color of his eyes

[Erkan]

Hi everybody,.. i remember reading somewhere on the web that it was Arrian who wrote that Alexander had two different colors of eyes. One dark as night and one blue as the sky at day.
Is this a commonly excepted fact?Kind regards,
Erkan

[Erkan]

*Accepted*

[nickw]

Hi Companions ---I don't think I'm the specialist on this. Isn't it that the two color eyes are only prominently mentioned in the Romance? I wouldn't say it is an accepted "fact".Regards ---Nick

[JMarks]

A knock on the head will often cause a dilation of the eye pupil, making one eye appear much darker than the other. It's usually not permanent, but is with David Bowie. He was kicked in the head so severely as a youth that one eye is permanently dilated, giving him the illusion of two different coloured eyes.Alexander sustained many a head injury, so this is a possible explanation for the different coloured eyes myth.

[marcus]

Hi Jay,Yes, that's what I understand the situation to be.As far as where it's recorded, I think Nicks' right, that it comes from the Romance. I thought that it might be in Plutarch, but it isn't.This doesn't necessarily mean that it wasn't the case ... but the lack of other evidence stacks against it. (On the other hand, we've had this situation before, with the miscarried son in the Metz Epitome; there was no other mention in the sources, but there was no reason to dismiss it as untrue, nonetheless.)ATBMarcus

[Erkan]

I found this text on the http://www.1stmuse.com/frames website. click on 'introduction'..."Arrian describes Alexander: the strong, handsome commander with one eye dark as the night and one blue as the sky, always leading his army on his faithful Bucephalus."
My questions are: is this true and if so, did he have this since birth?
I'd like to know because i myself have two different colors of eyes since birth. My mum is dutch and my father came from the Trakya region in Turkey, the old Tracia. He told me that my ancestors came from Selanik, modern Thessaloniki in northern Greece. So you can tell how intrigued i am...
Thanks
Erkan

[nickw]

I have checked Arrian, but can't find it. Am I missing something here? I suppose it is in general very un-Arrianlike to include trivial facts like this. (I suppose 1stMuse mixed up some sources. It isn't even in Plutarch, indeed, only in the Romance as far as I know.)Regards ---Nick

[marcus]

The different colours of his eyes is recorded, as far as I can tell, only in the Romance (I.13) and echoed by Julius Valerus (I.7) (from the notes at the back of R Lane Fox, 1973).All the bestMarcus

[nickw]

Hi Marcus ---That is what I thought. Glad we sorted that out.Erkan --- the fact that this is only in the Alexander Romance means that it is recorded only in the "fantasy" tales about Alexander that circulated in Late Antquity and the Middle Ages, probably originating from a basic concept that was created in Alexandria shortly after Alexander's death. Though the Romance might contain valuable information not recorded elsewhere, it is not considered a reliable historical source. I mean: these are the tales in which Alexander visits the Spring of Life and the Earthly Paradise and things like that. 1stMuse must be erratic in stating that it is included in Arrian, who is considered one of the most reliable ancient sources.Best regards ---Nick

[Paralus]

That previous "Arrian" quote you replied to sounds very nuch like Plutarch though Nick.It's definitely the Romance. I further suspect it's been given legs in Alexander fiction which can tend to reinforce such perceptions.

[ruthaki]

Yes, I've read it in Alexander fiction and always took it as just that. (By the way, I'm not using that description in my novel!)Who really knows anyway? I doubt those kinds of details would ever have been recorded.

[Paralus]

Yes "Ruthaki", and I doubt that it relly matters "squat" in the scheme of things.Though, it's always nice to know just how that statuary was originally coloured - including the eyes.We're visual creatures so i suppose that's the reason for such fixations.How soon the book? Have you a working title?Inquisitive/rude bastard aren't I?!