Of Heroic Times

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  • lavce pelagonski
    Senior Member
    • Nov 2009
    • 1993

    Of Heroic Times

    A grand, epic tale of legendary conquests and conspiracies set amidst the Greek empire during the times of Alexander the Great

    I, Seleucus, son of Nicanor, begin my account from the time when Kelos, son of Patrimus, was the chief controller of the Games in Olympia.” So begins The Emissary narrated by twenty-two-year-old Seleucus, a contemporary of Alexander the Great. His father is Macedonian, and he “grew up in Olympia in a Macedonian family that made its living looking after the Macedonians who came to prepare for the annual Games and visit the oracle. At my home, I spoke the Macedonian tongue, but my friends were largely from Olympia.” He is of a humble background, though his father is a well-known charioteer who is murdered. Seleucus is accepted in both communities – Macedonian and Greek – which works to his advantage from when he is quite young and learnt the tricks of treachery and deception to avenge his father’s unexpected death by poisoning. It is a turbulent period in history. Sixteen year-old prince Alexander already behaved as if he was King. Seleucus witnesses the rise of the prince from this stage to a legendary conqueror. Over time, he trains himself well in the art of deception and moves up the social ladder. After the Battle of Granicus, from being the son of a charioteer, Selecus becomes the powerful person who became an emissary of King Alexander the Great.

    The protagonist, Seleucus is a focused person who promises to tell the truth in his account. He weaves a splendid tale, recounting minute details that help to create the period and its many dimensions. Yet, there is always a wariness about his narration because he is learning to become a master of deception, and peppers his story with grim references to lying, deception, danger, death, fear, dark fate, stabbings, poison and revolt. It is never clear whether he is in fact telling us the whole truth or whether someone else’s version is more truthful.

    An experienced investigative journalist, Aniruddha Bahal tells a gripping story with panache. He plunges straight into the action, and has the reader’s attention with the first phrase much like that most famous of beginnings, “Call me Ishmael”. The Emissary is historical fiction of epic proportions with its broad canvas and over two hundred characters. There are moments when the attention flags even in a well-told episode like the chariot race because there are many tedious conversations which we feell we are being forced to eavesdrop on. In Emma, Jane Austen had ninety-five characters in the general hustle bustle, but she kept the conversations to the minimum in her tightly edited novel. Still, despite the fact that getting to know The Emissary’s cast of hundreds may take a little time, it is a novel worth reading. It is certainly unusual in the great Indian I-me-mine novel writing era we are living through to have a historical novel by one of us about our very own Greek heroes.
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    This is confusing as she starts of saying Macedonian and greek as different nations and ends up with greek heroes.
    Стравот на Атина од овој Македонец одел до таму што го нарекле „Страшниот Чакаларов“ „гркоубиец“ и „крвожеден комитаџија“.

    „Ако знам дека тука тече една капка грчка крв, јас сега би ја отсекол целата рака и би ја фрлил в море.“ Васил Чакаларов
  • makedonche
    Senior Member
    • Oct 2008
    • 3242

    #2
    lavce

    It wasn't bad until the last line! Is this a fiction novel?
    On Delchev's sarcophagus you can read the following inscription: "We swear the future generations to bury these sacred bones in the capital of Independent Macedonia. August 1923 Illinden"

    Comment

    • lavce pelagonski
      Senior Member
      • Nov 2009
      • 1993

      #3
      I think it might be im not sure
      Стравот на Атина од овој Македонец одел до таму што го нарекле „Страшниот Чакаларов“ „гркоубиец“ и „крвожеден комитаџија“.

      „Ако знам дека тука тече една капка грчка крв, јас сега би ја отсекол целата рака и би ја фрлил в море.“ Васил Чакаларов

      Comment

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