Alexander

"By no means," said Alexander, "but rather to surpass Achilles and the rest by far.

"Son of Atreus," he said, "and princes of the Achaean host, Priam and the other noble Trojans have sent me to tell you the saying of Alexander through whom this quarrel has come about, if so be that you may find it acceptable.

I hear everyone say of you that you are a friend of mankind, a friend of Athens, and a friend of learning, not foolishly, but in sensible fashion.

Jest is the blight of seriousness, lying is the enemy of truthfulness, and injustice is the ruin of kingship.

So that you may not yourself say to us what Diogenes said to Alexander, that the distance from you to here is the same as from here to you.

As we see King Alexander, who, when he had slain Clitus his friend, scarcely held his hands from himself;

At this Amyntas saw that Alexander had some wild deed in mind and said, “My son, you are angered, and if I guess your meaning correctly, you are sending me away so that you may do some violent deed.

Alexander did homage on behalf of his father “for the aforesaid castles and other lands which he held,” and found sureties for the payment of 15,000 marks.

By this very art, indeed, it is said that once, when he piped the Phrygian strain to Alexander, he made him spring up to arms in the midst of his dinner, and then brought him back again to his fellow-banqueters by relaxing the harmony.

From hence the good faith of Alexander was impeached, who ordered those to be murdered on the way, whom he had allowed to depart.

Since the anger of those of you who heard this statement was greatly increased by these aspersions cast on your democracy, on the grounds that he was not content to have taken bribes himself but thought fit to infect the people too speaking and complaining that the Areopagus was seeking favor with Alexander and for that reason wanted to destroy him.

When a certain state promised Alexander a part of its fields and half of all its goods, he said: