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Peter Green, reviewing Paul Cartledge's new Alexander biography in TNR, cites a "remarkable anecdote told by Theophrastus, who surely had it from Aristotle when the latter was Alexander's tutor": "Both Philip and Olympias, he alleges, were scared that their adolescent son was showing signs of becoming a GYMNIS, that is, a 'femme' invert, and actually imported a high-class courtesan to straighten out his sexual drive." Green comments, "If the anecdote is true, it would cast a very interesting light on Alexander's subsequent career Emuch of which might be seen as the result of a compensatory denial on a truly colossal scale Eand it would suggest a highly cogent reason why Hephestion so long remained Alexander's 'other self' and trusted confidant." He summarizes Cartledge's profile of Alexander as follows: "a military genius driven by an overwhelming obsession, a pothos, to pursue glory through conquest to the world's end, and take savage reprisals against any who thwarted his will while he was had it." In short, the Greek hero-adolescent mentality write VERY large.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, December 07, 2004 at 12:21 PM
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