Search found 932 matches

by Taphoi
Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:26 am
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Ptolemy & Alexander Brothers???
Replies: 123
Views: 84718

So Alexander's relationship with Barsine was an insult to Artabazus then? So much for Ogden and modern speculation. Falling at the first hurdle of self-consistency!

Best wishes,

Andrew
by Taphoi
Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:14 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Ptolemy & Alexander Brothers???
Replies: 123
Views: 84718

Hi Dean, It wasn't really the illegitimacy that mattered. What mattered was whether your father publicly recognised you as his son if your mother was not his wife. If your father had other legitimate sons, it was very difficult for him to do so, because you would share in being his heir with the leg...
by Taphoi
Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:17 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: Philip's Tomb, Redux
Replies: 17
Views: 7545

It is the thrust of Pelagia's argument that the reason it is Babylon is that Cassander hunted with Alexander in the park at Babylon, so he was remembering the experience in commissioning this frieze. You will be aware that it is difficult for Cassander to have hunted with Alexander in an Asian game ...
by Taphoi
Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:55 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: Philip's Tomb, Redux
Replies: 17
Views: 7545

Hi Amyntoros, The Alexander sarcophagus shows Issus, which precedes Alexander's adoption of Persian royal attire (which was after Darius' death). The white stripe is worn by Darius in the Alexander Mosaic. There are lots of MAGENTA clothes in the murals of Tomb I at Vergina, so it is hardly surprisi...
by Taphoi
Mon Aug 14, 2006 7:57 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: Philip's Tomb, Redux
Replies: 17
Views: 7545

It is easy for a spear thrown at the thigh to have missed the bone, especially if it passed right through and killed the horse. I will share with Pothosians an observation of my own about the hunting frieze on the facade of Tomb II, which as far as I know has not been published before. Those of you ...
by Taphoi
Sun Aug 13, 2006 11:32 am
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: Philip's Tomb, Redux
Replies: 17
Views: 7545

The only consensus regarding Tomb II is that it is either Philip II or Philip III. The article in Archaeology would seem to me to be rather partisan. Most of the vocal commentators on this matter are partisan, so you cannot listen to one side and get a balanced picture (an exception is Peter Green i...
by Taphoi
Thu Aug 10, 2006 7:18 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Ptolemy & Alexander Brothers???
Replies: 123
Views: 84718

Hi Agesilaos, As I already mentioned, the episode concerning Ptolemy's birth in the Armenian Romance has a corrupted echo at the same point in the Syriac Romance, sufficient to show a common source: "...Then he ordered a testament to be written. And Kriskos was doubtful in his mind, for he thou...
by Taphoi
Sun Aug 06, 2006 6:13 pm
Forum: Alexander the Great in the Media
Topic: New movie on Alexander to be released in 2006
Replies: 29
Views: 9963

Sorry Taphoi, I was referring not to the Bard but rather to this fellow...... You are therefore in "beer-stained denim" company. (I beleive that was the phrase he used on Journey to the Centre of The Earth .) Wow - Rick Wakeman - I think I'm still flattered. Did you know that I quote from...
by Taphoi
Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:52 pm
Forum: Alexander the Great in the Media
Topic: New movie on Alexander to be released in 2006
Replies: 29
Views: 9963

Hi Paralus,

Did you mean "The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth"? (I don't think his father had as many as six wives!) If so, then I'm gratified to be mentioned in such exalted literary company!

Cordially,

Andrew
by Taphoi
Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:58 am
Forum: Art and Culture
Topic: Library of Alexandria info?
Replies: 3
Views: 2493

Hi Karen, Firstly, the Ptolemaic Library (the famous one) was the Library of the Museum/Museion, technically a Temple of the Muses, but actually a sort of ancient university. Hence it is the Museum (or possibly its scroll stacks) that you would actually be reproducing. The best physical description ...
by Taphoi
Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:57 am
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Ptolemy & Alexander Brothers???
Replies: 123
Views: 84718

Hi agesilaos, Hate to point this out, but your argument about Olympias having to be dead only works, if you assume that the rumour about Ptolemy's birth isn't true. Since what you are trying to prove is an assumption of your argument, the argument is circular! I think in general we are going round a...
by Taphoi
Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:20 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Ptolemy & Alexander Brothers???
Replies: 123
Views: 84718

Hi Amyntoros, My position is not that it is true that Philip was Ptolemy's father. The evidence certainly does not justify that assertion. All I say is that it is the most likely explanation of the evidence. Other explanations nevertheless remain possible. I am just trying to warn you that arguments...
by Taphoi
Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:18 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Ptolemy & Alexander Brothers???
Replies: 123
Views: 84718

Well it seems you are going to uphold the silence of some sources on the matter as being more significant than the words which a range of other sources actually wrote, which is contrary to established historical method. There is evidence that it was considered impolite to mention the bad-birth (dysg...
by Taphoi
Sat Jul 08, 2006 11:01 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Ptolemy & Alexander Brothers???
Replies: 123
Views: 84718

Hi Agesilaos, You are wrong to say that Plutarch's story questions the birth of Lagos, because Plutarch states explicity that it was the bad-birth (dysgeneia) of the king (tou basileos) that was being referred to. There was no King Lagos. It must be Ptolemy I who is meant. Collins, for example, poin...
by Taphoi
Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:43 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Alexander's Body
Replies: 2
Views: 1817

It is a prophesy of Alexander's seer, Aristander of Telmissus: "Aristander... said... the gods had told him that the land which received [Alexander's] body, the earlier habitation of his soul, would enjoy the greatest good fortune and be unconquered through the ages." Aelian, Varia Histori...