Dreams from History: Alexander the Great

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On a March evening in 332 BC, Alexander the Great sat outside the Syrian city of Tyre. The eastward wind tossed the Mediterranean Sea in front of him. The air was salty and thick. The Syrians had long since retreated behind their walls, but Alexander was disturbed. Walls he could deal with; his siege engines were constructed by the greatest engineers in the world and inspected by Aristotle himself. He had hundreds at his command, 50 foot wheeled wooden towers, catapults loaded with pitch and stone, battering rams carved from the mighty cedars of Lebanon. But the Persian fortress was on a small island and their walls went right up to the sea. All of the machinery and engines of war were as good as toys against the island fortress. For the time being, the armies were deadlocked. His men camped dejectedly on the beach. Alexander cursed into his cup as a particularly noisy and heavy catapult labored past. A young messenger approached. "Tyre is blockaded, my lord," said the boy. Alexander dismissed him with a motion of his hand. The great king filled another glass of Thesolonian wine and drank deeply. The waning moon was climbing the sky and it reminded him of the fortnight he had been out here, across the sea from Greece, hundreds of miles from home. "Eastwards," he muttered to the night. "The world is ours." The wine was excellent. He called his serving boy to bring another bottle to take to bed with him. Outside, the camp was quiet; neither goblet nor song could be heard. Alexander knew from his illustrious military career what this meant-the men were restless. For the moment, Tyre had had stopped their advance. With a final glance at the towering walls of the island city, he entered into his tent. Alexander sat in his chair and took deep draughts of the wine. It had always been this way; no mortal cunning or artifice would suffice, his fate lay squarely in the hands of the gods. Apollo could be propitiated with the lyre or Athena with thoughtful contemplation, but his special favorite was Dionysus and he honored him tonight by getting drunk on wine. At midnight, he staggered outside into the silent camp. Tyre stood grim and menacing agross the water. He searched the sky and found his star. Amid the swarm of constellations, it outshined them all. The bed was warm and soft... He dreamt that he was home at Macedon, shooting the bow with his father in the forest. He could hear the approach of a horse and soon a great knight rode upon them. He was carrying a beautiful bronze shield bearing a red lion. "I do not have much time so I must use haste," the rider said to Alexander's father, the king. Suddenly, the knight gave a cry and fell to his knees. His shield fell with a thud onto the grass beside him. A spear poked out of his back. They heard a cackling laugh and saw a satyr flitting through the tress. The satyr had the face of a man: pointed ears, a thick, full black beard, but he had a long horse's tail of the same shiny black hairs. There was a gleeful, mischevious look in his eyes. Grinning wildly and swishing his tail, he stepped forward across the fallen rider and onto the great bronze shield. The satyr began to dance riotously. Alexander woke suddenly, thirsty and excited. The dream remained clear and vivid in his mind. It was still dark outside, but he made a call for Aristander, his most reliable seer. The robed and wrinked old man yawned as he entered the tent. "Aristander," the king said fitfully, "I've just had a marvellous dream." After he had heard the king recount his dream, the seer stood thoughtfully for a few moments. At length, he cleared his throat and spoke: "My lord, this dream is a happy occurence and good augury. The secret of thine dream is that, if one divides the word 'satyr', (Σάτυροι), into 'Σά' and 'τυρο', one gets the message 'Tyre is thine' (Σά τυροι). The satyr who dances on the shield reveals the way you shall take the city." Historical Note on the Siege of Tyre: Following the advice of his seer, Alexander built a massive causeway of stones and earth streching out to the island. It was nearly a kilometer long and still stands in Lebanon today. As the bridge approached the city walls the water became too deep to continue. Halting construction on the bridge, he built two 50 meter wooden towers at the end of the causeway, placing artillery at the top where they were able to fire over the city walls. Under the cover of this barrage, Greek ships fitted with battering rams anchored near the city and started assaulting the walls. Before long, a breach was made in the south wall, and a raging Alexander led his troops into the city on foot. They quickly overwhelmed the smaller Syrian garrison and killed them all. Such was Alexander's frustration and anger at the Syrians that he crucified two thousand men on the beach, and sold most of the citizens of Tyre into slavery. www.justhadadream.com