Pharaoh I am now, thought a native Greek,
with no Egyptian words that I can speak.
When young, my study was philosophy
with Aristotle (the Academy
founded by Plato). And there, Alexander.
who piqued great kings with petty jealousy,
was my best friend. I served as chief commander
on his staff, and wrote his biography
(along with other works of history).
On Rhodes, the people name me, now, their Savior
because I gave them a strategic favor;
the title is a grateful appellation,
not more. I do not know where real Savation
may be found on this mortal earth, nor when
it will make its epiphany to men.
Like any man, my thoughts have limitation,
but at their edge (past which I cannot go;
too many in this world still do not know
their limits), I have found the vaguest sense
(an expectation, not experience)
that mercy and redemption shall be heard
during a kind of spiritual proclamation,
the utterance of an eternal Word
given to any, and to every, one
without obscure rites, and excluding none;
a message to the drunk, hugging his bottle,
as to likes of Plato and Aristotle.
So, with this land's rather abundant wealth
(and, hopefully, long as my mind and health
endure), I am collecting all the scrolls
(most copies and a few originals)
ever composed, on all things. There, the soul's
transactions are recorded. Such collation
(without exclusion and without exemption)
will have acquired some knowledge of redempton;
some glimpse (even the slightest) of Salvation.
Author's Notes/Comments:
The speaker is Ptolemy the First. I believe I have observed the commonly known facts of his life. I find it fascinating that, given his common birth, he rose, strictly on his political and military ability, to command Alexander's forces in the field, and then to first govern, then reign as Pharaoh over, Egypt.
Ptolemy is believed, by some scholars to have founded the great library at Alexandria (although some believe it was his son, and some believe it was both of them together). The stated purpose of the library was to gather all the books ever written to date; and to provide a place for professional scholars to pursue independent research while being salaried by the state. In this latter aspect, the library anticipates our modern university system; and thus that, too, can possibly be credited to Ptolemy.
I have not found a reasonable explanation of the motive that began the collection of books in Alexandria. Personally, I believe, and have so stated in the poem, that the hollow title of Soter led Ptolemy (who was---we must remember---trained first as a philosophy student rather than a military or political functionary) to consider that the meaning of the word must apply to someone or something greater than himself; and to believe, in holding with his philosophical heritage, that this meaning would be given through and by a word.
I have always found it fascinating that the line of intellectual heritage proceeds from Socrates, to Plato, to Aristotle, and then to (among others) Alexander and Ptolemy; and that at the core of Ptolemy's personality was, prior to the military and political accomplishment, the scholarly discipline of philosophy.
