Greek lawyers drop threatened Alexander lawsuit

Greek lawyers are giving up efforts to have a new Hollywood film banned and its makers sued for depicting Alexander the Great as a bisexual. The lawyers, who saw a preview just ahead of Alexander's release in Greece on Friday, said it did not have the explicit scenes they had feared, though they were still unhappy it dealt with this aspect of their national hero's life. Historians and the film's makers say the youthful Macedonian warrior from the fourth century B.C.--played by Irishman Colin Farrell--loved both men and women. But the group of Greek lawyers had threatened to sue Warner Bros. and director Oliver Stone over "fictional details regarding Alexander's sex life" and try to have the film banned. After Thursday night's viewing, a day before the movie's Greek premiere, the 25 lawyers said the film's content was far less controversial than expected. "The scenes we had expected to see are not there, but there are many sexual innuendos regarding Alexander's sexual activity," lawyer Costas Koutsoulelos said. "I personally did not like the film, and we [the lawyers] decided that any further legal action against it would work in favor of a film that is just not worth it." The movie, hailed by gay and lesbian groups for openly showing Alexander's love for his male friend Hephaestion, includes several references to the lead character's bisexuality. But according to Koutsoulelos, the three-hour movie contains hardly any controversial sex scenes, "so for us the matter is closed." One U.S. newspaper referred to Alexander, from the Greek province of Macedonia, as the "first gay action hero." He carved out the biggest empire of his day, stretching from the Mediterranean to Afghanistan, and never lost a battle.