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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