He answered, that he
cared nothing for it, but that he wished to find that upon which
Achilles used to play when he sang of the deeds of heroes.
XVI. Meanwhile the generals of Darius had collected a large army, and
posted it at the passage of the river Granikus, so that it was
necessary for Alexander to fight a battle in order to effect so much
as an entrance into Asia. Most of the Greek generals were alarmed at
the depth and uneven bed of the river, and at the rugged and broken
ground on the farther bank, which they would have to mount in the face
of the enemy. Some also raised a religious scruple, averring that the
Macedonian kings never made war during the month Daisius. Alexander
said that this could be easily remedied, and ordered that the second
month in the Macedonian calendar should henceforth be called
Artemisium. When Parmenio besought him not to risk a battle, as the
season was far advanced, he said that the Hellespont would blush for
shame if he crossed it, and then feared to cross the Granikus, and at
once plunged into the stream with thirteen squadrons of cavalry. It
seemed the act of a desperate madman rather than of a general to ride
thus through a rapid river, under a storm of missiles, towards a steep
bank where every position of advantage was occupied by armed men. He,
however, gained the farther shore, and made good his footing there,
although with great difficulty on account of the slippery mud.
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