Alexander Page #3

Well done. Good wrestling, Hephaistion.

That's what I want.

Come, come, come.

You did well, but you lost.

Now, both of you, congratulate

the other. Go on.

Would you want me to let you win,

Alexander?

You're right.

But I promise you, I will beat

you one day, Hephaistion.

it was said later that Alexander

was never defeated...

...except by Hephaistion's thighs.

Although an inferior race...

...the Persians control at least

four-fifths of the known world.

From Ethiopia and Egypt in the south...

...to Caucasus and the two inland seas

in the north...

Philip brought such as Aristotle from

Athens to educate our rough people.

They rule, and we sit around like frogs.

-Master?

-Yes?

-Master!

-Out with it!

-Why are the Persians so cruel?

-Oh, come on, Nearchus.

That is not the subject for today,

Nearchus.

But it is true that the Oriental races

are known for their barbarity...

...and their slavish devotion

to their senses.

Which are so dull,

they castrate young boys...

...such as yourselves,

for their sexual pleasure.

Yes. Excess in all things

is the undoing of men.

That is why we Greeks are superior.

We practice control of our senses.

Moderation, we hope.

Then what of Achilles at Troy, master?

-Was he not excessive?

-Achilles simply lacks restraint.

He dominates others so completely that

even when he withdraws from battle...

...crazed with grief over

his dead lover, Patroclus...

...he seriously endangers his own army.

He is a deeply selfish man.

Would you say the love between Achilles

and Patroclus is a corrupting one?

When men lie together in lust,

it is a surrender to the passions...

...and does nothing

for the excellence in us.

Nor does any other excess, Cassander,

jealousy among them.

But when men lie together, and knowledge

and virtue are passed between them...

...that is pure and excellent.

When they compete to bring out the good,

the best in each other...

...this is the love between men that

can build a city-state...

...and lift us from our frog pond.

But can a man

love a woman equally, master?

A woman? Of course not.

A woman is a slave

to her passion, Hephaistion.

Oh, naturally there are exceptions,

and we must honor them.

Such as Pallas Athena,

goddess of wisdom and war.

But never forget, she is sprung not from

the loins of Zeus, but from his mind.

Now, you think on all this,

my young frogs...

...for in you resides

the future of Greek civilization.

To strive for honor

is the highest purpose of all.

To rule over our baser emotions.

To follow reason,

the divine part in each of you.

Yes...

...to love excellence

is truly to love the gods.

Now, will you stop distracting me?

Back to geography

and things that we know.

Is it possible that the source

of Egypt's mighty River Nile...

...could rise in these distant

mountains of the outer earth?

If so, an experienced navigator

could find his way here...

...by this river east, down

into the great plains of India...

...out into the eastern ocean

at end of the world...

...and by this route up the Nile...

...back to Egypt, into the Middle Sea

and home to Greece.

Now, if only these frogs

could look outward...

...and act on their favored position

at the center...

...Greece could rule the world.

Why is it, master, in myth,

these lands you speak of are known?

India, where Herakles

and Dionysus traveled.

All these men who went east,

Theseus, Jason, Achilles, were victorious.

From generation to generation,

their stories have been passed on.

Why? Unless there was truth to them?

Tales of Amazons? Minotaurs, Gorgons,

Icarus flying into the sun? No, Alexander.

Only common people believe these tales,

as they believe most anything.

We are here precisely to educate

ourselves against such foolish passions.

But if we are superior to the Persians,

as you say, why do we not rule them?

It is- It has always been

our Greek dream to go east.

My father long wants it.

The East has a way of swallowing

men and their dreams.

But still, to think it's these myths

that lead us forward to the greatest glory...

...why is it wrong to act on them?

I can only warn you, not teach you.

Beware of what you dream for.

The gods have a way

of punishing such pride.

And growing more ambitious, he now

planned the invasion of Persia.

The best you can do, Cleitus? Back

to the phalanx with you, I'll ride him myself.

No one will ride that beast, Your Majesty.

Not with your leg.

He's been beaten far too often.

My noble king,

he's a high-spirited animal, yes.

High-spirited and worthy

of Philip of Macedon.

For three and a half talents...

...I couldn't make a profit

on him, but for you-

Why would I want such a beast?

I already have a wife.

Do I seem so old?

-Stay down, stay down.

-Hold him!

A broken neck comes free. He's

too nervous for battle. Sell him for meat.

Buy him for me, Father. I'll ride him.

And if you don't?

-I'll pay for him myself.

-With what, your singing voice?

I'll pay you!

I tell you, that horse can't be ridden,

lad. His mind is broken.

He can be ridden. By me.

If you can rule that horse,

I'll make him yours...

...at half the price.

That horse will kill him, Philip.

-He'll break the boy in two.

-Will he?

Perhaps she'll make

a musician out of him yet.

You don't like your shadow, do you?

It's like a dark spirit coming up to get you.

Do you see? That's us.

It's just a trick of Apollo's.

He's the god of the sun.

But I'll show you how to outwit him,

you and me together.

The boy doesn't have the craft, Philip.

He could hurt himself.

He'll have to figure that out

for himself. It's time.

Good idea.

Indeed there are times, Philip,

when I wonder if he is your blood.

-I only worry that-

-What was that, Attalus?

Nothing.

I was just noticing how the people

like seeing you and Eurydice together.

You go, boy!

You ride that horse and by Zeus I say,

you can rule the world.

Bucephalus.

That's what I'll call you.

Strong and stubborn.

Bucephalus and Alexander.

Come now, let's ride together.

He's got some Titan in him yet.

Attalus! Cleitus! For Zeus' sake,

he beat you, man!

Now, Bucephalus, show them.

My son.

My son!

You remember Prometheus...

...who stole the secret of fire

and gave it to man.

It made Zeus so angry...

...he chained Prometheus

to a rock in the great Caucasus...

...and each day, his eagle pecked out

the poor man's liver.

Each night, it grew back again so that

it could be eaten the next day.

Miserable fate.

Oedipus tore out his eyes

when he found out...

...he'd murdered his father...

...and married his mother.

Knowledge that came too late.

Jason...

...he went east and brought back

the Golden Fleece...

...and married a barbarian wife, Medea.

Later, when he left her

for a younger wife...

...Medea slaughtered

their two children in vengeance.

My mother would never hurt me.

It's never easy to escape our mothers,

Alexander.

All your life, beware of women.

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