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Identity Choice and Pronouns

Identity choice is nothing new.  Nor is the awkward insistence that others play along with the little game.  As Plutarch records about a 4th c. BC incident in Greece,

Damis [a Spartan], with reference to the instructions sent from Alexander [the Great] that they should pass a formal vote deifying him, said, ‘We concede to Alexander that, if he so wishes, he may be called a god' (Apophthegmata Laconica 25.1).

One can imagine Alexander insisting, 'You must call me by my divine pronouns: 'Thou, Thee, and Thy.'

Damis's reply is priceless, rejecting any idea that Alexander really was a god and treating Alexander as the pretender he was.


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