“Craterus loves the king. Hephaestion loves Alexander.”
–Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander
I want to speak here as a writer.
Let me talk about one of my books about Alexander, The Virtues of War, and how the issue of evil in war was addressed in that title.
First a time-honored principle of storytelling:
Every character must represent not just himself or herself, but an aspect of the story’s theme.
To illustrate with a contemporary example, think about the movie The Godfather. The Godfather was about FAMILY. That was its theme.
Every character in The Godfather represented a different aspect of family. The Don. Michael. Sonny. Fredo. Luca Brasi. Even Clemenza and Tessio, even the heads of the other Five Families, revolved like a constellation in the night sky around the issue of family.
The theme in The Virtues of War is conquest. The Warrior identity as expressed in the relentless exercise of aggression and the will to domination.
The book asks, “Is this right or wrong?”
Let’s turn then – thinking as writers – to characters,
If our hero, Alexander, embodies the theme (another timeless storytelling principle) and if each supporting character must represent an aspect of the theme, whom will we pick to bring this issue into high relief?
I chose the two of Alexander’s generals and friends who were closest to him in true historical fact.
Craterus and Hephaestion.
I made them “angel and devil” sitting on Alexander’s shoulders.
Here’s a scene from The Virtues of War.
In Afghanistan, elements of Alexander’s army, pursuing hit-and-run fighters of the enemy, wind up massacring a wagon train, including women and children. Both Craterus and Hephaestion are part of this, the “angel” and the “devil.”
Here is Alexander speaking:
Hephaestion speaks nothing of the massacre, this night or the next. But two evenings later, in camp on the trek back to Maracanda, he and Craterus clash violently.
No one, since the corps marched out from Macedon, has ever applied anything but the loftiest moral purpose to our campaign. Now Hephaestion denounces this, declaring our cause “wicked” and “unholy.”
Craterus replies at once and with anger. “There is no right or wrong in war, Hephaestion, only victor and vanquished. It is because you have no belly for this truth,” he declares, “that you are not a soldier and never will be.”
[The historical Craterus was Alexander’s most trusted and effective general. The historical Hephaestion was Alexander’s closest friend, confidant, and second-in-command.]
“If being a soldier means being like you,” Hephaestion replies to Craterus, “then I choose to be anything other.”
I command them both to break off. But the rivalry between them has built up over a decade. Neither can live with it any longer.
“All actions of war are legitimate,” Craterus proclaims, “if they are taken in the service of victory.”
“All actions? Including massacres of women and children?”
“Such retribution,” Craterus declares, “the foe brings upon himself—”
“How convenient for you!”
“—brings upon himself, I say, by his defiance of our will and his refusal to see reason. Such slaughters are committed by the foe’s hand, not ours.”
Hephaestion only smiles, his lips declining in articulation despair.
“No, my friend,” he says after a moment, addressing not Craterus alone but me and all the company, and himself as well. “It is our hands that drive the sword into their breasts, and our hands, stained with their innocent blood, that can never be made clean.”
What this scene is, is not the clash of archetypes–both Craterus and Hephaestion embody the Warrior Archetype–but the face-off between two sides of the same archetype.
The dark side and the light side.
Each is “right,” seen from its own perspective.
See how all three central characters in this scene–Craterus, Hephaestion, and Alexander–embody different aspects of the theme? The theme being the limits of the Warrior Archetype.
Let’s see, in our next episode, how this dilemma is resolved (or at least tries to be resolved.)
Good case example on how this might look on the page — where characters are embodying elements of the theme. It’s also interesting to note how many of these storytelling devices work at the level of the subconscious. I’m guessing that many people won’t read a passage and say, “Ahh. I see how Rick Blaine is the embodiment of the theme of ‘self-service versus self-sacrifice’ in ‘Casablanca.'” Or “When Karen says she wants to sew the buttons onto Denys’s shirt, she’s embodying the theme of ‘possession’ in ‘Out of Africa.'”
It enriches the story and makes it “work,” even though we might not consciously be able to put a finger on just why. Conversely, if “characters who embody the theme” is missing, we feel the story feels flat — a can of Coke that opens with no fizz — but can’t quite identify why it’s not working. Love having these tools at hand.
And glad to see that Steve is using some of his own material to illustrate some of these story devices.
I’m currently developing the arc of one of the major characters. That advice you give, Steven –
“Every character must represent not just himself or herself, but an aspect of the story’s theme.”
– has jumped out at me. Thank you so much.
I am no writer. These videos hit me right in the chest. War. Life.
It’s haiku if you lay it out:
I am no writer.
These videos hit me right
in the chest. War. Life.
There, you earned your ribbon. (And One Tribe strings words together in a meaningful way. So that counts.)
Thank you Steven for the clarity of your analysis. I appreciate you.
I’m probably missing the point, but the argument between these two seems to reflect that of last week’s between Alexander and Porus about being a king or being a conqueror. A high body count might be effective, but is it truly necessary, and if it is, then who us left for the victor to govern? Hesphalon (sp!) and Porus clearly understand this; Alexander is just beginning.
Let’s look ‘East’ for a moment and consider what I have called ‘the lost of philosophy of the (Chinese) martial arts.’ Specifically, we are looking at the Taoist understanding of warriorhood, which would very likely warm the heart and sensibility of a Craterus. Chapter 68 of the Tao Te Ching: “The brave soldier is not violent; the good fighter does not lose his temper…” (Lin Yu Tang translation). Those who do not train thoroughly in the martial arts under the tutelage of wise mentors find this passage puzzling: Why would one who works hard at becoming a fighting machine not be violent? (Even more puzzling is the understanding that “The power to kill is also the power to heal.”) The idea is that the central tenet of the (lost) philosophy of the martial arts is: Stop or prevent violence by any means necessary. The reference is to one’s own violence, ie., the violence potential of the martial artist, NOT the violence of the opponent. The opponent’s violence is not an issue: If I, the martial artist, were to respond to his moves, he would be disarmed, knocked out cold or dead.
The issue IS: What can I do to keep from hurting him? Any and all actions are to be attempted, INCLUDING pretending to be a coward, which involves the last word in ego detachment. Furthermore, if I find I must hurt the opponent, I am committed to (1) hurt minimally, (2) heal immediately, and (3) educate incessantly.
Chapter 68 of the Tao Te Ching implies the existence of an intriguing paradox: The martial artist in order to act with COMPASSION must first be LETHAL. The ordinary person who is threatened by another wanting to assault, hurt or rob is apt to feel intimidation, shock, indignation, etc, etc. — anything but COMPASSION. Lethality (maximum yang) and compassion (maximum yin) coexist within the highly trained. The existence of a cultivated, controlled killing potential makes possible the “coming out” of heart energy.
Benjamin – An interesting PoV; thank you! But while pairing lethality with compassion is most interesting, does it not matter who is being killed? Or do you think it’s acceptable that that your lethal killing machine kills women and children? So much for the Geneva Convention and the laws of war then; or was Saddam Hussein gassing the Kurds OK, or are atrocities acceptable of they’re committed up close and personal?
Thanks Joe!
Hold the Line…
I’m hanging on in there.
Getting to the end of my debut non-fiction book folks!
Love, Jurgen
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