Comments on: Man-eating Unicorns and Alexander the Great

By: Minch

Minch — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:08:43 +0000

I am reading Rampant… A wonderful book about maneating unicorns. In one part Astrid the main Character comes in contact with Bucephalus. I wanted to do research and see if Bucephalus really was a unicorn.
So far even though his name meants ox head I believe it stands for the massive size of his head… Not the fact that an ox has horns. But since there are no pictures of Bucephalus there is no way to know and historians could’ve mis-translated the meaning of Bucephalus.

By: Diana Peterfreund Blog | Man-eating Unicorns and Alexander the Great | India Updates

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:19:38 +0000

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By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:36:01 +0000

PR – I think you’re cute. Let’s hug!

*hugs*

By: PurpleRanger

PurpleRanger — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:32:32 +0000

Remember, I share one trait with Amy — I tend to overanalyze everything. (Have you read some of the entries on my LJ?)

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:54:43 +0000

I will assume it is also not your job to make cookies for everyone who has read the book, too. Though, this really sounds like a book I would want to read while eating cookies.

By: Diana

Diana — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:39:17 +0000

Nitpicking is kind of a waste of time for both of us, PR. For you, you can wait a month and read all the answers in the book. For me, I’ll just give vague answers for the sake of not ruining the book. The End.

So, suffice to say that some of what you’re asking is answered in the book, and some of what you’re asking has absolutely no bearing on the book whatsoever, for reasons which will become clear upon reading the book, and that, overall, my job as an author is not to answer every single question about the book to people who haven’t read it. If every facet of the premise was immediately obvious without having read the book, there’d really be no reason to read it, now would there?

By: PurpleRanger

PurpleRanger — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:39:42 +0000

I don’t think anyone had brought up the question here yet. As in, I didn’t remember anyone having said, “Nice concept, Diana, but did Alexander The Great even have any kids?”

Obviously, you are going with the idea that Bucephalus was a unicorn, and that Alex’s mastery over him is the source of the unicorn hunter’s powers. Even so, why would the passing of the power be limited to the female descendants? (Why yes, I love to nitpick, why do you ask?)

And I will assume at this point that you have decided that Alex TG had more than just the two sons the history books recorded. I will also assume that at least one of them was a daughter, and she was the one who displayed the same abilities that dear old dad had.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:54:44 +0000

I have no idea how much of these historical things are made up or real, but they are neat either way.

My question is, if someone conquers a city today, say Tampa(since that is where I am and am considering conquering) what sort of gifts should I anticipate?

By: Diana

Diana — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:51:58 +0000

You don’t think anyone has brought up this question WHERE, exactly, PR?

Alexander the Great had two sons that made it into the history books. One, Alexander Macedonia IV, was the son of his wife Roxane and died at the age of 13. Another, Herakles, was the son of one of his official concubines, Barsine, and died at 23 when he challenged Roxane regarding who was the rightful heir to Alexander’s empire.

In addition to his two wives and a host of concubines, he also kept a Persian-style harem mostly made up of women given to him as gifts by conquered cities.

Though it is often argued that Alexander’s main lover was a Macedonian nobleman named Hephaestion, concepts of sexuality in that time period were not as rigid as we think of them today. He also, btw, had a young eunuch boy as a lover as well, though, obviously, neither of these pairings would produce children.

Finally, there were many people in at least the classical period who claimed descent from Alexander, including, according to some scholars, the owners of the villa in Pompeii where the famous Alexander mosaic was found.

By: PurpleRanger

PurpleRanger — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:19:10 +0000

I don’t think anyone else has brought up this question, so I might as well. Did Alexander The Great have any descendants?