Is Alexander, the king, alive? 
  or 

THE EPIC OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
 

Written by 

ALEXANDER VALSAMIS 

 

Translated by 

LENA HADJIIOANNOU 


 
PRODUCTION : TO THEATRO TIS FLOGAS (=THEATER OF THE FLAME)



 

Please note: Any commercial use of the script without previous communication with the author is strictly prohibited. Original (Greek) version.

 

 


Spyros’s room: a bed, a desk in front of a large French window and a bookcase. 

Spyros, a seventh grader, is sitting behind the desk and studying, the rain is falling outside, there is a knock on the door. 

SPYROS: Yes? 

Spyros’s uncle walks in, a large bag in his hands. Spyros gets up to meet him. 

UNCLE TOM: Hi there, Spyros, Happy Birthday (kissing him), I couldn’t come yesterday, I’ve been in Macedonia the whole week taking care of business, but look what I got you (hands him the bag), open it and see. 

SPYROS: Thank you, uncleTom (opens the bag and starts taking out puppets, one after another; doesn’t look too pleased with his presents). 

UNCLE TOM: (presenting the puppets as they come out of the bag). This here is Alexander, this is Hephaestion, and Philip, and Alexander’s general and friend, Nearchos, and Krateros and Perdikas. Isn’t this what you are doing in your history class right now? I’m pretty sure you are. 

SPYROS: We did this stuff in fourth grade too, uncle Tom. 

UNCLE TOM: Is that so. Well, off to bed now, it’s late, and I’ll be coming tomorrow to tell you stories about Alexander who reached the heart of Asia (kisses him). Tomorrow, all right? 

SPYROS: Night, uncle Tom, I’ll be waiting for you. 

UNCLE TOM: (leaving). Don’t stay up longer, you look tired. 

Spyros is once again alone. 

SPYROS: That’s a good one, not only do I have to study about Alexander the Great, I now have the puppets to remind me too! (Takes the puppet presented as Alexander in his hands). What are you looking at me for, dummy? Are you making fun of me for having to sit here and read about your history? Get lost you dumb puppet, I don’t want to see you any more. (Throws the puppet in a corner of the room). You, too, get lost, out of my face. Let me study. 

Swings the puppets in all directions, all excited, then goes back to his desk and picks up his history book again. While Spyros is reading, the sound of the rain becomes louder, the lights blink, a streak of lightning tears the night and thunder is heard. Spyros puts the book down, goes to the French window to close the curtains, then comes back to the desk, only to see Alexander sitting on his book. Stunned, he takes a step back. 

SPYROS: What do you want here? Get away from my book, you’ll make me lose the page! 

ALEXANDER: (calmly). Scared, huh? 

SPYROS: What would I be scared of? A puppet? Get away from my desk before I tear you to pieces and throw you in the waste basket (makes a move toward the desk). 

ALEXANDER: Is that what you think? That a mere boy like you can defeat my army? 

Alexander makes a gesture, the curtains open wide as if blown by a gust of wind, and outside emerge (SHADOWS) a Macedonian phalanx, a cavalry unit and a force of archers, all lined up and in perfect order. Dumbfounded, Spyros is unable to speak. 

ALEXANDER: Do you think that my loyal companions, with whom we reached the farthest corners of the earth, would just stand there and let me end up in your waste basket, frightfully torn and helpless? (One by one, Hephaestion and the generals come to life, positioning themselves against Spyros. Surrounded and totally bewildered, Spyros does not know where to turn. Alexander speaks to him reassuringly). H’m, seems like you are scared, after all! (Approaching). Why, let me see, you are shaking all over! I won’t hurt you, there is no one I want to hurt. 

SPYROS: I am not afraid. What do you want? 

ALEXANDER: (in a friendly manner). First of all, there is no need to be embarrassed for being afraid. Can I tell you something I learned from my teacher, Aristotle? 

SPYROS: The famous mind, Plato’s pupil? 

ALEXANDER: That’s right! He’d tell me: He who, in the face of danger, is not grabbed by fear, why, a mindless fool he is, no bravery in that. Brave is he who takes his fear along and marches straight ahead. 

SPYROS: Which class was this, where he would tell you such things? 

ALEXANDER: It was a class of Ethics. We studied for three years. 

SPYROS: (interrupting him). It was only three years you went to school? 

ALEXANDER: Of course not. It was three years Aristotle taught me, before him came Leonidas, the stern one, and before him Lysimachos, but above all, it was Homer, the rhapsodist, who made me worthy to be called a man. 

SPYROS: How many years did you study in all? 

ALEXANDER: I never remember Alexander not thinking and learning about something. 

SPYROS: Since when? 

ALEXANDER: First I learned how to ride and then how to stand on two feet. 

SPYROS: And what did you learn in those years? 

ALEXANDER: Lots of things. Ethics, politics, poetry, philosophy, music, arithmetic, geometry, medicine, whatever gives rise to greatness and truth and beauty in man. I learned the art of war too, and fencing, and strategy, and horse riding, as I told you, so I could win the respect of my friends and inspire fear in my enemies, and have peace, the greatest good of all. 

SPYROS: What I know is that you keep torturing us with your stories. What did you want all that glory and greatness for, huh? Aren’t you playing a little too high and mighty? (Ironically). Why, you even wanted to be immortal! 

ALEXANDER: And now it’s you, if you so wish, who will give me immortality. 

SPYROS: (wondering). And how can that be? 

ALEXANDER: At school you learn my history, isn’t that so? (Spyros nods in agreement). Well, I will help you learn it all, as it came to pass, so while you are alive I will live in you too. And I want you to tell it too, tell it to whoever you can, and to your children as well, so that I may live eternally in the minds of all. Do you want to take a trip together and get to know each other and be friends? 

SPYROS: (thinking). All right. See? I’m not afraid any more. 

ALEXANDER: OK then, I’ll start with an adventure of my own, but you must promise me you won’t tell it to anyone, because there is no person alive who knows it. Deal? 

SPYROS: Deal! 

ALEXANDER: H’m, I’m not telling. 

SPYROS: But why? I promise, I won’t tell. 

ALEXANDER: You may be right, but what about them? (He points to the children in the audience). 

SPYROS: They won’t either, right, kids? 

ALEXANDER: OK then! Here it goes! When I was little, younger than you, my father, Philip, would sit on his majestic throne and take me on his lap, and when no pressing state matters were on his mind he would tell me stories, for hours and hours. (PUPPETS). 

PHILIP: My son, my baby, my precious child. The dream of your father is one, I’ll share it with you. When all Greeks unite like a tight fist, then the Persian is going to meet his fate, and people everywhere will have the ways and speak the language of Greeks. I myself will spread these ways, the Macedonians leading and all of Greece as well. Our culture means light in the dark, ridding the world of shadows. To make this true, an army we shall raise and toward the East, the Persian’s nest, we’ll send it. In the golden river of the sun’s source we’ll bathe, and in its golden vineyard, sweet wine we’ll drink, made of emerald grapes. Where Dionysus first walked, and Hercules, Zeus’s son, blazed a trail, we, proud sons of Hercules and Achilles, will reign, and rule the earth and the peoples on its face, peoples united in one big family. This your father, Philip, will either do or die, and for this, you too, your life should give, a worthy sacrifice, believe me. 

ALEXANDER: And he excited my imagination, and one day he told me about the victories in Marathon and Salamis, and about the graves, temples and sanctuaries destroyed by the great king of the Persians, with that army of slaves he had, and I was scared, and when I left my father’s arms at dusk, (SHADOWS) I walked around in the palace’s courtyard and thought about how I could take revenge for the ravages wrought on Greece, and how I, head of the Macedonians and all Greeks, could honor my ancestors’ blood. With this on my mind, I aimlessly wondered, when, all of a sudden, there was a huge black beast before my eyes. I froze, I went white, and… you won’t tell this to anyone, will you? 

SPYROS: No, no, I gave you my word. 

ALEXANDER: Neither will you, kids, will you? (Spyros encourages the audience to agree). As I stood there I felt water down my legs and started crying. 

SPYROS: Poor Alexander! And what did the monster do? 

ALEXANDER: Just wait and see! So the guards came running, to see why the little prince was screaming, and as they came from all sides, tall, well built, with their shields and armor shining in the sun… why, the monster just left. And then the head guard picked me up to soothe me, for I was crying my heart out, and as he did, I saw their shadows grow longer and reach the entrance of the palace, as the sun was setting behind us, and if I was not surrounded by the whole guard, I swear I’d see in those shadows an army of monsters, worse than the Persian army and far more frightening. 

SPYROS: Ha-ha-ha! You, the great warlord, were afraid of your shadow? 

ALEXANDER: Don’t laugh! (PUPPETS) For months on end I’d wake up in my room in the middle of the night, sweating, my mattress all wet ’cause of the monsters after me, and I’d huddle up in a corner of the bed and wait until it dawns, and the shadows leave, and my fears go with them. And still, my nurse I’d never call, I’d bite my lips but never call, I’d only crouch and wait until the shadows no longer scared me, and darkness, no longer threatening, would bring me sweet sleep, relax my limbs, and give me strength for the next day, when I would run and play and ride. (SHADOWS) And later, when I was at your age, and the best lads - the best horsemen in the country - could not tame a horse and ride him, I understood what he wanted and went up to him, a boy of twelve, and gently stroked him and turned him toward the sun, so he could no longer see his shadow, and rode him… and Bucephalus took me all the way to the heart of Asia, as a victorious leader, riding my father’s present. Do you know what Philip told me when I alone tamed the horse? (Spyros shakes his head). Why, I remember every single word. But tell me, father, so I may hear the sweet words from your own mouth! 

PHILIP: My boy, go after the kingdom you deserve, Macedonia is not enough for you! And take care! Do not do many of those things I now so pointlessly regret myself. 

ALEXANDER: That’s what he told me. 

SPYROS: And he made you king? 

ALEXANDER: No, no, you are going fast, I was only twelve then, ’t was many years and hard battles and fierce fights later I became a king. Do you know when everything was decided? (SHADOWS) At that battle in Chaeronea that my father fought against Thebes. The battle could go either way, and suddenly I fly at them with 2000 horsemen on their left, I waste their best band, the sacred one, and here is victory, we crushed them. 

SPYROS: And it was then you became king? 

ALEXANDER: You’ re going fast again. I was eighteen then, I was to wear the crown two years later under conditions I’d rather not remember, it’s all in the books. I only remember the dreams, the toil, the thirst to travel. It was two long years I kept hearing about Philip’s feats, his victories and glory, and I told my friends: There will be nothing left! No grand feat to accomplish with you. 

SPYROS: And when did you become king? 

ALEXANDER: (hesitantly at first). It was at this double celebration, of my sister Cleopatra’s wedding and of the Greeks’ alliance against the Persian threat, when Philip fell, struck by the hand of a man sworn to protect him: Pausanias, the traitor! So it came to pass, and I became a king with two hearts, one red and one black. 

SPYROS: You were worried, huh? 

ALEXANDER: I didn’t fall apart though, nor did I get the throne without much struggle. 

SPYROS: What do you mean? Weren’t you Philip’s son? 

ALEXANDER: Why, certainly, I’m his son. But I am not his only relative! 

SPYROS: Which means what? 

ALEXANDER: As soon as Philip perished, and so unexpectedly at that, in such a way, a great unrest settled in, and everywhere you looked there was someone who wanted the crown on his head. Supported by different parties, these would-be kings lied and deceived, working up the people, having their own agenda. But the people, the Macedonians, wanted me, Alexander, to govern them, hanging on to Buchephalus, riding until the farthest corners of the earth. 

SPYROS: And you took off to conquer the world? 

ALEXANDER: Aren’t you in a hurry! A year went by, before I secured my borders and subjected all Greeks to my rule, uniting them for our common cause. 

SPYROS: Was that when you destroyed Thebes? 

ALEXANDER: Not I, it was her neighbors who decided it, old time enemies in fact. I consented for the sake of the campaign, to scare the other Greeks and escape a worthy enemy so close to home. But let that be. One more year went by, and I raised an army and prepared the war machines for the great campaign. Then, before leaving Macedonia… (PUPPETS) 

ALEXANDER: My friends, we’ll soon be leaving home and heading toward the golden East. Together we’ll walk in easy and hard times, together in pain and misfortune, together in triumph and glory until the far reaches of the earth, but all that can wait. Now that you will part with your loved ones, now that your lips will taste your mother’s salty tears, I want you to leave behind presents, royal goodies to help your loved ones rejoice in your glory but also in their own easy living. Well, Hephaestion, with you I start; take my woods in Mieza and the entire village, where in our common path we had our spirit blessed with the bright light of education. Give them to your family, and may they enjoy them and see their income rise. You, Nearchos, can give your family the revenues from the sea passes, I’ll give the order now, that they may fill their pockets regularly. As for you, Perdikas… 

PERDIKAS: And you, my king? What is left for you? 

ALEXANDER: Hopes! 

PERDIKAS: Well, then, we too are entitled to them, we’ll be fighting with you! 

CHORUS OF VOICES: Yes! Yes! We don’t want the presents, give us the hope to walk with you to the corners of the earth! 

ALEXANDER: And so we left, (SHADOWS) and we crossed the Hellespont with an army of 35000. A hundred and sixty triremes made their way through the waves, and I set foot in Asia, (driving a spear into the ground) and I drove the spear into the land that would be mine. My first barrier was Granikus, where countless enemies gathered, all with different weapons and tongues, ways and armor. But without a goal and courage, what fight could they put up? 

SPYROS: And you won despite the difficult ground, we learned that in school. 

ALEXANDER: I won, yes; I jumped right into the battle, with horses and bows, arrows and spears flying all over, and my infantry too. Everywhere around me the uproar of the battle, and slaughter and destruction, and hordes of soldiers, but not a moment was I afraid, I sent the horses here and there, and first among the first I flew into the battle, on my precious horse. Then yielding, giving way, the enemies break their lines and the infantry gets through. And as I said, “great, the victory is now ours,” there is this Persian on his horse that finds me unguarded. A second more, no more than that, and I’d be surely killed! But Kleitus was quick and saved me from sure death. 

SPYROS: And then? What next? 

ALEXANDER: That first victory put wings on my legs. I advanced and freed the Greek towns of Asia Minor from the Persian yoke. 

(PUPPETS) 

FIRST LOCAL: My king, speaking for the historic town of Sardeis, I’d like to hand this place over, and anything that lives on it. May you decide for us in future. 

SECOND LOCAL: My lord, a golden wreath I bring from the town of Ephesos to celebrate your golden victory. May you take it and do with us as you please. 

THIRD LOCAL: My brave king, take this golden wreath offered by the town of Tralleis. A symbol of your victory and our own devotion, may it convey our wish that Zeus grant you immortality and that you eternally protect us like a true father. 

ALEXANDER: My friends I welcome you, a true friend since I was so received. As long as I rule, I will let no harm come to you, no man take what’s your own. May you live in peace and prosper in harmony; ’t is one language you speak, one religion you share and one way of life you have in common. One thing I want from you is for my army’s sake. Bring me a lot of food, and clothing, and horses, and help them out as best you can as long as we are here. You are free to live just as you did till now, to prosper without the Persians on your back. Taxes are not an issue, I want nothing from those that can’t afford it. As for the Macedonian guard I leave behind, receive them also as friends. 

SPYROS: And everyone was happy to see you and brought you golden wreaths? 

ALEXANDER: Not everyone. A few towns, like Miletos and Alikarnassos, resisted and bitterly regretted it. It was fire and destruction I reserved for those who dared fight me, so everyone thought twice about what stance to adopt. Friends who cooperated and lived in freedom or enemies enslaved or killed? 

SPYROS: We, in any case, are friends, right? 

ALEXANDER: Of course we are friends, don’t be afraid, we said that. Do you want to learn what happened next? 

SPYROS: Tell, tell, did you fight with Darius? 

ALEXANDER: The winter was coming, so I sent home the older men and those who were newly married. The older men could use some rest and the young ones should enjoy their homes before they came back. I asked them to join us again in the spring at the town of Gordion, so that the army could unite like a tight fist raised against the enemy. I, on the other hand, took off with a part of the army, heading in that direction, going through towns and villages, mountains and forests. 

SPYROS: Did you fight in the heart of the winter? 

ALEXANDER: There was little need for it. Everywhere I went, there were golden wreaths coming, and I agreed with most that we should be allies and look after each other. 

SPYROS: And when you reached the town you cut the knot? 

ALEXANDER: When I reached the town I found a knot to undo and an oracle: He who unties the knot shall rule over Asia. (Alexander stands before the knot, takes out his sword and strikes, thus cutting the knot). Well, there went the knot, and Asia with it. 

SPYROS: And the army gathered again? 

ALEXANDER: It gathered and we headed toward Issos. On the way, more towns and wreaths. (SHADOWS) Then one day we reached Tarsos, and it was scorching hot, and we had traveled a long way, and I dove into the river to wash myself. Ice-cold, the water proved my undoing. I fell sick and had so high a fever that I was truly worried – and so was my army. Meanwhile, out there in the east, Darius was gathering his forces… (PUPPETS) 

DARIUS: I see things are getting out of hand. We call Alexander a thief, yet he performs royal feats. How can we stop him from advancing? What can we do? 

FIRST OFFICER: First and foremost, my lord, we must do what he did: never put anything off and fight with all our soul. 

SECOND OFFICER: And you must lead us our lord, lead us and have us follow and lead the army in our turn. This is what Alexander does; to this he owes his victories. 

THIRD OFFICER: Which is why, my lord, you must immediately raise an army. An army so big that it’ll be easier for one to count the grains of sand in the desert than the men themselves. 

DARIUS: Good advice but useless. As a wild wolf destroys a flock of sheep in no more than a flash, so a single army, if brave, can destroy all of us. We shall fight, though, for sure, and, God willing, win. Get me an army; I want men, horses, machines, a crowd so large that it may hide the horizon. General call to arms. 

ALEXANDER: That’s what Darius was up to while I was burning with fever. But my doctor was good, and soon I stood again before Darius’s door. (SHADOWS) After a long and tiresome journey we arrived at Issos, ready for the great battle. It was there Darius met me with an army so big that it hid the horizon; yet their position was more convenient for me than it was for them. I jumped into the battle first, as usual, having the Macedonians behind me. Arrows and spears marked the start again, followed by my horsemen. Some of them I send to the left, and I myself, quick as lightning, take two squadrons to the right and vanquish them completely. They hit the center with great force, enemy to my left, but then again the center holds, I quickly come to aid, and soon the Persians were dispersed, they ran to save their lives. This fast retreat meant many deaths, thousands of them died, but for a moment I’d have had Darius myself. 

SPYROS: Which is why you fought with him again, at Gaugamila. 

ALEXANDER: So nice indeed it would have been if, with a single strike, I could have had Darius’s head, along with the crown. But who can take the whole Asia with no more than a strike? 

SPYROS: And then you went after him? 

ALEXANDER: What good is it to chase a man who is gone? I’d meet with him again at a later battle, deadly, see him running behind his army as I ran before mine. But all that came later, for now I entered the enemy camp in triumph, went to Darius’s tent, along with Hephaestion, and what do we see there? The whole family, his wife - a real beauty – a little boy of five, his mother turning supplicant before the wrong feet. 

(PUPPETS) 

DARIUS’S MOTHER: My lord, a great king with such a great fame, don’t do us harm, we’re Darius’s poor family, left behind as he ran to escape your sword. As great in battle you have been, be great in life too. (Throws herself at the feet of Hephaestion who takes a step back, takes a step back herself). 

ALEXANDER: (laughing). Woman, don’t be afraid, you made no mistake, he too is Alexander. (Takes Darius’s son and kisses him just as Nearchos walks in). O brave Nearchos, whom I trust, as long as our army wins, may they live like kings as they did before and be deprived of nothing. We too must not show ourselves unworthy of the name of king. 

SPYROS: Why did he leave without his family? Didn’t he love them? 

ALEXANDER: Don’t be unjust, he bitterly cried for them and sent envoys to bear me a letter. (PUPPETS) 

ENVOY: O invincible lord, great king losing no battle, a writ from Darius I bring, immediately I’ll read it. (Clears his throat). I, Darius, ruler of Asia and the entire world, have this to say: I hurt you not, yet you came to Asia and did me great harm. The vows and treaties going back to our forefathers were all broken by you, and my land is ravaged by your army. I, king of the Persians and the entire world, withhold my rage; instead of war and fire, my land I give, from the sea called Mediterranean to the Euphrates River, and my prettiest daughter for you to wed, and my most generous friendship. And the women now held captive by you shall thereby be your relatives. If everything goes as I say, you’ll have from me all the goods in the world. But if you turn me down, and give your pride free reign, then as a thief I’ll hang you soon, my army I’ll send upon you. 

ALEXANDER: If the earth had two suns, then Asia too would have two kings to govern her. Write an answer then, go quickly to your king to convey this message. A thief you call me, yet to a thief you offer your own daughter. But even if I were a thief, so much the worse for you. For if I win, a common thief the king will have defeated. And if you win, why, what’s so great? A thief has been defeated. Forefathers, vows, it’s all a scheme to use the Greeks. Yet it was you who came to Greece, set fire and destroyed, and still, you were defeated. Need I remind you of Salamis and Marathon? Then with a lot of gold you made your way, and money used to buy my father’s death. So know this: No man can order Greeks with violent threats and speeches. I, Alexander, shall fight with you, and then you will be begging, a crushed opponent without a land, your own life in balance. And as for wives, if I want, your daughter will be mine. 

SPYROS: And weren’t you afraid that you might lose it all? He offered you half of Asia. What if something went wrong? 

ALEXANDER: Afraid of whom? Darius, the chicken-hearted? And what army could there be to stand up to the Greeks? 

SPYROS: And so he came against you with his army? 

ALEXANDER: While Darius was raising his army, I myself headed toward the Nile. 

SPYROS: In Egypt? 

ALEXANDER: Yes. To golden Memphis I went, as a Pharaoh looking bright (PUPPETS) 

FIRST EGYPTIAN: O Ammon Ra, my great lord, your will I’d like to know. As Alexander marches here with his great army, what lies ahead? 

AMMON RA: (SHADOW) The king that was gone is now back. No old man is he now, but shining hero as befits a true son of the Sun. And it is he who’ll save you from the Persians. (Alexander enters the scene) 

FIRST EGYPTIAN: My lord and great Pharaoh, of you I now beg this. Grant me, the poor and humble soul, to see your shining grace. 

SECOND EGYPTIAN: Will you help us, my lord, the sun’s bright light to see? For it is you who are the light, Ammon the Great tells us. 

ALEXANDER: Ammon as they call you here, Zeus in my own homeland, show me, allow me to see what end there lies before me! 

AMMON RA: The end is not for you to see, but do as I say. A glorious town you must found, a jewel in its own right, and then its name must be heard, its fame be far reaching, and you yourself with this town must live beyond all time. That’s all for now. As for what is coming, just let it come and fight hard and win in every battle. 

ALEXANDER: A sign I ask, that I may see where to build the town. And this I promise, without a doubt. I’ll give you gold, and myrrh and precious perfumes, and if the future silver holds, to you I’ll offer gold. 

AMMON RA: On the island of Proteus you must build it, just across, where from his five-summit mountain Proteus rules the world. 

SPYROS: And so you founded the Alexandria of Egypt. 

ALEXANDER: Indeed, I founded a city, it was but one of many that bore my name. 

SPYROS: I know, you founded so many towns, we learned all that in class. 

ALEXANDER: O yes, I founded about seventy of them. All over the world, I sowed the miniatures of Greece. 

SPYROS: And you named them all Alexandria? 

ALEXANDER: Most of them, yes, the others I called Nikaia, after Nike, the glorious Victory, and Bucephaleia, and other names belonging to my generals. 

SPYROS: And did you stay in Alexandria? 

ALEXANDER: Not long. Darius raised an army again, drawing from all of Asia, and I my sword unsheathed once more. (SHADOWS) The town of Gaugamela, the town of the camel, is where we met once again and fought again in battle. I fly at them once again, leading my own army, and with the horsemen on my side, I attack him for his crown. Horsemen sends he to my left, and on the other side, threatening chariots he sends, equipped with deadly knives. But then the chariots were destroyed by my own design, and to the horsemen on the left with horsemen I answer. Around us all, just screaming, blood and killing, the sky received our battle cries along with cries of pain. An arrow, I fly on his left and hit him with swiftness, and then Darius, who equal was called to Alexander, had no choice but to fight. And it was Zeus who fought against the older Zoroaster, and then the Persian faced defeat and soon was forgotten. 

SPYROS: And did you get to catch Darius? 

ALEXANDER: No, that I didn’t. Darius ran once again before I could catch him, but Asia was now all mine. 

SPYROS: Well, not again! And did he raise an army? 

ALEXANDER: Poor man! After that day, how could he raise an army? No man would offer him his life for the sake of his kingdom. Nor did I let him myself; swift, I followed at his heels to catch the wounded beast. And what a chase that was! I followed close in scorching heat, and dust and parched up landscapes, and all the time Darius was just two steps ahead of me. (SHADOWS) Then my throat dried up and all around but dryness. A soldier came, and offered me a little water, and I tell you, the water was more precious than gold. 

SOLDIER: Alexander, son of Philip, take this from me. For if I have to perish, the world will not come to an end. But should you suffer the least harm, the damage will be great, the whole world will have to bear the consequence of your fate. 

ALEXANDER: (taking the water from the soldier’s hands). My brave man, well you speak, and with this act you gained the water’s weight worth in gold. Yet if I drink alone, the only one to quench his thirst in an entire army, what will happen then with you? With what courage can you fight? O precious water, since you are too little for an army, no man will drink you. (Pours the water on the ground). 

SOLDIERS: (in chorus) Alexander, take us where you will. We are not tired, nor thirsty, not even mortal when we are with you! 

SPYROS: And Darius? 

ALEXANDER: Darius met his fate two steps away from where we were, struck by one of his own: Vissos the vicious! 

SPYROS: I remember that. And you caught this Vissos and killed him. 

ALEXANDER: Together with those that helped him, though his hand they should have stayed. 

SPYROS: So that was it then! You were now ruler of Asia. 

ALEXANDER: Asia surrendered to me that I may set things right, and the only place that was now left was toward the Ganges River, the land of India. O great and mythical country, I’d like so to reach you and in that golden source of yours my body to wash! I was a god, and as a god I lived every single day. 

SPYROS: Didn’t I say you went nuts! 

ALEXANDER: The gods are but immortal men and men but mortal gods. 

SPYROS: You just lost me! How did you say that again? 

ALEXANDER: O let it be! Another thing I’ll tell you. The Asians wanted a divine king, so as to keep their vows, and that’s exactly what I became, a god to whom all bowed. But when with my friends we met, my dearest childhood friends, we made fun of all that charade, all that divine nonsense. 

SPYROS: You mean you did not make them all bow to you every time they saw you? 

ALEXANDER: You are getting on my nerves, did you know that? Take care, lest I get angry! 

SPYROS: Well, why fret? We said you’d tell me what happened and I’m only asking to learn! 

ALEXANDER: Come with me! I’ll tell you a secret that’s just for you to know. (He takes Spyros and they disappear) (PUPPETS) 

FIRST CONSPIRATOR: My bravest soldiers and dear friends, this I can no longer take. For it is us that brought him to this, and make no mistake. Yet us he treats with disrespect and underestimates, while Asians fill his army now, for us there’s no more space. And as if this were not enough, he has the gall to ask us “Divine” to call him and on our knees to fall before him. And we, the victors, that all these lands have conquered for his sake, are now put aside and treated like those we have defeated. Tonight all this must surely end. And when the feast is over, when he sweet sleep seeks in his tent, then death he shall encounter. May you always be well, and enjoy wealth and glory, when there is no more threat ahead, no lion’s mouth to fear. 

SECOND CONSPIRATOR: And if he doesn’t return alone but has dancers with him to sleep with? Or worse, if he invites friends to drink a last glass of wine? What then? We are lost. 

THIRD CONSPIRATOR: Alone, too, he is dangerous, should he suspect the slightest thing. 

FIRST CONSPIRATOR:: O hush, you are ridiculous, what is it you fret over? Are we going to be in his tent? Outside is the ambush, and when we see him come along we’ll do as we must. If he’s alone and the light goes off, then obviously we enter and his life’s precious thread in two we cut. If, on the other hand, with others he should be, we as shadows wait on, well hidden in the shadow, until the break of dawn. Rejoice, then, and join hands. Think of the life after. 

(The conspirators join hands, just as Alexander and Spyros enter the scene again). 

ALEXANDER: Did you understand now? This is how it all happened. 

SPYROS: I don’t know if I understood nor can I say I didn’t. 

ALEXANDER: Well, enough with gods and all that divine story. Off to the feast now, to celebrate the wedding of brave soldiers and local girls. (PUPPETS) 

PRIEST: The whole army is here and in the name of Zeus, king of the gods, we’ll have golden weddings. As union of the Orient with the land of Greeks, the offspring from those marriages the world will have as homeland. 

KLEITUS: Wait a minute, not so fast, there’s somethin’ I have to say, that Alexander may hear it as from his entire army. So much we hear, my old time friend, about your feats of glory, the Dioskouri and Hercules are thought no match to you. With flatterers, my old time friend, you choose to spend your time, and surely with their flattery you let them turn your head. Without your Macedonians, where would you be standing? And if a god you are yourself, a demigod then your army. But since for you there’s no higher step than being someone divine, your loyal mates in all of this you are pushing down the ladder. Alone you want to be at the top, with none of us too close, and this to govern undisturbed: a Persian tyrant indeed, who’s shed his Greek ways. 

NEARCHOS: Why, hush, this is not you, it’s the wine speaking. What is it you are saying? Who do you think is higher than he who led us here? A little country we set out from, yet thanks to him, the world is now ours. So think again, and get a grip, and look at who’s before you: the son of Philip, who indeed “father of Alexander” could be called. 

KLEITUS: Speak all you want, this won’t change things. For Alexander’s powerful fist is we, the Macedonians. Without us, his generals, and his entire army, why, just a boy he would be, a boy playing quoits. (Suddenly, there is a lot of commotion, the public reacts, and Alexander imposes silence with a grand gesture). 

ALEXANDER: What you had to say, I let you say, and now it is your turn to hear. Remember back in Mieza, what Aristotle told us? Your teacher as well as mine, he gave us advice: Rule Greeks the way a leader rules; barbarians, like a tyrant. The Greeks are one, have common ways; barbarians are like plants and beasts. Well, wise though he was, his advice wasn’t right. We, who down here have come, can certainly attest it: People are people everywhere, not animals and plants. And though our kind varies in form, we share the same nature, the same home, the earth. Now, there you stand accusing me, and without thinking, you side with those who out of spite and selfishness and malice, would like to see us treat like slaves those we have defeated. Defeated they are, my friend, Kleitus. But they are no animals and plants to trample on. 

KLEITUS: (ironically). What a noble soul that is, so generous and kind! Why, to all you wish well! The victors whose blood dyed the earth you now want to make bow their head before those they have defeated. Yet, Alexander, noble soul, you ask of all to bow the knee, you ’re wearing Persian clothes, the Persian ways you have embraced, and, although among equals, the first you want to be. 

ALEXANDER: Why, you fool, you empty head, what words you dared to utter? The Persians are my subjects too, and so is all of Asia, to all their king I am now, of all the ways I adopt. With pain and violence, take it from me, no kingdom can get solid. I drink, I feast, yes, that I do, I have a pleasant time, but never do I give free reign to violence and vice, and just be careful what you say, watch out for my anger. 

KLEITUS: Is that a “thank you” I just heard for saving your life? The incident at Granikus already long forgotten, let me remind you of this, our Euripides’s legacy: 

The army’s blood brings victory, the general gets the honor. Then modestly on the new throne he appears to sit, yet, a nothing he, his own army despises. 

ALEXANDER: You viper, you deadly snake, I nursed you in my bosom! You gave me life once indeed, yet now you take my kingdom. But if I am not a king, then I am not alive. (Snatches a spear from one of the guards and sends it directly into Kleitus’s heart, then takes out his own sword and is stopped by his soldiers from driving it into himself. Then goes numb and bursts out crying). 

HEPHAESTION: Alexander, it was a bad accident, the heat of passion caused it. 

NEARCHOS: He was just asking for trouble. 

PERDIKAS: Get up, think of your army, think of the country. 

ALEXANDER: It is my savior I killed! Oh, it was my ill fate! His sister raised me and now look! What army from the underworld can ever fetch him back? 

HEPHAESTION: It was Dionysus who caused this death; to him you must sacrifice. Alexander, go back now to your tent; tomorrow is another day. 

ALEXANDER: No, I will not go! I’ll stay with my dead friend three days and three nights. So off you go! Everyone away! And don’t you dare come near. 

SOLDIER: My king, father of all, the guard caught some evil men waiting in ambush. As soon as you walked back into your tent, your life they planned to take. 

HEPHAESTION: What happened? Where are they? 

SOLDIER: Well, rest assured, they are now being questioned. We’ll make them tell how many they were and all we need to know, and none of them from now on the sun’s bright light will see. 

SPYROS: Poor Alexander! You had to guard against your own anger and look now what happened! 

ALEXANDER: What happened, happened. And I still regret it! But that’s enough. Work again, the world is still waiting. So I marched on toward the East, much deeper into Asia, toward the Indus River and toward the land of India. On my way I encounter a solid rocky fortress; tall and truly impregnable, it stopped me from advancing. Against it I quickly send my swift and worthy soldiers, and the rock falls and yields to us all of its hidden treasures. The best treasure of all was sweet Roxanna, mistress of the earth, sweet bird of dawn, a true jewel of the East. (SHADOWS) 

OXYARTES: Leader of the world, I lay at your feet and I truly beg you: To me just do as you wish, but to my lovely daughter, pure as she is, do only good. Her soul do not destroy. 

ALEXANDER: Oxyartes, ruler of this land, with a daughter like her you shouldn’t be afraid. No man among us is so mean as to destroy beauty. What would this world be without any beauty? A hard and bitter place to live. So go now in peace and rest assured: A ruler you were; a ruler you’ll remain. Just leave your daughter here, that I may speak to her and tell her a few things. (Oxyartes goes). O bashful girl, tender and sweet, you are no captive enemy, you conquered my heart. And what I won with this sword at your feet I lay; this land and my own heart I offer to your beauty. For beauty is a great thing, it conquers him who conquered, and as for me, I am now yours. It’s love I want from you, and peace I grant your homeland. Just marry me, and bear my heirs. 

ROXANNA: O great ruler of the world, so famous and noble. The sword would earn you but my rage, the heart will earn my love. Pure is your heart, as I am, and you have now touched me. And out of my free will I’ll choose to lose my freedom. 

SPYROS: So you got married? 

ALEXANDER: Yes, we got married, and from our union came a son. 

SPYROS: And you dropped the war? You stayed there with Roxanna and your son? 

ALEXANDER: Before my son was born, I was already gone, moving always eastward, toward the land of the sun. 

SPYROS: And your wife? 

ALEXANDER: This is the blessing of a king, blessing but also burden. He may rule the whole world, yet lies in an empty bed. 

SPYROS: And what did you do next? 

ALEXANDER: After a tiresome journey, I reached the Hydaspes River and the lands ruled by Poros. I sent to him a messenger to tell him of my plans. (PUPPETS) 

MESSENGER: Poros, ruler of this land, the words of Alexander I speak, so listen carefully for it is he who orders. Let all his army pass from here and give him a golden wreath. Become his friend and ally, and accept his garrison, for he is the greatest victor. Should you act so, your family and land will prosper and become a part of the world. But should you act unwisely, they’ll die or be enslaved. So, choose. A friend it is? You’ll prosper in return. An enemy? Great harm you ’ll see. 

POROS: Go tell Alexander to prepare his sword, as I will prepare mine. 

SPYROS: And so you fought? 

ALEXANDER: Yes, in a deadly fight, a hyena and a lion together locked in battle. (SHADOWS) Powerful elephants Poros lines up before him, two hundred beasts, and his infantry behind. Cavalry and chariots abound on both his left and right. That elephants and horses meet was his design, for the horses were afraid of the big elephants. My soldiers then I line up first, and horsemen I send left, with bows and arrows his chariots to meet. Horsemen sends he before the chariots, and horsemen I send too, and fully armed indeed. Then horsemen from the right attack my cavalry with force, and half my horsemen I send to encircle the enemy and strike on his back. Poros splits his army in two to avoid such encircling, and I fiercely push ahead, his infantry and cavalry forcing between the animals. My Macedonians I quickly order to hit the animals but spare them from destruction. And so the elephants that Poros brought for his own protection became the best weapon for myself… 

SPYROS: And you won? 

ALEXANDER: Yes, I won. But in the heat of the battle I lost my precious Bucephalus. And I founded a town and named it Bucephalia. 

SPYROS: And Poros? 

ALEXANDER: Poros lived and surrendered to me. (PUPPETS) 

POROS: Alexander, a great king indeed you are, invincible in battle. I, too, was defeated, I accept it, so now do with me as you wish. 

ALEXANDER: Poros, a brave and worthy king you are, and always led your army, so tell me to so brave a king how I should behave. 

POROS: Like a king, I think, you should behave. 

ALEXANDER: Like a king I shall behave, for myself. As for you now, ask of me what you will. 

POROS: That “like a king” says it all. 

SPYROS: So you didn’t kill him? 

ALEXANDER: On the contrary, I let him be king just as he was before, but from there on, if anything I’d ever ask, he never would refuse me. 

SPYROS: Where did you go after that? 

ALEXANDER: I stayed a bit to get a rest after so fierce a battle, and when the rules were laid to all, bad news knocked on my door. 

MESSENGER: O great king, lion of Greece, I bring you news from your enormous country. But if the news sounds bad to you, I am not the one to blame. 

ALEXANDER: Go on, speak without fear, tell me what news you bring me, and for your trouble generously you shall be rewarded. 

MESSENGER: My lord, ruler of the entire world, your treasures have just vanished. Harpalus, asked to guard them all, has made them his own. For Athens now he has left with your entire fortune, weapons seeking, and he wants to arm the Greeks and turn them all against you. 

ALEXANDER: Are you through? Was that all? 

MESSENGER: There’s more, my lord, from Asia this time. Great riots have broken out in Syria and in Persia, and those you left behind with harshness rule and cruelty. The people suffer under them, but, while you are away, the appointed leaders do whatever they like. 

ALEXANDER: Run, then, go back to Athens quickly, and tell them I want Arpalos together with the gold. If they ignore my orders, against them they will see me soon, along with my army. And tell them, too, that it’s a great shame when Greeks other Greeks betray. As for the Asians, let them be, and when I go back to Persia, I’ll teach those men I left behind not to oppress the people. Go. 

SPYROS: And you went back to settle things? 

ALEXANDER: No, I went on, pursuing my goal. When I came back, I’d show them all how ingratitude could cause their heads to fall. But now I followed my path, and finally reached the brahmans. (PUPPETS) 

BRAHMAN: O great king whose fame is far reaching, we, the nude philosophers address you as a man. If as a warrior you have come and our riches you claim, your trouble was unwarranted, for we own nothing. And if there is something we possess, with war it can’t be conquered; with fasting and with prayer you may come to have it, and not by us, but by the divine grace it will be given. We are nude and without possessions, apart from wisdom which day and night we tirelessly pursue. Your job is war; ours, the pursuit of wisdom. 

ALEXANDER: O Brahman, wise philosopher, peacefully I have come, and my weapons aside I lay. Go tell the ruler of this land that Alexander, son of Zeus, has come to bring him presents. 

SPYROS: Did you meet him? What did he say? 

ALEXANDER: When I entered their land they treated me well and showed me respect. But their leader, Dandamis was his name, was not around. 

BRAHMAN: O great king and famous in battle, my leader cannot come before you, for he is in the mountains so as to train his body, as God wishes him to do and sacred duty dictates. He asked of course that we receive you warmly and that his words to you we carefully repeat. O human Alexander, if Zeus was your father, my father he’d be too. As for what you offer me, there’s nothing I desire, nothing you’d have to offer me, nor will I feel deprived if nothing I receive. As long as I live, content I’ll be with what nature has to offer and what the land of India provides. And when I die, why, so much the better; I free myself from my bad neighbor, the body, and no longer tie myself to a false, illusory world. 

ALEXANDER: O wise Brahman, who nothing wants and who has no desires, ’t is I who want to ask some things and get from you some answers. 

BRAHMAN: Ask me then. Whatever knowledge is indeed mine, I shall gladly share with you. 

ALEXANDER: Which of the creatures on this earth is the most evil one? 

BRAHMAN: It is man, o great king. 

ALEXANDER: How can that be? 

BRAHMAN: Look at yourself for the answer. A wild beast yourself, you lead other wild beasts and take the life of yet more beasts. 

ALEXANDER: (with a smile, without losing his calm). And what is kingship? 

BRAHMAN: Unjust power over another, arrogance based solely on luck, a golden burden, I would say. 

SPYROS: So that’s how the Brahmans felt. And did you subject them to your rule? 

ALEXANDER: No, I let them live as free men and obey their God. Since they were no warriors why should I fear? 

SPYROS: What did you do next? 

ALEXANDER: I once again looked eastward, to where the sun rises, toward the Ganges River and mythical India. With pain and hardship I moved on, and trials every day, until the river Hyphasis I reached and set up camp. And then the army had enough, their clothes in shreds and pieces, and storms and mud, a living hell. (PUPPETS) 

KOINOS: Alexander, Philip’s son, there is something I need to say, not I in fact, since I speak for your entire army. Exhausted, spent, worn out, the Macedonians need a rest. Young men they were when they left their homeland; old men they feel now. Alexander, they cry and moan under so many trials, and to their pain you add more pain, more suffering and danger. Until when will this go on? When will it stop? For our homes we yearn and cry! We missed our wives, children, parents! The only thing on our minds is the smoke rising from our homes… 

ALEXANDER: You suffered hard, I know, I saw it myself how day by day your thoughts got dark and gloomy. But listen well, and if I can, I will convince you to move on (groans of despair). Quiet! If you convince me, on the other hand, I will just turn back (hoorays). So far, we have done well, and there is little road ahead. And should we reach the Ganges River, the wondrous land of India, our journey will end there. Think, my brave men! Think of your kin, your children! Think how proud they will be, what stories you will tell them if your country’s limits are those of the earth! Think of the gold, the honor and the glory, when we go back as rulers of the world. 

(Silence). 

KOINOS: Since our king wants the army to follow with his heart, rather than follow orders, I will speak again, not for myself or for a few others, but for the many. Alexander, enough till here, look at our wounded bodies, look at the hardship and the pain, spare us from going further. For everything will be as you say for those who get back, but think how many more will have to die here, how many mothers back home will die without seeing their sons again. Think of Olympias, Alexander, who waits for you. Please give the order of return, that everyone may rejoice and from the bottom of their hearts wish you a happy home-coming. 

ALEXANDER: Show me one man that more than me has toiled! First in the battle I went, and all of you behind. Show me a body with more wounds than mine, I dare you! Let us all strip and see, is there another body with no part intact? My body carries the marks of sword, of fire, of stone, of every weapon used to kill! These wounds were all for you, your own glory and honor, your own victory. But those who died too, their death was not a waste; for glory they gave their life, and their grave is holy. Go, then, and when you are home, tell those who will ask you that your king, who always treated you with utmost generosity, was abandoned, that you left him alone with the barbarians. Whoever wants to go can go, you are free. Let those stay with me who have the guts and long to see more conquests. Everyone else can go. 

SPYROS: And they all left? 

ALEXANDER: Nobody left. They wondered around in black despair, and I, more desperate and angry, sat in my tent. 

HEPHAESTION: Alexander, don’t fret so much and don’t feel so betrayed. It’s not that they don’t honor you; they are utterly exhausted. For their home and family they long, and nostalgia tears their heart. 

ALEXANDER: My dear Hephaestion, what should I do? What would you do if you were in my place? 

HEPHAESTION: I’d let it be and go back home and gather a new army. Then with these men, with high morale, I would come back where we are and push on even further. 

ALEXANDER: So be it then, as you suggest. Invincible leader though I was, let me now be dragged behind my army in defeat. (Calls out). Koinos, give out the order for the men to gather. They will go back, tell them, back home, we are heading for the west. 

SPYROS: They were happy, huh? 

ALEXANDER: Happy? They were bursting with joy! Suddenly darkness gave way to light, and the whole camp was laughing and crying happily. But this laughter was not meant to last. 

SPYROS: Why? Didn’t you go back? 

ALEXANDER: We did, but what a bleak return it was! We went through Gedrosia. 

SPYROS: What does that mean? 

ALEXANDER: I put together a good fleet, and via the Indus River I sent a part of my men to open the way. So half my men for the ocean left, opening the way – a sea way, broad and nice, that promised men so much knowledge – and I with the other half went through Gedrosia, a desert without end, with mind-blowing dunes. That was the land the famous Kyros crossed, and Semiramis, the Egyptian. They crossed, although from their men two out of three expired. A savage thing, the thirsty land was watered with their blood. So it was with my army too. An accursed place it was, with scorching heat, the sand was on fire, water nowhere to be found, nor food, nor friendly shade. At night it was freezing cold, the beasts howled in the distance, and to all this no end could be seen, no hope be kept alive. 

SPYROS: Just as the poor men thought they would go home! 

ALEXANDER: Only one out of three got home. And as usual, one evil was followed by another. 

SPYROS: What other evil? 

ALEXANDER: After such great hardship, we reached Ekbatana, in the bright, fabulously rich, land of Medeia. 

Alexander watches the Dionysia (SHADOWS) 

SOLDIER: (PUPPETS) My lord, drop it all, Hephaestion is at death’s door. 

SPYROS: And he died, your friend, Hephaestion? 

ALEXANDER: He died, and with him he took my youth into the grave, as soon as I became a man I started aging, life was bitter after this - and there was no respite - and icy death made its way into my heart. Three days and nights I cried for my friend, cried with endless sorrow, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t drink, I cried for my dear friend. And while I did, I kept thinking of the way we were together. 

(Alexander reads a letter in his tent; Hephaestion enters and reads over his shoulder). 

HEPHAESTION: Complaints again, I see, and fights with Olympias. And Antipatros asks you once again to talk some sense into her. 

ALEXANDER: Antipatros was appointed keeper of Greece, and, as this letter says, my mother, Olympias, keeps meddling in his business and shouts and commands and has her own way. 

HEPHAESTION: Could all this be true? Your mother is a maenad and could be acting madly. 

ALEXANDER: Even if it were true, my friend, and nothing were a lie, as long as Greece is safe in my hands, why, none of it truly matters. As for wise Antipatros, the one thing he doesn’t know is that a mother’s tear is worth a thousand letters. (Takes the royal seal and puts it on Hephaestion’s lips). But don’t you breathe a word of this; may the royal seal seal your mouth forever. (They laugh merrily). 

SPYROS: If such a friend you lost, I understand why you cried night and day. 

ALEXANDER: Yes, such a friend I lost, and I cry to this day. But my own fate too was taking me there quickly, my end was near, I was told by seers and priests, and finally I learned that no man born to a mother could ever be an immortal god. Well, I finally reached Babylon, city of passion, where I burned my friend on a great pyre and said farewell for the last time. Fortunately, I had my country and its problems, and my mind was distracted and my sorrow allayed. New plans I made for a new campaign, wishing to extend my kingdom to Arabia and the west. In Italy, I learned, powerful Romans would often make alliances with pirates and ransack the Greek towns. For a year, I raised an army and trained them, an army made of Greeks, and Persians too, that would make them bitterly regret any harm done to Greeks. 

SPYROS: But you didn’t ever get there! If you did, I’d know it. 

ALEXANDER: I didn’t have time, unfortunately. I fell ill, I was burning with fever, I, the lion, helplessly lay in bed for ten days. (PUPPETS AND SHADOWS) Alexander in bed, worn out; soldiers and officers passing one by one, silent and with tears in their eyes, for the last farewell. With great effort, Alexander raises his head and makes an almost imperceptible waving motion with his hand. The two last ones stand aside. 

NEARCHOS: Alexander will not get well; he is fated to die. His great kingdom must not be orphaned; we must ask him whom he wants to appoint his heir. 

PERDIKAS: You are right, we must ask him. (They approach Alexander). 

NEARCHOS: Alexander, try to pull yourself together for a moment, you must speak to us. Tell us, if you go, who must sit on your throne? 

ALEXANDER: (coming out of his lethargy briefly and without breath). May the best man sit on my throne. (SHADOWS) 

The lights go down, a star dives followed by an eagle, the earth trembles, and Alexander dies. The star rises in the sky again followed by the eagle. 

UNCLE TOM: And so the mermaid, Alexander’s sister, was left behind, crying for her brother, and raising storms in the seas. (SHADOWS) 

A little boat is sailing, and suddenly a huge mermaid rises before it. 

MERMAID: Is Alexander, the King, alive? 

SPYROS: (suddenly rising from his sleep in a sweat). He is alive, alive and well, and rules over the earth. 

 

END