Statue of Philip II in Thessaloniki, Greece



A SONG FOR PHILIP, KING OF MACEDON

This is a song for Philip, son of Amyntas

that noble warrior of Macedon

whose bloodline come from Herakles.

Warriors, shout a paean for him:

Raise your swords to honour him.

Musicians, play for him

on your sistrum, cymbals and drums.

Maidens, dance for him.

Singers, laud him,

for he is Makedon’s invincible hero.

He is fearless and energetic.

He is cunning and wise.

Poets, tell his tale.

Strike up your harps in praise of him.

There is no other man who can compare

With Philip, the Lion of Makedon

 

I've been working on the chapters of Dragons in the Sky where Olwen is introduced to King Philip.  This is the first time I've had a chance to actually write about him as an active character in the story other than what was mentioned and remembered about him in Shadow of the Lion.  So I'm not sure that I have it quite right yet. The dialogue I wrote today needs to be a bit edgier I think.  Sometimes it takes a while before you can get your head right into a character and Philip is a complex one— a brilliant soldier and strategist but also a bit of a rascal and rogue who had an eye for young girls and fresh new cadets. He and Alexander had a strained relationship as father and son, and his bitter quarrels with Alexander's mother Olympias are well recorded.

So what does this innocent young Celtic girl think of this man? She's introduced to him by her new guardian Theon, the physician. But what will her relationship be with the king? In this chapter he has questioned her about her people, mainly about her clan and ricon and the warriors. What were they like? Was it true they fought naked and took the heads of their enemies?  Philip is planning to invade the northern Celtic tribes at some point so he needs all the information he can get about their battle tactics. Olwen doesn't know much though but she describes her clan life and what the hill forts are like and what she knows about the warriors. And at a later part of the novel when Philip is wounded and almost loses his leg, Olwen will help Theon tend him because she knows the healing arts and acts as Theon's assistant.

 



PROGRESS REPORT # 55 : MOVING AHEAD

A DOUBLE RAINBOW

After a busy few weeks, some little trips around and lots of social activity, I'm finally back on track and moving ahead. The other week I was on Vancouver Island attending a family beach party and when I got off the ferry coming home there was a storm with lightening, rain, this double rainbow, and in the west, a blazing tangerine sky. It was phenomenal. I felt it was almost like an 'omen' , because during that weekend away I had time to think and plan my next moves when it came to the stalemate I'd been in with the writing of Shadow of the Lion.

TANGERINE SKY

That weekend my cousins and I had been discussing several books and movies that were written from historical (past or near) facts but in which some of the facts and characters were changed in order to make a better story, adding tension and keeping it a page turner. One that I'd seen recently was "The Last King of Scotland" about Idi Amin, in which the main protagonist was his doctor. In reality, there were about five doctors attending Amin, but the author had chosen to make a composite character for the sake of the story. "The De Vinci Code" is another one where the author skewed the facts but people bought it.

These authors are writing Fiction based on Fact, which is what I'm doing in Shadow. For the sake of a good story-line sometimes you have to twist the facts and unless it's something glaringly wrong, fiction writers get away with it. Most people read historical fiction to enjoy the story and learn a few things about past times. Historical fiction is not meant to be like a thesis or history book in which facts need to be 'proven'.

That same weekend, reading a book review for a novel about Charles Dickens' wife, the reviewer stated: "A historical fiction writer can take any number of liberties with the facts."

That was the statement that freed me, so that I was able to go back to my writing without being so concerned over every little detail. I've always tried to be meticulous with my research and putting the correct facts and details in my story, however as there is so much conflicting data it becomes confusing. Who to believe? And anyway, who was actually there to tell the truth of what happened in these events? Most of the histories about Alexander, for instance, were written hundreds of years after his death.

I had consulted a Classical scholar friend who has been in on this project for quite a few years, because I was upset over some rather harsh critiques I was getting on this site in regards to 'the facts'. For one thing, she set me straight by telling me that in those ancient days 'dates' as we know them, were not used. Times and events were recorded according to festivals or olympiads etc. Dates like "316 BC" are the numbers recorded by modern historians. She encouraged me to ignore the critiques and go ahead with my plan for the plot. Up to now I have tried to keep major events as exact as possible, but this particular event concerns a minor character, and what happens to him foreshadows very strongly what is likely going to happen to my main characters, Roxana and her son, Iskander.

So, when I came back from my weekend away I began to go through my recent chapters and see if I was too far astray enough for it to be a major flaw. And it wasn't. I decided to change the order of a few things and add some new bits. So I've spent the last few days editing and rearranging and moving forward. If the 'historians' don't like it that I have this episode concerning a minor character happen on a date they don't find 'exact', well, that's too bad because I am NOT writing a history book. I'm writing Historical FICTION, so whether a minor character dies in "315" instead of "316" shouldn't make a huge difference on whether the story is well written, and a page-turner. Who was actually there to say this is wrong anyway? Diodorus certainly wasn't there and neither were the other ancient historians, so I doubt that what they wrote was actually accurate or the 'gospel'. And who knows how 'accurate' all the info in the Bible is for that matter? (We celebrate Jesus' birth in December, but that's probably not when he was really born. And that was a major event in history.)

And so, I am trying to stay focused now and not let any further conflict deter me. My scholar friend also advised me not to post any further segments of the novel on my blog. She's probably right. But I'll see, as time goes by whether or not I should. I don't want any further commentary on my work to deter me enough that I stall again when I'm so close to finishing!

SECOND BEACH AT SUNSET

PROGRESS REPORT #40: SCHEMING

Panorama view of Thessaloniki, Greece

I've been busy lately trying to keep up my writing schedule in between enjoying summer fun.
There's been a lot to do -- juggling my genres -- getting some travel writing done, edits, the new web site entries for Travel Thru History, and recently the Planet Eye contributions I am writing each week. But I am also not losing sight of my goal to finish "Shadow of the Lion" and
so I am slowly forging ahead with it, plotting and scheming along with my protagonists and antagonists. As always I love taking my mind back to Greece, and these days I'm "visiting" sites I'm familiar with. Above is a photo of Thessaloniki, which will figure prominently in the novel very soon.

The other weekend I went to see Mama Mia with my travel companion Ingrid. We later went for a Greek meal and rhapsodized over our movie 'trip'. Seeing the country, the little details of the village and the houses in the movie brought back so many wonderful memories. (For me, memories of my life on Euboea). I long to be in Greece, but for now I can only be there in my memories and visual it through my writing. (A lot of my travel writing is also about Greece).
But I look forward to next summer and the Assembly of 2009. Even my sister says she's coming to help celebrate my birthday on the hill behind the Pnyx. It's going to be a big one.

I've been 'scheming' too, trying to figure out how to save money again for that proposed trip to Chile that Patrick and want to do in January. So far, though, it seems a bit futile. However soon I'll be teaching again so we'll see what can be done about it. As always, though, Greece is my top priority.

So while I'm doing my planning, so is my antagonist, Kassandros. Here's the latest bit of chicanary my villain is cooking up:

Map of Macedonia
(Pydna is about a third of the way down the coast, and Dion is located just below)

NOTE: Kassandros and his army are at the holy sanctuary of Dion, not too many miles south of Pydna. He has just learned that Olympias has refused his offer of a 'truce' and safe passage to Euboeia. And so...the plot thickens...

As the envoy captain shuffled out of the hall, Kassandros called over his general, Kallas,from the couch at his right hand. “It seems that the time is propitious for us to advance on Pydna. We’ll make the old witch sorry she refused my offer. I want you to leave straightaway tomorrow. Go stealthily, and approach by night, so the guards won’t be alerted. The Epirote refuses to treat with me? Starve them out or bombard them. Just make sure nobody gets out alive. That old fool, Polyperchon, believes the truce he signed is enough to protect the royals. By the time he learns we have captured the fortress, it will be too late for him to act.”

He leaned back on the couch and smiled. Everything was set in motion and he was assured of victory. There was only one more thing he needed to achieve in order to obtain control of the throne and take his rightful place as Regent of Macedon.

He called over his personal squire, Glaukis, a sturdy boy, loyal to a fault.

“Bring the woman, Thessaloniki, here,” he commanded.

Glaukis cast a sidelong glance at him and shrugged. “Sir, the hour is late. Surely the lady is asleep.”

Kassandros caught the edge in the young man’s voice and looked at him with irritation. “Then wake her!” he ordered.

He had never doubted Glaukis’ unswerving loyalty and admiration but he recognized the petulant look of jealousy on the squire’s face.

“You’re a good boy, Glaukis!” he smiled, lifting his wine cup. Glaukis studied him with narrowed eyes, then spun on his heel and left the banquet hall without saying another word.

He had brought Thessaloniki here from Aigai promising to protect her from the Epirote and the Soghdian. After she arrived he had moved into the villa, expropriating it for a decent sum from its former owner. It would have been unseemly to expect the princess to board in an army barracks. She was, after all, one of King Philip’s daughters.

The banter and merry-making of his guests hushed suddenly and he heard the outbreak of whispers as everyone’s eyes turned toward the doorway. He put up his hand to silence them. “Gentlemen, here is Philip’s daughter, a true-born Macedonian princess.”

Thessaloniki paused in the entrance. She was simply dressed in a white shift, her auburn hair unadorned as if she had just come from her bed. Kassandros saw her face flooded with colour; she had a frightened look, like a startled deer.

“Come here, my Lady” he beckoned her forward.

She composed herself and took a hesitant step, then obedient as a dog at heel, she came to stand by him. “My Lord?” Her dark eyes studied him warily.

His gaze met hers. Thessaloniki was thirty-five, but carried herself well for her age, a quiet, civil girl, one who would make a suitable wife, and would be grateful for her position. She wasn’t a great beauty. She was of a slender build, with dark hair and she had inherited the broad, strong features of her father. When the time came, she would make a proper wife, one whose offspring could claim royal status.

“Prepare yourself and your servants,” he commanded. “ You will leave here tomorrow for Pella, while the ships can still sail.”

“Leave Dion, my lord?” Her voice quivered.

“I’m sending you back to Pella,” he responded gruffly.

“But Sir... my lord...” Her face paled. “What about the queens...Olympias and the Soghdian? ”

“No fear of them. They’ll dare not trouble you so long as they are in Pydna. You’ll wait for me in Pella. You must prepare things -- make the palace ready.”

“Ready for what, my lord?”

“When I return in the Spring, triumphant, we will be married.”

She drew in a sudden gasp of breath then threw herself on her knees before him.

“Marriage, my Lord?”

He took her hand and kissed the palm. “As I promised you,” he said, smiling. “When I return to Pella victorious, we shall wed. I have already sent an edict to the citizens of the coastal villages to let them know I intend to consolidate their rural towns into one metropolis. Just as I promised you, my dear, when you agreed to marry me. And, as I promised, the new city will be named Thessaloniki, in your honour.”

She inclined her head. “Sir, you have been most generous with me. Thank you.”

He was amused at her naivety. He reached out and took her by the wrist, pulling her toward him. She looked startled. Could she read his thoughts? His relationship with her was business, nothing more, though she was not unpleasant to his eye, and he could not deny that because of her innocence she possessed sexual allure. Her cheeks flushed red and he felt her hand tremble in his. “You’re a good girl,” he said..

He raised his wine cup and addressed his guests: “It is Thessaloniki who shall reign as queen of Macedon, not the Epirote or the foreigner.”

A pleased murmur went round the hall and his guests lifted their cups in a congratulatory salute.

“Long life to you, Lady!” everyone cheered.

He kissed Thessaloniki lightly on the cheek, then dismissed her. After she had left the banquet hall, he turned back to his squire, Glaukis.

“That’s done! Now, let’s take a stroll by the river.”

They went outside together to the courtyard. Inside the guests were singing again; they would keep it up all night. Kassandros and his squire walked to the gate and stepped outside onto the long deserted avenue. After the noise of the hall, the quiet outside seemed abrupt. The road ran between a stand of eucalyptus and sycamore trees. The light of the moon glinted on the river. They stood in silence awhile watching the night mist rise from the reeds.

Kassandros took a deep breath of the damp pin-scented air. “By Spring we will be in Pella!” he said. “Or would you rather I send you to Athens after the wedding? I’ll need

new men like you to man the garrison in Athens.”

“No Sir...I mean...” Glaukis stammered. “Do you mean to send me away, Sir?”
Kassandros put his arm around the youth’s shoulders. Glaukis spent all his days in the gymnasium and the tautness of his athlete’s body next to his sent a warm surge through Kassandros’ belly. “Don’t look forlorn, my boy. You know who I prefer for a bed-fellow. Believe me, the thought of bedding a dowager princess serves only to make me long more for you.” He winked, and squeezed Glaukis’ bicep. “You know what this is all about. She’s King Philip’s daughter. I need her royal title.”

* * *

NOTE: So now you know where the city of Thessaloniki got its name.
Stay tuned for more scheming!

Statue of Alexander riding Buchephalus
Thessaloniki

SEVEN THINGS ABOUT A CHARACTER: a meme

Philip Arridaios

Gabriel challenged me to this meme so I decided to write seven things about one of the most pathetic characters in my novel, "Shadow of the Lion", Philip Arridaios, a half-brother of Alexander the Great who became a victim of the Wars of Alexander's Successors.

PHILIP ARRIDAIOS

1. Arridaios was the illegitimate son of the Macedonian king Philip II and a Thessalian woman named Philinna -- one of Philip's many 'conquests'. Arridaios was probably a year or two old when Philip's lawful wife, Olympias, gave birth to Alexander. To make certain that her son would be recognized as the crown prince, heir to Philip's throne, it is alleged that Olympias had the little boy, Arridaios, poisoned. The poisoning didn't kill Arridaios, but it stunted his mental development so that he did not advance past his childhood age, although he grew physically in the likeness of his esteemed father. It also caused him to have epilepsy.

2. Philip was always protective of Arridaios and provided him with a keeper who attended to him for all of his lifetime. Once Philip proposed to engage Arridaios to the daughter of the satrap of Karia. This was purely a political motive, but Alexander saw it as his father's attempt to reject him. Alexander and his Companions intervened and the 'engagement' was annulled. But Philip was furious and threatened to expel Alexander and his friends and execute the famous actor, Thetallos, who Alexander had sent as an envoy to stop the engagement. It turned out the girl was only a child, and fortunately Alexander and his friends were spared punishment by his irate father.

3. After Philip's assassination in 336 BC, for which Olympias was also implicated, Alexander , who had then inherited his father's throne, engaged Arridaios by proxy to one of Philip's granddaughters, Adeia, who was the daughter of Philip's nephew who was executed for treason after Philip's death, and Philip's daughter Kynna by his Illyrian war-bride Audata. This engagement was later annulled by the Regent, Antipater. When Alexander left on his conquests against Persia, he took Arridaios with him for safe-keeping.

4. When Alexander died under mysterious circumstances in 323 BC in Babylon, he left no heir. Under normal circumstances, because the generals of Alexander had to choose a new king, the most likely candidate was Arridaios. However he was illegitimate and mentally unfit to rule. At the same time, Alexander's Soghdian wife, Roxana, was about to give birth. If she had a son, he would be the legitimate heir to the throne. This created dissension among the Successors, some of whom supported Arridaios because he was of pure Macedonian blood. When Roxana gave birth to a son (Alexander IV) the generals decided to name both Arridiaos and the newborn as titular kings. Arridiaos then assumed the royal title of Philip III.

5. Now that Philip Arridaios was officially the "king" it meant that General Perdikkas, who had assumed the role of commander-in-chief of the Macedonian army, was able to issue his own orders under the king's name. Meanwhile, Adeia and her mother, disguised as men, were en route to Sardis where Perdikkas and his army were camped, with the intention of her marrying Arridiaos. (This was a ploy for her to regain control of the throne and avenge the execution of her father.) Perdikkas sent men to stop them. The royal women were ambushed and Adeia's mother, Kynna, was killed. But when the Macedonian soldiers discovered who they were, they rescued Adeia and took her to the Macedonian camp insisting she should be allowed to marry Arridaios. After the marriage, Adeia assumed the royal name "Eurydike" and proceeded to use her idiot husband and control his affairs, in an attempt to rule in his stead.

6. A year later, when Perdikkas was murdered by his own officers, the royal family King Philip Arridaios, the baby Alexander and Roxana, were placed under the guardianship of the regency of Antipater. Adeia-Eurydike continued to use her husband as a pawn in the game of kingship, but was prohibited by Antipater. A year later, Antipater succumbed to old age and Adeia Eurydike again took control of her husband's affairs, siding with Kassandros who had been rejected for the regency by his father, in an attempt to oust Polyperchon the new Regent, and get rid of Roxana and her child.

7. Philip Arridiaos was still under Polyperchon's guardianship however, and was used to pass royal edicts, until finally in 317, Polyperchon persuaded Olympias and her Epirote troops to invade Macedon to drive out the usurper, Adeia-Euryidike, who had attempted a coup to oust him and the young Alexander IV. This impetuous move by Adeia-Eurydike resulted in the beginning of a civil war that would bring tragic results to the royal family and the entire country. Arridaios was imprisoned and cruelly treated by Olympias. Eventually Adeia-Eurydike, who had fled in hopes of amassing more troops, was also arrested. Both she and Arridaios were killed on Olympias' orders making the way clear for her only grandson, Alexander IV, to be the sole legal heir to Alexander's throne.

I would like to tag SCOTT, MEGUMI, MARIE, ADRIAN, EILEEN, SAM and DEBRA
This was actually kind of fun and a good way to get into your character's background quite thoroughly if you haven't already done so.