Greeks Sue Over Gay Alexander

Greeks Sue Over Gay Alexander

Athens: Director Oliver Stone and his film Alexander are being threatened with a lawsuit for portraying Alexander the Great as a bisexual.

A group of Greek lawyers announced on Friday that they have served Stone and Warner Bros film studios with "an extrajudicial note".

The group wants Stone to include a reference in the title credits saying the movie is fiction and not based on fact.

Yannis Varnakos, the spokesperson for the group, admits that he has not seen the film, set to be released 24 November in the US (7 January 2005 in the UK), but says he has already gathered enough evidence to suggest there are what he calls "inappropriate references".

One of the greatest warriors of all time, little is known about Alexander's life. What we do know has come from ancient writers.

In a 365Gay.com article on Alexander, University of Washington classicist Marc Millner says ancient historians like Plutarch (circa 70 AD) and Curtius (around 41 AD) were never circumspect about Alexander's sexuality.

Most modern historians also agree Alexander was bisexual, if not gay. Greeks, however, have never accepted the theories, insisting the great national hero was straight.

Two years ago hundreds of men from northern Greece stormed an archaeological symposium after one speaker presented a paper on the homosexuality of Alexander. Police had to be called in to clear away the demonstrators.

While most of the film Alexander involves the conqueror of the known world's battles the movie does not shy away from his bisexuality.

Neither Stone nor Warner Bros. has commented on the threatened suit.

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