Story challenge: Alexander, Hephaistion and the Olympic Games
This seems an appropriate time to post this story request since the World Cup is going on at the moment and the Final is this weekend.
Quote from the "Alexander Romance" by Pseudo-Callisthenes (thanks to Mr. Andrew Chugg's book):
And one day when Alexander was 15 years old..... sailing with Hephaistion, his friend, he easily reached Pisa...... and went off to stroll with Hephaistion.
The Olympic Games were held in Pisa and Ellis in Olympia in the Peloponnesos Peninsula; it is known they were held in 340 BC when Alex would have been 15. If Alex and H. "sailed" to Pisa, it could've been via the Aegean Sea or from the West coast via the Ionian Sea.
Another mention of the Olympics is in Plutarch's "Sayings of Alexander":
Being nimble and swift of foot, he was urged by his father to run in the foot-race at the Olympic games. “Yes, I would run,” said he, “if I were to have kings as competitors.”
Request: to write a story based on the snippet from the Alexander Romance (and/or the Plutarch quote): that is, A and H at around 15 go off to attend and/or participate in the Olympics in 340 BC. Must have been fun to get away from parents and the Court, have some fun on their own, meet other young people (would beautiful H. be admired a lot?), and get a break from studies at Mieza. What an adventure for the two young friends when feelings for each other are perhaps getting deeper!
So, anyone willing to give this a shot? ..........
Quote from the "Alexander Romance" by Pseudo-Callisthenes (thanks to Mr. Andrew Chugg's book):
And one day when Alexander was 15 years old..... sailing with Hephaistion, his friend, he easily reached Pisa...... and went off to stroll with Hephaistion.
The Olympic Games were held in Pisa and Ellis in Olympia in the Peloponnesos Peninsula; it is known they were held in 340 BC when Alex would have been 15. If Alex and H. "sailed" to Pisa, it could've been via the Aegean Sea or from the West coast via the Ionian Sea.
Another mention of the Olympics is in Plutarch's "Sayings of Alexander":
Being nimble and swift of foot, he was urged by his father to run in the foot-race at the Olympic games. “Yes, I would run,” said he, “if I were to have kings as competitors.”
Request: to write a story based on the snippet from the Alexander Romance (and/or the Plutarch quote): that is, A and H at around 15 go off to attend and/or participate in the Olympics in 340 BC. Must have been fun to get away from parents and the Court, have some fun on their own, meet other young people (would beautiful H. be admired a lot?), and get a break from studies at Mieza. What an adventure for the two young friends when feelings for each other are perhaps getting deeper!
So, anyone willing to give this a shot? ..........