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Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database



9474
Plutarch, Alexander The Great, 42.3-42.4


τότε δὲ ἐξήλαυνεν ἐπὶ Δαρεῖον ὡς πάλιν μαχούμενος ἀκούσας δὲ τὴν ὑπὸ Βήσσου γενομένην αὐτοῦ σύλληψιν ἀπέλυσε τοὺς Θεσσαλοὺς οἴκαδε, δισχίλια τάλαντα δωρεὰν ἐπιμετρήσας ταῖς μισθοφοραῖς. πρὸς δὲ τὴν δίωξιν ἀργαλέαν καὶ μακρὰν γινομένην ἕνδεκα γὰρ ἡμέραις ἱππάσατο τρισχιλίους καὶ τριακοσίους σταδίους ἀπηγόρευσαν μὲν οἱ πλεῖστοι, καὶ μάλιστα κατὰ τὴν ἀνυδρίον.Now, however, he marched out against Dareius, In the spring of 330 B.C. expecting to fight another battle; but when he heard that Dareius had been seized by Bessus, he sent his Thessalians home, after distributing among them a largess of two thousand talents over and above their pay. In consequence of the pursuit of Dareius, which was long and arduous (for in eleven days he rode thirty-three hundred furlongs), most of his horsemen gave out, and chiefly for lack of water.


ἔνθα δὴ Μακεδόνες ἀπήντησαν αὐτῷ τινες ὕδωρ ἐν ἀσκοῖς ἐφʼ ἡμιόνων κομίζοντες ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ· καὶ θεασάμενοι τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ἤδη μεσημβρίας οὔσης κακῶς ὑπὸ δίψους ἔχοντα ταχὺ πλησάμενοι κράνος προσήνεγκαν. πυθομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ τίσι κομίζοιεν, υἱοῖς, ἔφασαν, ἰδίοις· ἀλλὰ σοῦ ζῶντος ἑτέρους ποιησόμεθα, κἂν ἐκείνους ἀπολέσωμεν.At this point some Macedonians met him who were carrying water from the river in skins upon their mules. And when they beheld Alexander, it being now midday, in a wretched plight from thirst, they quickly filled a helmet and brought it to him. To his enquiry for whom they were carrying the water, they replied: For our own sons; but if thou livest, we can get other sons, even if we lose these.


Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

4 results
1. Homer, Iliad, 2.696 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)

2.696. /And they that held Phylace and flowery Pyrasus, the sanctuary of Demeter, and Iton, mother of flocks, and Antron, hard by the sea, and Pteleos, couched in grass, these again had as leader warlike Protesilaus, while yet he lived; howbeit ere now the black earth held him fast.
2. Theopompus of Chios, Fragments, f208 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)

3. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 17.17.4 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)

17.17.4.  Odrysians, Triballians, and Illyrians accompanied him to the number of seven thousand; and of archers and the so‑called Agrianians one thousand, making up a total of thirty-two thousand foot soldiers. of cavalry there were eighteen hundred Macedonians, commanded by Philotas son of Parmenion; eighteen hundred Thessalians, commanded by Callas son of Harpalus; six hundred from the rest of Greece under the command of Erigyius; and nine hundred Thracian and Paeonian scouts with Cassander in command, making a total of forty-five hundred cavalry. These were the men who crossed with Alexander to Asia.
4. Plutarch, Alexander The Great, 1.3, 11.1-11.4, 41.1, 42.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)

1.3. Accordingly, just as painters get the likenesses in their portraits from the face and the expression of the eyes, wherein the character shows itself, but make very little account of the other parts of the body, so I must be permitted to devote myself rather to the signs of the soul in men, and by means of these to portray the life of each, leaving to others the description of their great contests. 1.3. This horse, at any rate, said Alexander, I could manage better than others have. And if thou shouldst not, what penalty wilt thou undergo for thy rashness? Indeed, said Alexander, I will forfeit the price of the horse. There was laughter at this, and then an agreement between father and son as to the forfeiture, and at once Alexander ran to the horse, took hold of his bridle-rein, and turned him towards the sun; for he had noticed, as it would seem, that the horse was greatly disturbed by the sight of his own shadow falling in front of him and dancing about. 11.1. Thus it was that at the age of twenty years Alexander received the kingdom, which was exposed to great jealousies, dire hatreds, and dangers on every hand. For the neighbouring tribes of Barbarians would not tolerate their servitude, and longed for their hereditary kingdoms; and as for Greece, although Philip had conquered her in the field, he had not had time enough to make her tame under his yoke, but had merely disturbed and changed the condition of affairs there, and then left them in a great surge and commotion, owing to the strangeness of the situation. 11.2. The Macedonian counsellors of Alexander had fears of the crisis, and thought he should give up the Greek states altogether and use no more compulsion there, and that he should call the revolting Barbarians back to their allegiance by mild measures and try to arrest the first symptoms of their revolutions; but he himself set out from opposite principles to win security and safety for his realm by boldness and a lofty spirit, assured that, were he seen to abate his dignity even but a little, all his enemies would set upon him. 11.3. Accordingly, he put a speedy stop to the disturbances and wars among the Barbarians by overrunning their territories with an army as far as to the river Danube, where he fought a great battle with Syrmus, the king of the Triballi, and defeated him; and on learning that the Thebans had revolted and that the Athenians were in sympathy with them, he immediately led his forces through the pass of Thermopylae, declaring that since Demosthenes had called him a boy while he was among the Illyrians and Triballians, and a stripling when he had reached Thessaly, he wished to show him that before the walls of Athens he was a man. 11.4. Arrived before Thebes, In September, 335 B.C. Plutarch makes no mention of a previous expedition of Alexander into Southern Greece, immediately after Philip’s death, when he received the submission of all the Greek states except Sparta, and was made commander-in-chief of the expedition against Persia, in Philip’s place. See Arrian, Anab. i. 1. and wishing to give her still a chance to repent of what she had done, he merely demanded the surrender of Phoenix and Prothytes, and proclaimed an amnesty for those who came over to his side. But the Thebans made a counter-demand that he should surrender to them Philotas and Antipater, and made a counter-proclamation that all who wished to help in setting Greece free should range themselves with them; and so Alexander set his Macedonians to the work of war. 41.1. Alexander, then, in exercising himself and at the same time inciting others to deeds of valour, was wont to court danger; but his friends, whose wealth and magnificence now gave them a desire to live in luxury and idleness, were impatient of his long wanderings and military expeditions, and gradually went so far as to abuse him and speak ill of him. He, however, was very mildly disposed at first toward this treatment of himself and used to say that it was the lot of a king to confer favours and be ill-spoken of therefor. 42.4. At this point some Macedonians met him who were carrying water from the river in skins upon their mules. And when they beheld Alexander, it being now midday, in a wretched plight from thirst, they quickly filled a helmet and brought it to him. To his enquiry for whom they were carrying the water, they replied: For our own sons; but if thou livest, we can get other sons, even if we lose these.


Subjects of this text:

subject book bibliographic info
alexander Michalopoulos et al., The Rhetoric of Unity and Division in Ancient Literature (2021) 252
alexander the great Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
asklepieia, koan Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
athena itonia in thessaly, in military and political history Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
contempt Michalopoulos et al., The Rhetoric of Unity and Division in Ancient Literature (2021) 252
crown, thallos, crowning Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
group Michalopoulos et al., The Rhetoric of Unity and Division in Ancient Literature (2021) 252
inscriptions' Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
itonos, destination of theoriai Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
itonos, town in achaia phthiotis? Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
kos, sent theoroi to itonos Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
mytilene, city of lesbos, sent theoroi to itonos Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
philip ii, of macedon Lalone, Athena Itonia: Geography and Meaning of an Ancient Greek War Goddess (2019) 52
plutarch Kirkland, Herodotus and Imperial Greek Literature: Criticism, Imitation, Reception (2022) 131; Michalopoulos et al., The Rhetoric of Unity and Division in Ancient Literature (2021) 252
warfare Michalopoulos et al., The Rhetoric of Unity and Division in Ancient Literature (2021) 252