Greece’s culture minister has criticized a Netflix drama documentary about Alexander the Great, calling it “extremely poor fiction” and “poor and full of historical inaccuracies.”
Lina Mendoni’s comments about ‘Alexander: The Making of a God’ come amid controversy surrounding the show, which depicts the romantic relationship between Alexander the Great and his confidant and friend Hephaestion. . in greece, opinion article In Elefteros, Typos called the show a “distortion of the truth” and accused Oliver Stone’s 2004 film Alexander of starting a “propaganda campaign about Alexander’s homosexuality.”
Dimitris Nasiou, leader of the far-right Christian Orthodox party Niki, called the series “deplorable, unacceptable and ahistorical” and said it “subliminates the idea that homosexuality was acceptable in ancient times”. The purpose was to convey the message.” There is no basis.
Asked about Naciou’s show in Congress, Mendoni said it was “full of historical inaccuracies and shows the sloppiness of the director and the poverty of the script.”
Regarding the relationship between Alexander and Hephaestion depicted in the show, Mendoni said, “There is no mention in the sources that it goes beyond the limits of friendship as defined by Aristotle.”
“But you know that the ancient concept of love is broad and multidimensional. For 2,300 years, Alexander the Great has not needed the intervention of anyone who would unilaterally protect his historical memory, or even more so his personality and moral standing. It’s not like I need it either.”
When Nasiou asked if the government would take action against Netflix, Mendoni said such action would be unconstitutional. The Greek Constitution has protected artistic freedom since the beginning of his 19th century.
“The Ministry of Culture does not carry out censorship, does not take any action that could lead to prosecution or prohibition, and does not manipulate, restrict or control the dissemination of information and ideas either preventively or repressively,” Mendoni said. Stated.
“The artist’s inspiration, personal interpretation, and personal judgment obviously cannot be subject to any regulatory regime or control, nor can it be controlled by or dragged into court.” Instead, it will be evaluated and judged by each of us individually and by the international community. Netflix is also rated this way. ”
There has long been speculation about the relationship between the Macedonian king and the general. What is not discussed is that Alexander and Hephaestion were close friends from childhood and were often compared to Achilles and Patroclus by their contemporaries.
“Homosexuality was very common in the Greek world,” Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, a professor at Cardiff University in Wales, said in the first episode of Alexander: The Making of a God. “The Greeks didn’t have a word for homosexuality or homosexuality. It wasn’t in their vocabulary at all. It was just sexual.”
The controversy echoes a similar controversy in Egypt last year, when the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities issued a lengthy statement criticizing Netflix’s decision to cast a black actor as Cleopatra in the drama documentary Queen Cleopatra. .
