ALEXANDER THE GOD

by Robert Payne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 21, 1954

This retelling of Alexander's conquest of the world opens with his descent on Taraus and closes with his death in Babylon; it chronicles too his loves and hates, his power and his fear, and his utter surrender to the fate foretold for him at Ammon. Over mountains, through the desert, determined that Greece shall rule Persia, Alexander, his companions, his devoted Army with its train of prostitutes, met their sufferings, strong in the knowledge that theirs was to be the victory, fought at Tarsus, Issus, Arbela, razed Perpolis. When Alexander battled his way to India, it was Thaissa, the whore who had caught his fancy from her devotion to the goddess, Hecate, who befriended his half brother Philip, ruling in Alexander's place, nursed him through his epilepsy and aided him in exposing Harpalus, the ambitious treasurer. Thaissa was with Alexander, on his return, when he lost one after another of his companions, and, after his death, accompanied his half brother Ptolemy to the cave at Ammon where Alexander's body aboard the golden ship was to rest forever. The fabulous cities of Persia, the wonders of auguries and omens, the driving force of god-given guidance, the color and noise, the smells and customs of warriors on the march, in battle and as victors have a surging life here that is in direct line from Graves' I Claudius and from his own earlier The Young Prince.

Pub Date: Oct. 21, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: A.A.Wyn

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1954

Categories: FICTION