Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/243

 ALEXANDER MURDERS KLEITUS. 211 Though anxious to restrain his movements, they doubtless did not dare to employ much physical force ; so that his great per- gonal strength, and continued efforts, presently set him free. lie then snatched a pike from one of the soldiers, rushed upon Klei- tus, and thrust him throvigh on the spot, exclaiming, " Go now to Philip and Parmenio." ^ ' Anian, iv. 8; Curtius, viii. 1; Tlutarcli, Alexand. 50, 51; Justin, xii. C. The description given by Diodorus was contained in the lost part of his seventeenth book; the table of contents, prefixed thereunto, notes the inci- dent briefly. All the authors describe in the same general way the commencement, progress, and result, of this impressive scene in the banqueting hall of Mar- akanda: but they differ materially in the details. In giving what seems to me the most probable account, I have borroWed p.nrtly from all, yet follow- ing mostly the account given by Arrian from Ptolemy, himself present. For Arrian's narrative down to sect. 14 of c. 8 (before the words 'ApiarojSov- Aof 6e) may fairly be presumed to be derived from Ptolemy. Both Plutarch and Curtius describe the scene in a manner more dishon- orable to Alexander thnn Arrian ; and at the same time (in my judgment) less probable. Plutarcli says that the brawl took its rise from a poet named Pierion singing a song which turned into derision those Macedonians who had been recently defeated in Sogdiana; that Alexander and those around him. greaily applauded this satire ; that Kleitus protested against such an Insult to soldiers, who, though unfortunate, had behaved with unimpeach- able bravery; that Alexander then turned upon Kleitus saying, that he was seeking an excuse for himself by extenuating cowardice in others; that Kleitus retorted by reminding him of the preservation of his life at the Granikus. Alexander is thus made to provoke the quarrel by aspersing the courage of Kleitus, which I think noway probable; nor would he be likely to encourage a song of that tenor. Curtius agrees with Arrian in ascribing the origin of the mischief to the extravagant boasts of Alexander and his flatterers, and to their deprecia- tion of Philip. He then tells us that Kleitus, on hearing their unseemly talk, turned round and whispered to his neighbor some lines out of the An- dromache of Euripides (which lines Plutarch also ascribes to him, though at a later moment) ; that Alexander, not hearing the words, asked what had been said, but no one would tell him; at length Kleitus himself repeat- ed the sentiment in language of his own. This would suit a literary Greek : but an old Macedonian officer half intoxicated, when animated by a vehe- ment sentiment, would hardly express it by whispering a Greek poetical quotation to his neighbor. He would either hold his tongue, or speak what he felt broadly and directly. Nevertheless Curtius has stated two points rery material to the case, which do not appear in Arrian. 1. It was Alex-