Studies of the Greek Poets (Vol 1 of 2)Symonds, John Addington
History
Studies of the Greek Poets (Vol 1 of 2)
Symonds, John Addington
Greek poetry -- History and criticism
In his wrath, again, Alexander imitated and went beyond his model.
When he slew Clitus in a drunken brawl, there was no Athene at his
side to stay his arm and put the sword back in the scabbard. Yet his
remorse was some atonement for his violence. "All that night," says
Plutarch, "and the next day he wept bitterly, till, being quite spent
with lamenting and exclaiming, he lay, as it were, speechless, only
fetching deep sighs." It is noticeable that Alexander, here also like
Achilles, conqueror and hero though he was, scorned not to show his
tears, and to grovel on the ground in anguish. His fiery temper added
indomitable energy to all he did or felt. In a few years he swept Asia,
destroying kingdoms, and founding cities that still bear his name; and
though his rage betrayed him now and then into insane acts, he, like
Achilles, was not wholly without the guidance of Athene. In both we
have the spectacle of a gigantic nature moved by passions; yet both
are controlled by reason, not so much by the reflective understanding,
as by an innate sense of what is great and noble. Alexander was
Aristotle's pupil. In his best moments, in his fairest and most solid
actions, the spirit of Aristotle's teaching ruled him and attended him,
as Achilles was ruled and attended by Pallas. Again, in generosity,
Alexander recalls Achilles. His treatment of the wife and daughters
of Darius reminds us of the reception of Priam by the son of Peleus.
Grote, indeed, points out that good policy prompted him to spare the
life of the Persian queen. That may be true; but it would have been
quite consistent with the Greek standard of honor to treat her with
indignity while he preserved her life. This Alexander refrained from
doing. His entertainment of Stateira was not unworthy of a queen; and
if he did not exhibit the refined courtesy of the Black Prince, he
came as near to this ideal of modern chivalry as a Greek could do.
In the last place, Alexander, like Achilles, was always young. Like
Achilles, he died young, and exists for us as an immortal youth. This
youthfulness is one of the peculiar attributes of a Greek hero, one of
the distinguishing features of Greek sculpture--in a word, the special
mark of the Greek race. "O Solon! Solon!" said the priest of Egypt,
"you Greeks are always boys!" Achilles and Alexander, as Hegel has most
eloquently demonstrated, are forever adolescent. Yet, after all is
said, Alexander fell far below his prototype in beauty and sublimity.
He was nothing more than a heroic man. Achilles was the creature of a
poet's brain, of a nation's mythology. The one was the ideal in its
freshness and its freedom. The other was the real, dragged in the mire
of the world, and enthralled by the necessities of human life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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