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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Outraged Greeks say Alexander was not bisexual
2004-11-19
A group of Greek lawyers are threatening to sue Warner Bros film studios and Oliver Stone, director of the widely anticipated film "Alexander," for suggesting Alexander the Great was bisexual.
"Suggesting"?
The lawyers have already sent an extrajudicial note to the studio and director demanding they include a reference in the title credits saying his movie is a fictional tale and not based on official documents of the life of the Macedonian ruler.
Already done -- look for "Directed by Oliver Stone".
"We are not saying that we are against gays but we are saying that the production company should make it clear to the audience that this film is pure fiction and not a true depiction of the life of Alexander," Yannis Varnakos, who spearheads the campaign by 25 lawyers, told Reuters on Friday. This is not the first time Greeks have been angered by suggestions Alexander was homosexual and had affairs with young men. Two years ago hundreds of northern Greeks from the province of Macedonia, where he was born, stormed an archaeological symposium after one speaker presented a paper on the homosexuality of Alexander. Police were called in to evacuate the participants.
And that changed any facts presented in what way?
One of the greatest military leaders of all time, Alexander, who was never defeated in battle, conquered about 90 percent of the then-known world before his mysterious death at the age of 32, building an empire that stretched from the Mediterranean to Afghanistan. Varnakaos said as Stone has the right to freely express himself, the audience should have the right to know. "We cannot come out and say that (former U.S.) President John F. Kennedy was a shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and so Warner cannot come out and say Alexander was gay," Varnakos said.
Posted by:Mrs. Davis

#21  bi sexuality wasnt an issue

It may also depend, as it does for street kids in Brazil for instance, on who assumes the "female" position in intercourse between two men. The idea is, that if you're assuming the male part, then it really doesn't matter whether your partner is male or female. You're still considered to be a macho, manly type guy. Or at least that's how they explained it in a documentary on the subject.
Posted by: Rafael   2004-11-19 8:47:54 PM  

#20  Well he definately kicked 'ass' all around the old worlds , whatever else he did with ass was his own business really . I thought male bodies were worshiped highly in olympic events back then , and bi sexuality wasnt an issue . What floats yer boat really . Oh and I wouldnt have liked to get on the wrong side of him *snicker*
Posted by: MacNails   2004-11-19 8:20:36 PM  

#19  I think the idea that Alexander was gay is a lot like the idea among some of the black community that the ancient Egyptians were black - wistful thinking. The customs of that time were just different, and things in the literature that are considered to have sexual significance today were asexual during that time. It's sort of like how holding hands is normal in many parts of the world (like Afghanistan and much of the Arab world) and has no sexual significance to it.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2004-11-19 6:23:44 PM  

#18  Nah, the Greeks had a racial-cultural idea of themselves which made a cultural distinction of Greek and not-Greek. Alexander did self-identify as "Greek". Of course, he also self-identified as "Macedonian" and even "Persian" when it was politically wise for him to do so. I strongly suspect that if he found himself in a position to conquer Japan, he'd be identifying himself as "Japanese", in Australia an "Aborigine", in Germany eine Deutscher, in Boston, Irish, in Utah, a Mormon, in Arkansas, a Bubba. In that sense, he was the John F. Kerry of the Ancient World - willing to be whatever made you happy.
Posted by: Mitch H.   2004-11-19 6:14:43 PM  

#17  While we think of countries as areas of (contiguous) territory, the concept didn't really apply to the Greeks and some other early civilizations. The Greeks were more like a network of people with a shared language, culture and communications links.
Posted by: phil_b   2004-11-19 4:53:10 PM  

#16  Don wrote: "See!!! Denial is not just a LLL diease."

See!!! Inability to spell is not just a VRWC disease.
Posted by: Tibor   2004-11-19 4:21:58 PM  

#15  Absent father, Mama hovering over him-- that explains it then. Definitely gay.
Posted by: lex   2004-11-19 3:41:48 PM  

#14  Let's remember a few facts:

-He spoke Greek and had a Greek education.

-He considered himself Greek

-He was eligible for participating in the Olympic games (Barbarians were not allowed in them).

-The units in his army had Greek names and their organization and tactics were closer to those of Sparta or Athens than to those of non-Greeks

-His gods were the Greek gods and Achilles his model.

-Last but not least, his mother was Greek and she, not his father, did most of the work.
Posted by: JFM   2004-11-19 3:40:21 PM  

#13  See!!! Denial is not just a LLL diease.
Posted by: Don   2004-11-19 3:20:56 PM  

#12  Alexander considered himself a Greek, and so did his immediate ancestors, the ruling elite. That's what he claimed anyway, and both his native language, his name, and his education were Greek.

I don't know about the main *population* of the Macedonians of the time though. I hear they may have been a "barbaric" tribe that was Hellenized, and that would explain some things. So I guess the question of whether you'd consider the ancient Macedonians Greek or not is connected to whether you'd consider modern Bulgarians to be Slavs or Mongols. :-)

The anti-Alexanders Athenians of the time called Macedonians "barbarians", ofcourse, even as Alexander claimed himself Greek. So the issue was political from that time on -- except with the positions slightly reversed.

For comments on the modern situation, last post on my livejournal.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris   2004-11-19 3:19:55 PM  

#11  Crikey, TGA, never say "Macedonia" when Aris is around! He'll blow a gasket!
Posted by: Tom   2004-11-19 3:02:30 PM  

#10  Wow. Don't that just bugger all?
Posted by: Mike   2004-11-19 3:02:00 PM  

#9  The lawyers are probably undercover shills for Stone. Cheap PR for what acc to the previews is a complete piece o merde.
Posted by: lex   2004-11-19 3:00:08 PM  

#8  You're right, of course, Tom; except for that formatting thing. But the flesh was weak and the spirit didn't even suit up. And when I got to the JFK as a shooting guard line, well it was Katie bar the door time.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-11-19 2:57:02 PM  

#7  Ah, the Former Alexandrian Republic of Macedonia!
Posted by: True German Ally   2004-11-19 2:54:08 PM  

#6  Oh, Mrs. Davis! You're Aris-baiting! I thought we had all sort of agreed to stop doing that. And he's been behaving so well today, so far.
Posted by: Tom   2004-11-19 2:47:22 PM  

#5  We can't be sure if he was gay or not. One thing is for sure- he wasn't Greek.
Posted by: Grunter   2004-11-19 2:46:52 PM  

#4  He wasn't called "Alexander the Great" for his conquest of the known world afterall, I guess.
Posted by: Charles   2004-11-19 2:17:13 PM  

#3  (thooooooooooop)
Aris Flare!
Posted by: Shipman   2004-11-19 2:15:05 PM  

#2  Man, it was the 80 percent of the real world that gave him trouble.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-11-19 2:14:03 PM  

#1  I thought Kennedy played for the Celtics?
Posted by: Frank G   2004-11-19 2:08:46 PM  

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