Homage in Greece and elsewhere.

[dean]

Hello,Just occurred to me that after Alexander's death there were very few, (if any?) monuments- erected in Greece or pretty much anywhere else- to pay homage to Alexander and his accomplishments.Especially in Greece where supposedly he was the leader of the Corinthian league-. In fact the only statues- busts that spring to my mind are the ones that Alexander himself had made. I just don't understand it. When we take into account what he did- overthrow the Persian king Darius etc.etc. I think it is extremely strange that there were few if any famous monuments to pay tribute.
Demades did say, "After his death that he couldn't be dead because the whole world would be stinking of his corpse...."
On the other hand I am no expert on this type of thing so maybe there are some statues that exist in numrous places- but they can't be well known ones.
Philip was known to have a statue placed in Ephesus in his honour, although I don't think it was a posthumous one,
Well anyway,
Yours truly puzzled,
Dean.

[ruthaki]

Was it Demades said that or Demosthenes?

[Paralus]

Demades "Ruthaki". And a salutary example of why the lack of Statues.Alexander was not loved or odored in ancient Greece (that is "classical" Greece, the Polies)- regardless of the provennance of the edict by him at the games in 324(?). There was great and simmering resentment at the Macedonian conqueror (state as well as regent be it Alexander or Philip before him).The Greek states availed themeselves of any reasonable excuse for revolt (Thebes, Sparta whilst ATG was alive) - the "Lamian War" at news of ATG's death is the classic example.For the city states to erect such statues after ATG's death would be akin to the US Congress erecting staues of the King after the revolutionary war (possibly a little exaggerated as the Lamian War was no success - Macedonian rule was secured by Antipater and later somewhat more brutally enforced by the underrated Cassander).

[amyntoros]

There *were* posthumous statues of Alexander erected outside of Greece though; a great many of them in Alexandria where he was deified. Then there's a small statue from Priene probably made around 300 BC or soon after Alexander's death which was found in a house dedicated to the cult of Alexander. And let's not forget the Colossus of Rhodes which many believe was actually a portrait of Alexander as Helios. There are others, scattered about Asia Minor.Pausanias in his Description of Greece also writes of a few statues of Alexander in Greece itself, although it's impossible to tell exactly when they were erected. Interestingly, a couple of them are mentioned in conjunction with statues of Ptolemy. Best regards,Amyntoros

[Paralus]

Yes Amyntoros, many statues/effigies did appear in "Asia" and especially Alexandria.Call me a cynic (of the modern sense) but I suspect the number Alexander statues and co-appearance of Ptolemy (Soter) about Egypt are all power related. Always one of the more "intelligent" (Practical may be a better term) of Alexander's marshals, Ptolemy well understood the significance of Alexander in death. Hence his abduction of the body and its prompt removal to Egypt. Of you're going to entrench yourself as Pharaoh better to have the body of the greatest Pharaoh of recent memory in your capital no?If you too are to be a god (Saviour) best make sure your image is seen with the greatest of recent gods added to the pantheon. Clever bloke that one.Wonder how Egypt would have played out had Ptolemy's enormous luck at the Nile delta in 320 (when Perdiccas was murdered after a disastrous attempted crossing just before news of Eumenes' crushing victory - on Perdiccas' behalf - in Cappadocia over Neoptolemus and Craterus arrived) not have been in attendance?The Ptolemies were lucky that way. Ptolemy III at Rahpia benefited from the Ill-judged glory chase of Antiochus III ("the Great") after the latter had smashed the Egyptian left wing leading to his own phalanx being shattered.Luck's a fortune? It also helps to have a divine companion.

[agesilaos]

The lack of statuary may also have something to do with the Roman habit of taking 'Souvenirs', in the case of Emperors even from places they had not visited. The Macedonians themselves were not above tit-for-tat vandalism cf Philip V and the Aetolians in Polybios.

[Alexander K.]

(The mountain carving story comes to mind...)Might we also assume that Alexander had an aversion to everything out of scale? By that, I mean that perhaps his heirs would errect something too lavish and grand that would have offended Alexander's principles in real life.