Alexander Revisited:
The Final Cut

Pella, Macedonia – 20 years earlier

Olympias:
If you hesitate, she will strike. Yes.
They (the snakes) are like people. You can love them for years. Feed them, nurture them, but still, they can turn on you.  Don’t hurt her. Good. Now…
He calls me a barbarian. He makes a mockery of Dionysus every night.

Olympias:
Women are the only ones who know Dionysus.


Olympias:
My little Achilles.
Stay, Alexander. Down, down. (To Philip) What is it that you want?!

Philip:
Six months. Did you miss me?

Olympias:
No. Not here!

Philip:
Proud bitch, I’m still your king.

Olympias:
King of what? Shepherders? I am of Achilles’ royal blood.

Philip:
The blood of Herakles runs in my veins.

Olympias:
You are nothing but a drunken whore.

Philip:
Shut your mouth. You 10-titted bitch from Hades! Which god could I curse to have ever laid eyes on you!

Olympias:
You think people respect you? You think they don’t know about your bastards?

Philip:
Damn your sorceress soul! You keep him here like one of your snakes! I told you not! I told you not! You’ll obey me.

Olympias:
I will not.

Philip:
You’ll obey me, or I’ll kill you with my own hands.

Young Alexander:
Let her go! No! Stop! Papa!

Philip:
Obey me!

Chambermaid:
Your Majesty! No!

Olympias:
In the name of the gods. He will never be yours! Never! In my womb I carried my avenger!

Philip:
Is that the best you can do, Cleitus? Back to the phalanx with you, I’ll ride him myself.

Black Cleitus:
No one will ride that beast, Your Majesty. Not with your leg. He’s been beaten far too often.

Horse seller:
My noble king, he’s a high-spirited animal, yes. High-spirited and worthy of Philip of Macedon. For three and a half talents, I couldn’t possibly make a profit of him, but for you --

Philip:
Why would I need such a beast? I already have a wife.

Olympias:
(To Alexander) Do I seem so old?

Horse sellers:
Stay down, stay down. Hold him!

Philip:
A broken neck comes free. He’s too nervous for battle. Sell him for meat.

Young Alexander:
Buy him for me, father. I’ll ride him.

Philip:
And if you don’t?

Young Alexander:
I’ll pay for him myself.

Philip:
With what, your singing voice?

Young Alexander:
I’ll pay you!

Philip:
I tell you, that horse can’t be ridden, lad. His mind is broken.

Young Alexander:
He can be ridden. By me.

Philip:
If you can rule that horse, I’ll make him yours. (To the horse seller)…at half the price.

Black Cleitus:
That horse will kill him, Philip. He’ll break the boy in two.

Philip:
Will he? Perhaps she’ll make a musician out of him yet.

Young Alexander:
(To Bucephalus) You don’t like your shadow, do you? It’s like a dark spirit coming up to get you. Do you see? That’s us. It’s just a trick of Apollo’s. He’s the god of the sun.
But I’ll show you how to outwit him (Apollo), you and me together.

Parmenion:
The boy doesn’t have the craft, Philip. He could hurt himself.

Philip:
He’ll have to figure that out for himself. It’s time.

Attalus:
Good idea. Indeed there are times, Philip, when I wonder if he is your blood.

Parmenion:
I only worry that --

Philip:
What was that, Attalus?

Attalus:
Nothing. I was just noticing how the people like seeing you and Eurydice together.

Philip:
(To Alexander) You go, boy!
You ride that horse and by Zeus I say, you can rule the world.

Young Alexander:
Bucephalus. That’s what I’ll call you. Strong and stubborn. Bucephalus and Alexander. Come now, let’s ride together.

Philip:
He got some titans in him, yet. Attalus! Cleitus! For Zeus’ sake, he beats you, man!

Young Alexander:
Now, Bucephalus, show them.

Philip:
My son. My son!

Olympias:
Yes, she would be a perfect match for you. But you do nothing. Three months you’ve been in Babylon and leave me in Pella at the mercy of your enemy of which you have many.
Antipater, accustomed now to the power that you have given him. I must watch him grow stronger. I’m certain that he communicates secretly with Parmenion, who is dangerous. But beware, most of all, of those closest to you. They are like snakes, and can be turned.

Soldier:
General Crateros!

Olympias:
Cassander is Antipater’s son. Even Cleitus, your father’s favorite. And Ptolemy, your friend, yes.  Beware of men who think too much. They blind themselves. Only Hephaistion do I leave out. But all of them you make rich, while your mother and yourself, you leave in generous poverty.
Why won’t you ever believe me? It is only a dark mind like mine that can know the secrets of the heart. For they are dark, Alexander. So dark. But in you, son of Zeus, lies the light of the world. Your companions will be shadows in the underworld when you are a name living forever in history as the most glorious shining light of youth, forever young, forever inspiring. Never will there be an Alexander like you. Alexander the Great. Remember, bring me to Babylon as you promised. I can only help you, for they know if they harm you they will face my wrath, as Queen of Babylon.

Macedonia - 10 Years Earliear.

Olympias:
Pregnant so soon, the little whore. He will marry her in the spring, during Dionysus’ Festival. And when her first son is born, her sweet uncle Attalus will convince Philip to name the boy his successor, with himself as regent. And you, you will be sent on some impossible mission against some monstrous Northern tribe to be mutilated in one more meaningless battle over cattle. And I, no longer queen, will be put to death with your sister and the remaining members of our family.

Alexander:
I wish sometimes you could see the light, Mother. The truth is, he’s taken nothing from you that you’ve not been long without.

Olympias:
The only way is to strike. Announce your marriage to a Macedonian now. Beget a child of pureblood. He would be one of them, not mine. And he would have no choice but to make you a king. There is still Kynnane. Eurydice was perfect. If your father, that pig, had not ravaged her first!

Alexander:
Speak nothing more of my father. Do you hear me? Say nothing.

Olympias:
You’re right. Forgive me. A mother loves too much. Who shall I sing to sleep at night anymore? I wish-- I wish we could spend more time together. Like we used to, when you were the sweetest boy.

Alexander:
There’s never been time, Mother. Since I was a child, I’ve been groomed to be ever the best.

Olympias:
My poor child, you’re like Achilles, cursed by your greatness. Yes, take my strength.
You must never confuse your feelings with your duties, Alexander. A king must make public gestures for the common people. I know, but you will be 19 this summer, and already the girls are saying you don’t like them, you like Hephaistion more. I understand. It’s natural for a young man. But if you go to Asia without leaving a successor, you risk all.

Alexander:
Hephastion loves me, as I am. Not who.

Olympias:
Loves. Love? In the name of Dionysus... Understand how Philip thinks, for your own sake. Your life hangs in balance. I know these things, Alexander. You are nothing to him. His spies are inside your closest circle, to ensure that you don’t plot against him. And still, you sleep. You will not live out this year, unless you act! 

Alexander:
Stop! I’m his only worthy son. You crazed woman. He’d never hurt me. Even if Eurydice had a son, he’d be 20 before he’d let him rule.

Olympias:
Yes, and you would be 40. Old, and wise, like Parmenion. And Philip’s young son would be 20. Like you now, but raised by him, his blood. He will never give you the throne now, Alexander. Never.

Alexander:
What would you have me do?

Olympias:
Whatever is necessary.

Alexander:
Where have you lost your mind? It’d be civil war, clan against clan, chaos.

Olympias:
Yes. And you would win. Because the young ones love you like a god.

Alexander:
I forbid you to ever talk to me like that! Such a man would be forever chased by the Furies.

Olympias:
What have you to fear from the Furies for killing an impostor to the throne, before he murders you and your mother? Why won’t you ever believe me? Philip did not want you. You had a condition of the breathing. And he wanted to leave you in mountains for the birds to pecked at your eyes. What you don’t know, my poor child. 

Alexander:
Lanice knows nothing of this.

Olympias:
Lanice. I was there. Lanice was not. No, Alexander. Zeus is your father. I laid with him that night in the wind as sure as any mortal man. Never had I been made love to as I was then.

Alexander:
Enough. Half the mothers in Greece shared such a fantasy. I warn you, Mother. Make no mistake. You will treat this girl as nothing more important that his other wives. You will behave as we always have. As the first. I wonder, did you ever love him?

Olympias:
What? I never stopped.