Alexander The Mediocre
Drama
Lectionary Scenes
56 Vignettes For Cycle C
Theme
It is never pleasant to be humbled but it is necessary to be used by God.
Summary
Alexander is the type of ruler who cannot get started with a project, blames others for his misfortunes, and ends up hurting himself and his people; but he is finally humbled before God.
Playing Time
7 minutes
Setting
The throne room, Macedonia
Props
Agamuse -- a pot of mud
Costumes
Ancient Greek with half masks and cothurni
Time
Ancient Greek
Cast
ALEXANDER -- the king of Macedonia
CHOREGUS -- the leader of the chorus
TALULIAS -- the blind prophet
PEASANT BOY -- who leads Talulias
IACATA -- wife of Alexander
AGAMUSE-- the priest of Apollo
CHOREGUS: (ENTERS) Before the orb of Phoebus is silently resting on the wings of gentle Orpheus, our fate will become that which is evermore, and that which shall ever be henceforth shall nevermore waken the dark tresses of the deep. From the trembling womb of the mighty earthen oracle came the message translated by Scythian skies rent in twain by the bolts of Zeus: "One who is present among us will be present to us." Oh, that the Phrygian oracle had spoken words that would less mystery represent. Our ears pierced by the wail of mourning mothers that would, in vain, decipher the nebulous meaning. The aged fathers of our mighty city tear their silken locks in the interworking of this most puzzling of ciphers. (ENTER ALEXANDER) Is this not our lordly ruler, Alexander, who is now approaching? His kingly brow careworn with the fretacious inheritance of his noble father, Philip.
ALEXANDER: Ah, will the shadowy silvers of Diana never interrupt the disdain I harbor in my inmost soul for the oracle that inflicted this mysterious carnage upon my realm? Dear citizens of Macedonia, I harbor in my heart the sufferings that inflict themselves upon each one of you. The blight destroys the flower and darkens its bloom. The cattle, pastured and bearing young, are stricken with an unknown malady that robs the newly born of their nourishment. The women are no more laden with young. Old men stumble and fall, nevermore to rise. Young men fall with sicknesses that no one can discern. The grave is increasing its taloned hold on our land. I, in desperation, seek the answer. (IACATA ENTERS)
CHOREGUS: But here enters someone who might speak to the King as a friend. His wife, Iacata.
IACATA: Alexander, my noble and valiant husband, this malaise that envelopes the gentle land of our forefathers now has bidden me to partake of its ghastly feast. I have eaten myself to gorging of this swollen banquet. My teeth ache and I am past caring for. What can be accomplished by tarrying any longer? Make haste to come to our assistance.
ALEXANDER: I can do nothing that can stem the horrible tide that rolls upon us as assuredly as the morning dew is eaten up by the noonday sun.
IACATA: Alexander, you as King and ruler of this beautiful land have ruled nobly, but during a time of such impending doom you must be the one to lead us, solve the problem that has befallen us, and extricate your faithful charges that have been placed in your able hands.
ALEXANDER: I realize that this is my sworn duty as King and overseer. I see no reason that the wife of my bosom would be the one appointed by the gods to inform me of such a responsibility.
IACATA: Others have told you before. You would not listen to them.
ALEXANDER: So, you come into the presence of the King to tell him what others have already said? By the girdle of Kronos, what a royal waste of time you have perpetrated upon this court. Get you hence. Return to your wifely duties.
IACATA: I perform one of them this very moment.
ALEXANDER: By vexing me. Am I not vexed enough?
IACATA: Not enough to act, it seems.
ALEXANDER: When I act you will know it and shudder, you and all the ones who think they can advise the King. Does not wisdom reside in the King? Who can advise the seat of wisdom?
IACATA: Who indeed?
ALEXANDER: Certainly not the one who shares his bed.
IACATA: Who instructs the person for whom there is no longer any regard for learning?
ALEXANDER: You should take heed of learning. Learn how to respect your husband.
IACATA: Respect is earned, not learned.
ALEXANDER: Then earn it by leaving me to my decisions.
IACATA: Oh, my most royal husband, does not the royal court need husbanding today? Your nobles are dying for lack of food. They will not tell you their agonies for fear of your mighty hand.
ALEXANDER: Is it possible that this is true?
IACATA: May the eternal pledge we made, our right hands clasped, be revoked if I am relating to you something that should prove false.
ALEXANDER: It is not a question of whether it is false or true, but a matter of whether we will all perish or not.
IACATA: Indeed, it is a more encompassing question. Oh, my husband, I fear we shall all fall victim to that fate.
ALEXANDER: A fate, my wife, that no means of matter can change.
IACATA: It is, then, our end?
ALEXANDER: It may be as you say.
IACATA: Can we save nothing? Not the city? Not the people? Nothing?
ALEXANDER: All is lost, my dearest.
IACATA: You, too, then are lost.
ALEXANDER: It is as you say.
IACATA: I will return to our home, which will soon lie barren as my heart now lies. (IACATA EXITS)
ALEXANDER: I will decipher the meaning delivered unto us by the oracle. Bring before me the blind prophet Talulias.
CHOREGUS: Do I not see the prophet approaching? Drawn, I would wager, by the death that plagues our city. He will delve deeply into the inner workings of the dark saying and bring all its meaning to light.
TALULIAS: Which way? Lead the way to the leader who brings destruction on all of Philip's brood.
ALEXANDER: Do not, O prophet, think that your venerable age protects you from being prosecuted for the idle utterances of your mouth.
TALULIAS: I need no such protection. The utterances of my mouth are true and will be proven so.
ALEXANDER: Upon your own oath be it said. What is necessary to rid the city of this horrendous plague?
TALULIAS: You will be no party to asking.
ALEXANDER: Don't riddle me, blind one. Answer me as a man.
TALULIAS: Can you, as a man, receive it?
ALEXANDER: Am I not the ruler of Macedonia?
TALULIAS: Position alone is not sufficient for wisdom.
ALEXANDER: But position is sufficient for dealing with recalcitrant seers.
TALULIAS: And time alone is sufficient for dealing with insufficient potentates.
ALEXANDER: Enough of this provoking derision. Hear me, old man. I mean to have the truth out of you if it means your death.
TALULIAS: Death is not fearsome to one who lives in darkness. Truth is all that this old gray head has ever generated.
ALEXANDER: Why, tell it out straightforward, then.
TALULIAS: The problem lies within your bosom.
ALEXANDER: So this is your disparaging revelation. Go feed it to your winged allies.
TALULIAS: I feed it here to one with as much with which to think.
ALEXANDER: Get out of my sight. Take this sightless prognosticator. (CHOREGUS GRABS TALULIAS AND ESCORTS HIM OFF)
TALULIAS: I will gladly leave, but not because you choose for me to. You have no power over me. You have only the power that is given to you.
ALEXANDER: Take him hence. (TALULIAS EXITS, LED BY THE PEASANT BOY)
CHOREGUS: What forces drive one man to action while another is halted where he stands, not moving forward to remedy a situation? Why cannot our ruler decide to end this devastation? Who will influence him to move? What person has the power to make a ruler change his mind? Princes have no one who will talk to them as others are spoken to, person to person. So who will influence the King for good? Maybe our great city is doomed, as it seems to be. But harken to the entrance of the priest of the oracle of Delphi. (AGAMUSE ENTERS, CARRYING A POT OF MUD)
ALEXANDER: At last I see some help approaching. The oracle can relate to us the remedy to our situation.
AGAMUSE: Hail, ruler of the vast kingdom of Macedon.
ALEXANDER: And hail to you, Priest of Phoebus.
AGAMUSE: Your kingdom has, I have seen, fallen on perilous times.
ALEXANDER: You have seen correctly.
AGAMUSE: What are you doing to stop the demise of your kingdom?
ALEXANDER: Nothing.
AGAMUSE: I cannot believe what you are telling me.
ALEXANDER: Alas, there is nothing I can do.
AGAMUSE: To do nothing is to allow the enemy to win.
ALEXANDER: Is this all that you bring me -- your derision?
AGAMUSE: I bring you hope.
ALEXANDER: Hope? I have forgotten the word.
AGAMUSE: You will remember soon enough.
ALEXANDER: What is that that you carry? Is that your hope?
AGAMUSE: It is.
ALEXANDER: Bring it to me. (AGAMUSE CROSSES TO ALEXANDER) Mud! You have brought me a pot of mud! What trickery is this?
AGAMUSE: No trickery, honored King. I would not presume. This is the sacred mud from the Oracle at Delphi.
ALEXANDER: This is the sacred mud?
AGAMUSE: None other.
ALEXANDER: Then read to me what the mud is saying.
AGAMUSE: (STICKING HIS HAND IN THE MUD AND SWIRLING IT AROUND) I see something.
ALEXANDER: What? What is it!
AGAMUSE: (THINKING -- BEGINS STROKING HIS CHIN AND GETTING MUD ALL OVER HIMSELF) Hmm. It is becoming clearer.
ALEXANDER: Is this part of the ceremony?
AGAMUSE: Wait! Wait! I see something.
ALEXANDER: Tell me. What do you see?
AGAMUSE: The great Apollo wants you to give his priest all the gold in the city.
ALEXANDER: What? All our gold?
AGAMUSE: Yes. Immediately. You are to give it to the priest of Apollo.
ALEXANDER: That would put wealth in your hands.
AGAMUSE: That is the will of the mighty Apollo. Yes.
ALEXANDER: To you? I am supposed to give all the wealth of the city to you?
AGAMUSE: It is a worthy cause. The temple at Delphi is in need of repair.
ALEXANDER: And will you guarantee the safety of our city?
AGAMUSE: Oh, most certainly. The oracle has spoken.
ALEXANDER: Since our city is in peril, I will put you in peril. If the plague is not lifted the exact moment that I hand to you all the treasures of our city, then your life is forfeit.
AGAMUSE: A high price for prophetic inaccuracy.
ALEXANDER: Nevertheless, that is the price.
AGAMUSE: I don't think I have the word from Apollo exactly right. I think Apollo is saying that all the treasures of the city is too high a price.
ALEXANDER: Oh, the god wavers, does he?
AGAMUSE: Seldom. But there have been occasions.
ALEXANDER: Get out of my sight.
AGAMUSE: What? You would incur the wrath of Apollo?
ALEXANDER: Bring me a priest whose mind is not as muddied as his chin.
(CHORAGUS TAKES AGAMUSE OFF. PEASANT BOY ENTERS)
ALEXANDER: Is there not someone who can help? (PAUSE) What? The peasant boy who leads the blind prophet? What can you do?
PEASANT BOY: I can tell you what you can do.
ALEXANDER: Foolish child. Run along.
PEASANT BOY: No one runs when he is dying, great King.
ALEXANDER: That is true. I am the foolish one.
PEASANT BOY: That is true.
ALEXANDER: If our city was not in such great peril I would have you killed for such insolence.
PEASANT BOY: When death is near it is time for truth. They call you Alexander the Mediocre.
ALEXANDER: Truth? Truth? Is it true, then, that I am a fool?
PEASANT BOY: It is.
ALEXANDER: How could I become wise?
PEASANT BOY: Wisdom comes from the Creator, God.
ALEXANDER: Zeus?
PEASANT BOY: No, not Zeus or any other god that a person can dream up.
ALEXANDER: A new god, then.
PEASANT BOY: Not a new god. But the Creator, God who made everything there is from nothing.
ALEXANDER: Certainly a powerful god. If he exists. I am ready to try anything. How do I gain his favor?
PEASANT BOY: By humbling yourself before Him and asking Him to restore your city.
ALEXANDER: Child, I will do it.
PEASANT BOY: You will no longer be known as Alexander the Mediocre. You will be known as Alexander the Humble.
ALEXANDER: I had another name in mind. But yours is the better one.
It is never pleasant to be humbled but it is necessary to be used by God.
Summary
Alexander is the type of ruler who cannot get started with a project, blames others for his misfortunes, and ends up hurting himself and his people; but he is finally humbled before God.
Playing Time
7 minutes
Setting
The throne room, Macedonia
Props
Agamuse -- a pot of mud
Costumes
Ancient Greek with half masks and cothurni
Time
Ancient Greek
Cast
ALEXANDER -- the king of Macedonia
CHOREGUS -- the leader of the chorus
TALULIAS -- the blind prophet
PEASANT BOY -- who leads Talulias
IACATA -- wife of Alexander
AGAMUSE-- the priest of Apollo
CHOREGUS: (ENTERS) Before the orb of Phoebus is silently resting on the wings of gentle Orpheus, our fate will become that which is evermore, and that which shall ever be henceforth shall nevermore waken the dark tresses of the deep. From the trembling womb of the mighty earthen oracle came the message translated by Scythian skies rent in twain by the bolts of Zeus: "One who is present among us will be present to us." Oh, that the Phrygian oracle had spoken words that would less mystery represent. Our ears pierced by the wail of mourning mothers that would, in vain, decipher the nebulous meaning. The aged fathers of our mighty city tear their silken locks in the interworking of this most puzzling of ciphers. (ENTER ALEXANDER) Is this not our lordly ruler, Alexander, who is now approaching? His kingly brow careworn with the fretacious inheritance of his noble father, Philip.
ALEXANDER: Ah, will the shadowy silvers of Diana never interrupt the disdain I harbor in my inmost soul for the oracle that inflicted this mysterious carnage upon my realm? Dear citizens of Macedonia, I harbor in my heart the sufferings that inflict themselves upon each one of you. The blight destroys the flower and darkens its bloom. The cattle, pastured and bearing young, are stricken with an unknown malady that robs the newly born of their nourishment. The women are no more laden with young. Old men stumble and fall, nevermore to rise. Young men fall with sicknesses that no one can discern. The grave is increasing its taloned hold on our land. I, in desperation, seek the answer. (IACATA ENTERS)
CHOREGUS: But here enters someone who might speak to the King as a friend. His wife, Iacata.
IACATA: Alexander, my noble and valiant husband, this malaise that envelopes the gentle land of our forefathers now has bidden me to partake of its ghastly feast. I have eaten myself to gorging of this swollen banquet. My teeth ache and I am past caring for. What can be accomplished by tarrying any longer? Make haste to come to our assistance.
ALEXANDER: I can do nothing that can stem the horrible tide that rolls upon us as assuredly as the morning dew is eaten up by the noonday sun.
IACATA: Alexander, you as King and ruler of this beautiful land have ruled nobly, but during a time of such impending doom you must be the one to lead us, solve the problem that has befallen us, and extricate your faithful charges that have been placed in your able hands.
ALEXANDER: I realize that this is my sworn duty as King and overseer. I see no reason that the wife of my bosom would be the one appointed by the gods to inform me of such a responsibility.
IACATA: Others have told you before. You would not listen to them.
ALEXANDER: So, you come into the presence of the King to tell him what others have already said? By the girdle of Kronos, what a royal waste of time you have perpetrated upon this court. Get you hence. Return to your wifely duties.
IACATA: I perform one of them this very moment.
ALEXANDER: By vexing me. Am I not vexed enough?
IACATA: Not enough to act, it seems.
ALEXANDER: When I act you will know it and shudder, you and all the ones who think they can advise the King. Does not wisdom reside in the King? Who can advise the seat of wisdom?
IACATA: Who indeed?
ALEXANDER: Certainly not the one who shares his bed.
IACATA: Who instructs the person for whom there is no longer any regard for learning?
ALEXANDER: You should take heed of learning. Learn how to respect your husband.
IACATA: Respect is earned, not learned.
ALEXANDER: Then earn it by leaving me to my decisions.
IACATA: Oh, my most royal husband, does not the royal court need husbanding today? Your nobles are dying for lack of food. They will not tell you their agonies for fear of your mighty hand.
ALEXANDER: Is it possible that this is true?
IACATA: May the eternal pledge we made, our right hands clasped, be revoked if I am relating to you something that should prove false.
ALEXANDER: It is not a question of whether it is false or true, but a matter of whether we will all perish or not.
IACATA: Indeed, it is a more encompassing question. Oh, my husband, I fear we shall all fall victim to that fate.
ALEXANDER: A fate, my wife, that no means of matter can change.
IACATA: It is, then, our end?
ALEXANDER: It may be as you say.
IACATA: Can we save nothing? Not the city? Not the people? Nothing?
ALEXANDER: All is lost, my dearest.
IACATA: You, too, then are lost.
ALEXANDER: It is as you say.
IACATA: I will return to our home, which will soon lie barren as my heart now lies. (IACATA EXITS)
ALEXANDER: I will decipher the meaning delivered unto us by the oracle. Bring before me the blind prophet Talulias.
CHOREGUS: Do I not see the prophet approaching? Drawn, I would wager, by the death that plagues our city. He will delve deeply into the inner workings of the dark saying and bring all its meaning to light.
TALULIAS: Which way? Lead the way to the leader who brings destruction on all of Philip's brood.
ALEXANDER: Do not, O prophet, think that your venerable age protects you from being prosecuted for the idle utterances of your mouth.
TALULIAS: I need no such protection. The utterances of my mouth are true and will be proven so.
ALEXANDER: Upon your own oath be it said. What is necessary to rid the city of this horrendous plague?
TALULIAS: You will be no party to asking.
ALEXANDER: Don't riddle me, blind one. Answer me as a man.
TALULIAS: Can you, as a man, receive it?
ALEXANDER: Am I not the ruler of Macedonia?
TALULIAS: Position alone is not sufficient for wisdom.
ALEXANDER: But position is sufficient for dealing with recalcitrant seers.
TALULIAS: And time alone is sufficient for dealing with insufficient potentates.
ALEXANDER: Enough of this provoking derision. Hear me, old man. I mean to have the truth out of you if it means your death.
TALULIAS: Death is not fearsome to one who lives in darkness. Truth is all that this old gray head has ever generated.
ALEXANDER: Why, tell it out straightforward, then.
TALULIAS: The problem lies within your bosom.
ALEXANDER: So this is your disparaging revelation. Go feed it to your winged allies.
TALULIAS: I feed it here to one with as much with which to think.
ALEXANDER: Get out of my sight. Take this sightless prognosticator. (CHOREGUS GRABS TALULIAS AND ESCORTS HIM OFF)
TALULIAS: I will gladly leave, but not because you choose for me to. You have no power over me. You have only the power that is given to you.
ALEXANDER: Take him hence. (TALULIAS EXITS, LED BY THE PEASANT BOY)
CHOREGUS: What forces drive one man to action while another is halted where he stands, not moving forward to remedy a situation? Why cannot our ruler decide to end this devastation? Who will influence him to move? What person has the power to make a ruler change his mind? Princes have no one who will talk to them as others are spoken to, person to person. So who will influence the King for good? Maybe our great city is doomed, as it seems to be. But harken to the entrance of the priest of the oracle of Delphi. (AGAMUSE ENTERS, CARRYING A POT OF MUD)
ALEXANDER: At last I see some help approaching. The oracle can relate to us the remedy to our situation.
AGAMUSE: Hail, ruler of the vast kingdom of Macedon.
ALEXANDER: And hail to you, Priest of Phoebus.
AGAMUSE: Your kingdom has, I have seen, fallen on perilous times.
ALEXANDER: You have seen correctly.
AGAMUSE: What are you doing to stop the demise of your kingdom?
ALEXANDER: Nothing.
AGAMUSE: I cannot believe what you are telling me.
ALEXANDER: Alas, there is nothing I can do.
AGAMUSE: To do nothing is to allow the enemy to win.
ALEXANDER: Is this all that you bring me -- your derision?
AGAMUSE: I bring you hope.
ALEXANDER: Hope? I have forgotten the word.
AGAMUSE: You will remember soon enough.
ALEXANDER: What is that that you carry? Is that your hope?
AGAMUSE: It is.
ALEXANDER: Bring it to me. (AGAMUSE CROSSES TO ALEXANDER) Mud! You have brought me a pot of mud! What trickery is this?
AGAMUSE: No trickery, honored King. I would not presume. This is the sacred mud from the Oracle at Delphi.
ALEXANDER: This is the sacred mud?
AGAMUSE: None other.
ALEXANDER: Then read to me what the mud is saying.
AGAMUSE: (STICKING HIS HAND IN THE MUD AND SWIRLING IT AROUND) I see something.
ALEXANDER: What? What is it!
AGAMUSE: (THINKING -- BEGINS STROKING HIS CHIN AND GETTING MUD ALL OVER HIMSELF) Hmm. It is becoming clearer.
ALEXANDER: Is this part of the ceremony?
AGAMUSE: Wait! Wait! I see something.
ALEXANDER: Tell me. What do you see?
AGAMUSE: The great Apollo wants you to give his priest all the gold in the city.
ALEXANDER: What? All our gold?
AGAMUSE: Yes. Immediately. You are to give it to the priest of Apollo.
ALEXANDER: That would put wealth in your hands.
AGAMUSE: That is the will of the mighty Apollo. Yes.
ALEXANDER: To you? I am supposed to give all the wealth of the city to you?
AGAMUSE: It is a worthy cause. The temple at Delphi is in need of repair.
ALEXANDER: And will you guarantee the safety of our city?
AGAMUSE: Oh, most certainly. The oracle has spoken.
ALEXANDER: Since our city is in peril, I will put you in peril. If the plague is not lifted the exact moment that I hand to you all the treasures of our city, then your life is forfeit.
AGAMUSE: A high price for prophetic inaccuracy.
ALEXANDER: Nevertheless, that is the price.
AGAMUSE: I don't think I have the word from Apollo exactly right. I think Apollo is saying that all the treasures of the city is too high a price.
ALEXANDER: Oh, the god wavers, does he?
AGAMUSE: Seldom. But there have been occasions.
ALEXANDER: Get out of my sight.
AGAMUSE: What? You would incur the wrath of Apollo?
ALEXANDER: Bring me a priest whose mind is not as muddied as his chin.
(CHORAGUS TAKES AGAMUSE OFF. PEASANT BOY ENTERS)
ALEXANDER: Is there not someone who can help? (PAUSE) What? The peasant boy who leads the blind prophet? What can you do?
PEASANT BOY: I can tell you what you can do.
ALEXANDER: Foolish child. Run along.
PEASANT BOY: No one runs when he is dying, great King.
ALEXANDER: That is true. I am the foolish one.
PEASANT BOY: That is true.
ALEXANDER: If our city was not in such great peril I would have you killed for such insolence.
PEASANT BOY: When death is near it is time for truth. They call you Alexander the Mediocre.
ALEXANDER: Truth? Truth? Is it true, then, that I am a fool?
PEASANT BOY: It is.
ALEXANDER: How could I become wise?
PEASANT BOY: Wisdom comes from the Creator, God.
ALEXANDER: Zeus?
PEASANT BOY: No, not Zeus or any other god that a person can dream up.
ALEXANDER: A new god, then.
PEASANT BOY: Not a new god. But the Creator, God who made everything there is from nothing.
ALEXANDER: Certainly a powerful god. If he exists. I am ready to try anything. How do I gain his favor?
PEASANT BOY: By humbling yourself before Him and asking Him to restore your city.
ALEXANDER: Child, I will do it.
PEASANT BOY: You will no longer be known as Alexander the Mediocre. You will be known as Alexander the Humble.
ALEXANDER: I had another name in mind. But yours is the better one.
