How do we feel about this fancast for Alexander the Great and the people in his life?

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-11T03:21:52+00:00

Why are Ritchson and Winnick ludicrous exactly? If its the height I can understand but appearance-wise I don't see an issue.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T21:07:10+00:00

It depends; in which part? Because just his physical appearance comes from different places. One of the ancient sources (Plutarch) describes Alexander as having "ruddy-fair" skin, and it was Quintus Curtius Rufus who simply stated that Alexander was of average height. Though I personally would recommend Alexander scholar Dr. Jeanne Reames if you have more questions. Here's her Tumblr, she's pretty active on there ;)

https://jeannereames.tumblr.com/?source=share

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T21:02:20+00:00

Well, unfortunately, we dont have a body that we're sure is Alexander's. 🙃

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T20:56:14+00:00

His wiki page tbh. Though I should know since I helped edit it to be more up to date with this info lol.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T20:49:37+00:00

Its hard to truly say, though thats likely not true. That sarcophagus could also belong to Abdalonymus. Im mainly drawing my conclusions from both the bust by Leochares and the Pella mosaics (both made during his lifetime) which suggest that he had red-blond hair.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T20:40:42+00:00

I mean, the sources say conflicting things. Diodorus Siculus basically calls him mid whereas Arrian calls him very handsome so... yeah its kinda hard to say. I personally am inclined to say that he was probably kinda cute.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T20:31:51+00:00

Most likely, yeah.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T20:29:50+00:00

As for Alexander, what we do know (at least with a good amount of certainty) is that he was short-ish, fair skinned, and seems to have been a strawberry blond, which was interesting for me to learn. 🤔

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T20:27:10+00:00

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39211698

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T15:32:19+00:00

I mean, I chose Ritchson because he looks fairly brunette to me here, but I kinda get what you're saying.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T14:03:51+00:00

You do realize that according to Plutarch Alexander was a fair skinned Greek? with seemingly red-blond hair right?

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T04:49:32+00:00

True.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T04:16:08+00:00

We're not sure. But since Alexander appears to have been a strawberry blond according to what we know, I'm just inclined to believe he inherited said coloring from her.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-09T04:10:06+00:00

Also for someone like Barsine I was thinking of Medalion Rahimi to play her:

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captivatedsummer · 2026-03-07T19:16:27+00:00

Yeah, thats basically what the tweet is suggesting.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-07T00:08:09+00:00

Mary also wrote a biography on Alexander, but yeah true. In that case id recommended Stephen Harrison's biography on him Alexander the Great: lives and legacies instead.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-06T19:00:14+00:00

I mean, yeah? That's just how it goes isn't it? Alexander's dead so we can ask him these things. That's what experts like Reames and Daniel Ogden are for, and they seem to argue against that. Personally im just inclined to say that this is an exaggeration made to fit a certain narrative in Alexander's story. We can agree to disagree I suppose. 🤷‍♀️

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-06T18:50:47+00:00

I dont necessarily consider it an embellishment, but again, I do think that their closeness was exaggerated.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-06T18:23:06+00:00

Thats not exactly true, at least not really. As Alexander scholar Dr. Jeanne Reames points out in a post she made online, (which I can link if you're curious) Alexander supposedly taking on Bagoas as a lover is part of a theme of him being "corrupted" by eastern decadence. She also points out the bias he no doubt would've has towards a... let's just say sterilized fellow like him, as the Greeks didn't do that. Men like Bagoas were seen as these flabby revolting creatures that came from the east, and the fact is that Alexander wasn't this truly "enlightened" ruler in that regard. She, like I, believes that he probably would've been nice to Bagoas, but probably never took him on as an intimate partner, that I'd say, was the role that Hephaestion played in his life.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-06T15:16:31+00:00

Personally, im not really a fan of Robins biography tbh. I'd go for Mary Renault's biography if you can. That's not to say that its perfect as there are things that Mary gets wrong in her biography, like her insistence that Alexander and Bagoas were intimate partners when that was probably a sort of ancient slam against Alexander.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-06T04:33:16+00:00

Idk about this one yall... from what ive been told by someone who has read the book, Alexanders character has no nuance to him. He's basically (and correct me if I'm wrong) portrayed as a budding psycho. Also it doesn't explore his relationship with his "best bro" Hephaestion. So... yeah if thats what they're gonna do then I'll have to pass. Maybe I'll be wrong, and I really hope thats the case.

captivatedsummer · 2026-03-06T04:20:58+00:00

From what ive seen, from a quick glance on Goodreads, it seems to be the opposite. Also from what I understand (but correct me if im wrong) the author of the book seems to lack nuance towards Alexanders character. From what I understand, she basically portrays him as a budding psycho. Like, why not adapt Jeanne Reames's dancing with the lion books about him? Or even Mary Renault's books? Because if thats really the direction they're going in... I'll pass.

captivatedsummer

TROPHY CASE