Stuart Walton on the dangers of the poisoned chalice.
From Alexander the Great to The Princess Bride, Stuart Walton delves into numerous historical and cultural personalities who met their end through wine.
No one is certain about the exact cause of death in 323 BC of Alexander III of Macedon, widely known as Alexander the Great. While leading another military expedition and staying at the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon, he fell ill after an intense session of drinking. His condition worsened, leading him to become too frail to walk, prompting him to request being transported on a litter across the Euphrates to the gardens on its eastern bank. However, his caretakers soon realized indoors was better for his state, and he was brought back to the palace confines.
In an historic example of the turmoil caused by misinformation, soldiers of Alexander began to suspect they were being misled about his condition, believing he had died. To dispel these rumors, they were permitted to walk through his sick-room, witnessing his weak movements which showed that he was still alive, albeit barely. He passed away on the evening of June 10, at the young age of 32, after deteriorating rapidly over two weeks.
This story has endured through time, with allegations that he was killed by either one person or a group, through poison in one of his many wine glasses. Considered a divine figure and a heroic figure in terms of his drinking habits, Alexander is thought to have been an alcoholic by modern standards, consuming large amounts of undiluted wine. He was notably under the guidance of Aristotle, whose teachings on moderation in his work On Drunkenness, now lost, apparently went unheeded by the King.
If his death was caused by wine, it would likely have been through a fatal poisoned cup. Notably, none who shared his drink that fateful night experienced similar symptoms; only Alexander was affected. A study published in Clinical Toxicology in December 2013 by Dr Leo Schep and his team at the National Poisons Centre of New Zealand suggested Alexander’s death symptoms were consistent with a toxic reaction to Veratrum album, or white hellebore, an ancient Greek medicinal purgative. Concealed in his drink, a strong dose of this could explain his agonizingly drawn-out death.
In the intriguing study titled Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy by John Maxwell O’Brien published in 1992, the author disputes the long-held belief that Alexander the Great met his demise through poisoned wine. Instead, O’Brien proposes that Alexander’s fatal ailment could have been due to severe alcohol withdrawal. This condition could severely impact habitual heavy drinkers. Aristobulus of Cassandreia, a Greek historian who was close to Alexander, noted that the king suffered from extreme fever and delirium after drinking wine in his thirsty state, which eventually led to his death. The question remains: did Alexander’s regular drinking habits weaken his body, or was it the immediate cause of his death?
Turning the pages back to the early fourth century BC, a notably infamous incident involved the philosopher Socrates, who chose to drink a lethal concoction rather than accept exile from Athens. This deadly potion contained the crushed leaves of the plant Conium maculatum, also known as hemlock, recognized as the official poison by the Athenian State. Often mixed in wine, possibly with an addition of opium to reduce its bitterness, hemlock ingestion led to violent reactions including vomiting, convulsions, and ultimately, death by respiratory failure. However, these agonizing details are conspicuously absent from the calm depiction of Socrates’ death in Plato’s Phaedo, and in Jacques-Louis David’s serene 1787 painting, which portrays Socrates eloquently speaking moments before his death.
In literary and cinematic narratives, the theme of deadly beverages recurs. For instance, in Shakespeare’s play, Queen Gertrude accidentally drinks the poison meant for her son, Hamlet. Similarly, in the 1987 film The Princess Bride, Vizzini, a cunning Sicilian, is tricked into drinking poisoned wine by the protagonist, showcasing a thrilling battle of wits and deception. Whether it’s by reverse psychology or pre-ingestion of a toxin, the suspense in such scenes hinges on the hazardous drink.
One of the most dramatic instances of death involving wine is the story of George Plantagenet, the first Duke of Clarence, in 1478. Condemned by his brother King Edward IV for treason, George supposedly chose to be executed by being drowned in a vat of malmsey wine, a luxurious Madeira wine, which preserved royal blood from being spilled. Shakespeare later popularized this story in his play Richard III, although historical records indicate George was found intact when exhumed, adding a layer of mystery to his death — whether or not the tale of his wine-drenched demise holds any truth.