She Did Everything She Could To Protect Herself and Her Daughter
And they survived death
Centuries before the King of Jews was born, two kings battled.
One from Macedonia and the other from Persia.
At the time, Persia was the largest kingdom stretching through a great part of Asia Minor and into Egypt. Housing the world’s breadbasket and the epicentre of where the Agrarian Revolution blew up, the empire had enough to finance the largest army at the time.
Then, after his father was killed by one of his trusted guards, Alexander took the throne and took the fight to Persia.
In response to the threat and in classical Persian fashion, the King of Persia, Darius III took his court with him to war.
That was the first mistake.
On the battlefield, the world’s largest army was confident in its numbers. The Persian army was more than double that of the Macedonians, but knowing what we know about mosquitoes, we can never belittle the size of the enemy.
Darius III underestimated his enemy.
That was the second mistake.
The final blow was not something King Darius could control. You see, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle. He knew about the battle strategies of the Persians and strategized to strike at the Persian weak points. He knew that the king would always move with his royal court.
A crippling third mistake by Darius.
So when he began to retreat, instead of chasing him, Alexander went for the most mobile piece on the chessboard — the queen. Rather than put her out, she captured them.
It was at this point that the queen knew she had to do anything not just to save her life, but that of her daughter.
Any great challenges I find a loop through
A captive such as the queen is bound to have insider info that any other general might lack. It’s the option that Alexander took.
He found a loop.
Contrary to the belief of the Persians, the queen received royal treatment. All that Alexander wanted was to talk. Amid conversations with her, he realized that Darius had an enemy that Alexander could subdue, Egypt.
The daughter was aghast.
Mother, what are you doing?
She asked.
Right now? Surviving.
She knew the cards she was handed.
And she did find a loop.
When it comes to fate, we tend to think of poker. You have to play your hand. Consider what you’ve been given and make a move.
From a deck of 52, you only get to hold a few pieces. Well, that idea smacks of someone backed into a corner who has only a hammer and a knife living in a war-torn world with bombs and guns.
Stateira knew when she was backed into a corner. She could either play like the queen in a game of cards, or like a queen in a game of chess. She dropped the cards and moved on the board. Then she watched as the king made his move.
All the while, she knew what game she was playing. It was a long game. Had she considered what her daughter had told her, that she was first a Persian, she would have been dead.
But an organism thinks about itself first. If your doctor told you that you have a 98% chance of dying the following day, would you stick with the inclination that you might die or the 2% chance you could cheat death?
Stateira gambled with the 2%.
Any great challenges I find a loop through — Nas
And it paid off. Alexander took her with him to Egypt, where she would later become the wife of arguably one of the greatest kings the world has ever seen.
While everyone will always remember the great Alexander, I chose to focus on the strategic steps his wife took. She did anything to survive.
There’s a difference between a certain answer about your death and a probable answer. Probability means there’s a chance you could die, but swings both ways. You could also live.
Organisms, according to the theory of Organismal Selection, choose to avoid death. You might not live in the lavish way we all want or want at some point in our lives, but we all want to avoid death.
Tell me where I will die, and I’ll avoid visiting the place. That’s what Charlie Munger loved to say. A powerful message.
Organisms and their efforts to avoid death can never be measured. It can explicitly break down one’s beliefs and have another embracing a new culture just so one survives.
The former wife of Darius became the future wife of Alexander.
When we swing back to Kenya, King Nabongo Mumia collaborated when his neighbours remained true to their roots. Both are efforts in trying to avoid death.
For the collaborator, it was a way of saving his skin while aiming to gain from the new people who dressed like butterflies. For the other communities, it was a way of preserving what they held sacred.
For the future Queen of all Persia, it was, circa 300 BC, abandoning one King for another.
Organisms will do anything to survive. In this case, she sought a merger.
Reachin’ for the stars like I’m reachin’ for the pylon
She saw the rising star of Alexander.
As it rose from Macedon, it shone brightly in comparison to the glory days of Darius III. Filled with youth and incandescent ambition, he sought to build a city that to date, holds his mysteries.
When watching the Legend of Aang, there is a library in Alexandria I wish to have visited. The Library is historic and one of the largest in the ancient world. If I had the power, I would travel back to walk in its hallowed walls.
Tell me, how can you pick a spot that everyone thinks is deserted and declare that you’ll make a city off it? True to his words, he does just that.
He not only defeats Darius with a smaller army but makes bold moves everywhere he goes. According to Stateira, it was strategic to create a merger with him rather than stand by an empire that was all but lost.
So she reached for the star — she reached for Alexander.
Then again, it could be that she was charmed by him.
Whichever way it went, it is clear that there was a merger. Mergers are the options organisms resort to when their lives are in danger. It’s what Stateira did when her life was in danger.
In the process, she saved herself and her daughter.
Years later, the daughter towed the line. She too married Alexander the Great.
Love is a mysterious thing.
What I’m trying to say is…
The goal of any organism is to avoid death.
It is a goal that ties both the barbarian and the civilian, the king and the slave, man, and woman, with a backbone or without.
The simple way to do this is to create mergers.
Bacteria do it, and so did the future queen of Persia, Darius III, and Alexander.
What’s more a mother will do anything for her child if it means keeping it safe. It’s iconic how mothers would go to great lengths to safeguard themselves and their children. In short,
Like bygones, gotta let icons be icons
Hi moms (hi moms)
Indeed, hi moms?
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