Alexander the Great’s Statue

The Guardian reports on a row going on in Athens over plans to erect a statue of Alexander the Great … inter alia:

Seventeen years after its acquisition by the Greek culture ministry, the rendition of the military commander has been gathering dust in a basement storeroom because of fierce controversy over where to put the sculpture. Nationalist-minded politicians, on both sides of the spectrum, believe the statue “rightfully” belongs to a prominent square in the heart of ancient Athens. There, they say, the Macedonian king would not only receive maximum viewing but the reverence he deserves from a people who see themselves as his rightful descendants.

Had it not been for archaeologists, that might have happened. But the purveyors of Greece’s past – a powerful lobby in this antiquities-rich country – have strongly resisted the move, saying Alexander came to the capital “as a conqueror”. The row might have gone unnoticed had it not been for the recently reinvigorated intensity of the name dispute between Athens and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

… I wonder if that report a couple of weeks ago of plans to erect a statue of Al at Arbela is prompting a similar reaction there …

• Greeks argue over status and statue of Alexander