mary Renault's "The Persian Boy" gives the impression of a lonely, somewhat neglected, perhaps jealous, Hephaistion. Perhaps these two works, more than anything else, gives this somewhat popular view of Hephaistion that is not supported by the ancient sources. Are there other popular sources that suggest Hephaistion was a sidelined and neglected figure?

Why does Hephaistion appeal so much to women?

2006-08-26T05:55:38Z

Someone asked me this recently and since then, I've been thinking about it. This is not generally true of men. Quite a few have rather poor opinions of Hephaistion. So little is actually known about the guy that both groups are somewhat biased, I think and reflect different subconscious feelings. So, why does Hephaistion Amyntoros appeal (or not appeal) to you?

Speaking as a woman, I think
1. Women ADORE love stories. Hephaistion’s story is inextricably tied up with how much Alexander loved him – so it’s one of the original and quite genuine love stories of our planet! There is too a "star-crossed" aspect about it that gets women all sentimental! They died young and everything went to ashes.

2. Even more importantly, women love to identify with Hephaistion, and imagine themselves in his place, being loved so deeply by the most powerful man on earth. Alexander gave him love, power, wealth, and went a bit crazy when he died. And then shortly after, died himself. If that isn’t every woman’s fantasy love story, what is? That the lover will love us above everyone else, and after we die, we will not be replaced by anyone else in his/her heart.

3. Many of us are fascinated by Alexander the Great. We are intensely curious about the person whom he loved as much as his own self. Who was this man? What was he like? How did he manage to keep Alexander enthralled all his life?

For me, it's # 3 and then #1. What does everyone else think? Is it one of the reasons above? Or that he was handsome and played in a recent movie by Jared Leto? Anything else? And why is he unappealing to some? Because he could influence Alexander? Because Alexander gave him too much? Because he got into a quarrel with macho Macedonian warriors like Krateros?

Other than Alexander, who else got married in Bactria?

2006-06-06T23:16:24Z

Some intriguing information relating to Alexander's and Roxane's marriage.

Was Alexander the only one who got married in Bactria/Sogdamia? Or when he married Roxane, did some of his friends get married too?

1. From the ongoing translation of the Metz Epitome (http://websfor.org/alexander/special/metz.asp):

"Next he set off for Gazabes intending to carry on. On this journey he came upon the satrapy of a certain Chorienes. He concluded a treaty with him. And he, when Alexander accepted an invitation to share his hospitality, brought in his virgin daughters to dance with the unmarried children of his other friends.

Amongst these was the daughter of Oxyartes, Rhoxane, the most beautiful of all, whose looks ensnared Alexander with desire. Then he inquired who she was and whose daughter. He was told she was Oxyartes’, who was himself dining there. Then taking his cup and praying to the Gods he began to speak thus: many were used to obtaining things totally unexpectedly; there were many kings who had got sons on captives;

they sent many of their own daughters to marry among foreign peoples and by such congress affirmed their friendship. ‘Why,’ he said ‘are you Macedones not great breeders and surely if you embrace the conquered in friendship, will your rule not last forever? That is what I am going to do and whomsoever of the other Macedonians chooses to do the same I shall take care of.’

His friends applauded these words, and he led them with himself to marry the girls dancing at the party. Which having been done Oxyartes and the other barbarians were overjoyed."

2. From Diodorus' description of his list of contents, he says that he will describe in Book 17:

“How Alexander, enamoured of Roxane, daughter of Oxyartes, married her and persuaded numbers of his friends to marry the daughters of the prominent barbarians."

Unfortunately, there is a gap in the actual part of Diodorus' work where he would have decribed these events. His existing description of the wedding to Roxane is very brief.

So, did Alexander persuade some of his friends to marry daughters of other Bactrian/Sogdian chiefs? And if so, did Hephaistion marry at this time too? This is so intriguing - because it suggests that there may have been a mini mass-wedding in Bactria too. It's as if Alexander thought: If I have to marry, then by Hera, my friends have got to, as well!

Another Hephaistion - different time, different place

2006-05-23T22:46:01Z

This is really cool. It's private correspondence on papyrus written by and to a real person named Hephaistion, who probably lived in Alexandria in the 2nd century BC! Alas, it is obviously not by THE Hephaistion - but at least a namesake.

Papyrus 1

Papyrus 2

In the first, the letter is written by Hephaistion to someone called Imouthes. It starts with "Hephaistion Imouthes....." Look at the way the name Hephaistion is written in Greek. It's interesting to see the actual handwriting and how they wrote their names in that time. The handwriting is curiously messy and illegible! Like us! :) I wonder why this Hephaistion was asking for a loan? Was he descended from THE Hephaistion, friend of Alexander, or belonged to the same family? Names did run on in families and it was a most unusual name... He lived in Alexandria, years after Alex. and Heph. went there and laid the foundation of the city - it seems curiously poignant...

When Hephaistion (Amyntoros) wrote to Alexandros (Philippou), did his letters perhaps look similar? At least I think he would have written his own name like this!

Note: I saved this link a while back from somewhere - but haven't been able to find out where in the last few weeks of searching. I would like to give credit to the person who originally found this very cool bit of info. If anyone knows, please tell me!

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

2006-05-08T05:27:42Z

This can be fun!

My name using Egyptian Hieroglyphs:

Alexander:

Hephaistion: