things that make you go "hmmmmm?"
Below is an ancient artist's mural depiction of Alexander of Macedon also known as Alexander the great. old Alex put europe on the map around 330 BC when he led an enormously successful military expedition into western Asia and north east Africa .
At the time the super power in that part of the world was the Persian empire . Persian armies had gained control of a vast region extending from india in the east all the way west to the mediterranean sea and south to lower egypt .
the Persian kings gradually grew weak , their empire over extended militarily ,and by about 300 bc were ripe for the taking .
in walks the boy-king , young Alexander of macedon with a tough , well-trained army patiently built over decades by his late father Phillip II expressly for the purpose of waging a Pan-hellenic "crusade" against the persian empire.
the persian vassal city-states of western asia and north east Africa feel no love for persian rule and most surrender peacefully to Alexander and his greek cousins .
the cities that resist stand basically alone against the invaders and are brutally sacked , burned and put to the sword , one by one .
Alex ends up with military control of the entire huge empire of the persians and the stored learnings of the ancient sumerians , babylonians , hebrews , persians , and egyptians ...the technologies of the then 'known' civilized world are now available to the semi-barbaric young macedonian king and he has brought with him scores of the best scribes, architects , engineers , doctors , legal scholars , historians and religious teachers that were available in greece expressly for the purpose of technological transfer---the looting of technology , information and know how from the long- civilized cities of western asia and north east africa .
Alexander shows a degree of tolerance for local customs , rights, cultures and religions of the conquered peoples of western asia and north east africa ...a tolerance he did not show and was not expected at all while conquering his european opponents back home ...Alex knows the western asian and north east african cities and civilizations are much older than anything in europe...he knows that he is invading civilization and not bringing civilization ... it is common knowledge among all parties involved and there is no room for pretense .
300 years after Alexander , the Romans duplicate' his acts through conquest but with much much less tolerance for local rights, traditions, cultures and customs ...
this greco-judeo-roman heritage of invasion of civilizations , and conquest followed by massive financial and technological "transfers" from the conquered lands and peoples back to the european homeland are the origins and the birth of western civilization...the greeks and the macedonian empire and the empire of rome . this is the beginnings of their ethos --the celebrated and oft-repeated themes of what is now western culture .
The news now tells us that director oliver stone has a movie on the life of Alexander the Great coming out next month alexanderthemovie.com.
What makes this blogger go "hmmmmm?" is the timing of the release of such a flick with the present "oil-crusade" in old "western asia" . The enemies are still the babylonians/iraq and the persians/iran .
What old deepseated collective cultural themes will this movie starring two englishmen ( Colin Farrell as Alexander-- Anthony Hopkins as his general and advisor ptolemy soder) and two americans ( Val kilmer as phillip II- his father and Angelina Jolie as Olympias -his mother) subconsciously revive and rejustify in the modern european-american psyche ? ...especially while the bloody anglo-american military occupation of iraq continues and the violence increases as the on-ground situation deteriorates ?
also , maybe i'm just paranoid ,but notice how a mediterranean looking Alexander went from a dark-haired and ruddy complexion, wild-eyed greek to looking almost as nordic as a swede . they wouldn't be subtly trying to tell us something else ...would they ?
At the time the super power in that part of the world was the Persian empire . Persian armies had gained control of a vast region extending from india in the east all the way west to the mediterranean sea and south to lower egypt .
the Persian kings gradually grew weak , their empire over extended militarily ,and by about 300 bc were ripe for the taking .
in walks the boy-king , young Alexander of macedon with a tough , well-trained army patiently built over decades by his late father Phillip II expressly for the purpose of waging a Pan-hellenic "crusade" against the persian empire.
the persian vassal city-states of western asia and north east Africa feel no love for persian rule and most surrender peacefully to Alexander and his greek cousins .
the cities that resist stand basically alone against the invaders and are brutally sacked , burned and put to the sword , one by one .
Alex ends up with military control of the entire huge empire of the persians and the stored learnings of the ancient sumerians , babylonians , hebrews , persians , and egyptians ...the technologies of the then 'known' civilized world are now available to the semi-barbaric young macedonian king and he has brought with him scores of the best scribes, architects , engineers , doctors , legal scholars , historians and religious teachers that were available in greece expressly for the purpose of technological transfer---the looting of technology , information and know how from the long- civilized cities of western asia and north east africa .
Alexander shows a degree of tolerance for local customs , rights, cultures and religions of the conquered peoples of western asia and north east africa ...a tolerance he did not show and was not expected at all while conquering his european opponents back home ...Alex knows the western asian and north east african cities and civilizations are much older than anything in europe...he knows that he is invading civilization and not bringing civilization ... it is common knowledge among all parties involved and there is no room for pretense .
300 years after Alexander , the Romans duplicate' his acts through conquest but with much much less tolerance for local rights, traditions, cultures and customs ...
this greco-judeo-roman heritage of invasion of civilizations , and conquest followed by massive financial and technological "transfers" from the conquered lands and peoples back to the european homeland are the origins and the birth of western civilization...the greeks and the macedonian empire and the empire of rome . this is the beginnings of their ethos --the celebrated and oft-repeated themes of what is now western culture .
The news now tells us that director oliver stone has a movie on the life of Alexander the Great coming out next month alexanderthemovie.com.
What makes this blogger go "hmmmmm?" is the timing of the release of such a flick with the present "oil-crusade" in old "western asia" . The enemies are still the babylonians/iraq and the persians/iran .
What old deepseated collective cultural themes will this movie starring two englishmen ( Colin Farrell as Alexander-- Anthony Hopkins as his general and advisor ptolemy soder) and two americans ( Val kilmer as phillip II- his father and Angelina Jolie as Olympias -his mother) subconsciously revive and rejustify in the modern european-american psyche ? ...especially while the bloody anglo-american military occupation of iraq continues and the violence increases as the on-ground situation deteriorates ?
also , maybe i'm just paranoid ,but notice how a mediterranean looking Alexander went from a dark-haired and ruddy complexion, wild-eyed greek to looking almost as nordic as a swede . they wouldn't be subtly trying to tell us something else ...would they ?
posted by dsekou at 6:00 PM
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