fire from heaven
the book
First of a trilogy by Mary Renault, a well-regarded author of historical fiction.
I saw this book randomly on Amazon and thought I'd go for it.
Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three, leaving behind an empire that stretched from Greece to India and Fire From Heaven tells the story of his early years. According to the introduction, there is a fair amount of novelistic license here as Greek scholars didn't regard the early years as necessarily important in some ways, casting people as 'mini-versions of their adult selves' rather than something less formed and pliable.
The book details his growth to adulthood, having to navigate the broken relationship between his parents, being schooled by Aristotle and his love of Hephaistion. He has his first battles, learns how to lead and becomes a general in his teens. He prove himself ready to be a king throughout the course of the book.
It's similar in tone and subject matter to Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles, a story that humanises the ultimate, merciless killing machine mostly by detailing his relationship with Patroclus. Alexander is similarly self-possessed and a man apart from others.
I enjoyed it for the most part but some sections dragged. I didn't regard The Song of Achilles as a 'great book' but it was certainly a better read than this.
A could read
Why I read the book
Have always been on the lookout for a good book about Alexander the Great but given that they're all enormous and that my good friend with a masters degree in classical civilisations couldn't give me a recommendation, it's been a long dormant goal to read about the man.
His ambition strikes me as the ancient version of our modern day impresarios, our Musks or Zuckerbergs, men apart who wish to rule and conquer. Most of us don't feel like this but it fascinates us when someone else does.
I found this book, liked the sound of it and went for it.
ideas and quotes
People who have earned no pride in themselves are content to be proud of their cities through other men.
Reminded me of sports fans.
A boy never seen afraid can dictate his terms.
Man’s immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal.
Lord Voldemort...
they discussed the nature of the outstanding man. Is self-regard a flaw in him? Certainly yes, in respect of common greeds and pleasures. But then, what self should be regarded? Not the body nor its passions, but the intellectual soul, whose office it is to rule the rest like a king. To love that self, to be covetous of honour for it, to indulge its appetite for virtue and noble deeds; to prefer an hour of glory closed by death, to a slothful life; to reach for the lion’s share of moral dignity: there lies the fulfilling self-regard.
To strive for an intellectual and inherent greatness is to have a fulfilling self regard. Without some self-regard, what do you have? Vanity can be a servant as well as a master. I'd argue that a degree of physical vanity is necessary too - without it, it's easy to become unfit for the rigours of life.
The old saws are wrong, said the philosopher, which tell man to be forever humble before his own mortality. Rather he should strain his being to put on immortality, never to fall below the highest thing he knows.
To aspire to do something worthy of immortality, to create a legacy is what's being referenced here. It's also another decree for personal standards and reminded me of 'you are what you walk past'.
Bear in mind that the same toils do not bear equally on the general and the common soldier, though their bodies are of the same kind; but the honour of the general’s rank, and his knowing that nothing he does will go unnoticed, make his hardships lighter to endure.
Made me think of Naval and personal brands. Leaders will get an outsize amount of blame and credit. If you want to make compounding gains then putting yourself out there is the way to do it. Failure can hurt but success will be seen.
‘A ruler,’ read Alexander, ‘should not only be truly a better man than those he rules. He should cast a kind of spell on them…’
Think of the charisma required by leaders, particularly in a modern, complex environment where the leader becomes a storyteller, their job too complex to actually be done by one person. The leader is almost an idea of a person. The definition of better could mean a moral superiority or just being of greater talent.
‘He did right,’ said Alexander. ‘What does it matter where a man comes from? It’s what he is in himself.’
This egalitarianism is the hope of society; that anyone can ascend and do good if they have the capacity. Whether it's true is certainly debatable.
‘As to the good,’ said Xenokrates, ‘he himself was his own evidence. Without that, a man will find no other. I knew him well. I am glad you read him. But his books, he always said, contained the teaching of his master, Sokrates; there would never be a book of Plato, for what he had to teach could only be learned as fire is kindled, by the touch of the flame itself.’
Learn by doing, not by reading. A bit of a personal flaw...
the Achilles choice
Alexander is unusually aware of the context within which he wishes to place himself, another similarity with Achilles.
I'm still as fascinated with Achilles as I was when I was a child but for different reasons. He's an odd idol; selfish, driven by destiny and a psychopath, killing hundreds of men and striking fear into everyone. He drags Hector's body around the city of Troy to defile it and satisfy his rage.
The seductive thing about him is that the greatest warrior who ever lived was a glorious Greek man, covered in armour forged by a god. Our modern day greatest warrior is a pasty man wielding a joystick in a tent in the Nevada desert.
The Achilles choice is one that athletes make, just without the certainty of glory. Achilles was told: you can stay at home, marry and have children, live a long and pleasant life and die surrounded by those you love but eventually be forgotten; or you can go to Troy. You'll never return, you'll die a violent death but you'll be remembered forever. It's the chance of eternal glory that we find so seductive and it proves too much for Achilles. He goes and becomes a legend.
Alexander seems to have felt similarly, amassing an enormous empire but dying far from home aged 33. His desire for immortality trumped his desire for comfort or a long life.
RELATED
The Song of Achilles - as discussed. Probably a better bet than this book.
American Kingpin - a true story of youthful ambition, big ideas and brilliance followed by the inevitable hubris and downfall. One of the most fun books I've read in the past couple of years.