Year: 2020
In this episode, we’ll go beyond the virtuous Spartans and the preeminent Alexander to a figure more like our own conflicted selves–my recurring fictional character, Telamon of Arcadia.
Read MoreI’m starting a new book and Resistance is beating the hell out of me.
Read MoreWhen a “civilized” army like Alexander’s confronts a primitive tribal foe (as Alexander did in the Afghan kingdoms in the 330s B.C.), it often sinks to the level of brutality and pitilessness of its enemy.
Read MoreAlexander’s Macedonians–and even the Spartans themselves–saw their virtue crumble as they achieved preeminence over others.
Read More“What I have tried to do is follow the dictates of Necessity. This is the solitary god I revere and, in my opinion, the only god that exists. Man’s predicament is that he dwells at the intersection of Necessity and free will. What distinguishes statesmen, as Themistocles and Pericles, is their gift to perceive Necessity’s dictates in advance of others—as Themistocles saw that Athens must become a sea power and Pericles that naval supremacy prefigures empire. That course of individual or nation aligned with Necessity must prove irresistible.”
Read MoreIf Jungian psychology is right, and we mature from Archetype to Archetype … what happens to each Archetype as we evolve past it?
Read MoreDo we grow and mature in a smooth, straight line?
Read MoreThis is a powerful mantra for any of us launching upon a long-form creative or entrepreneurial enterprise, e.g. writing a book, starting a business venture, trying to get our daughter into Harvard.
Read MoreThe writer of historical fiction must sometimes bend true-life characters to fit his conception of a story’s theme. In The Virtues of War, I made the historical Hephaesteion, Alexander’s dearest friend and second-in-command, take a stand for compassion and empathy for others.
Read MoreTorn between the dark side of the Warrior Archetype and the light, Alexander (at least in my own historical fiction rendering) was pressed by his friend and second-in-command, Hephaesteion, to choose.
Read MoreFREE MINI COURSE
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