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→The Star Trek and Mary Renault Connection
==The Star Trek and Mary Renault Connection==
==The Star Trek and Mary Renault Connection==
In the first authorized biography of William Shatner, [[Shatner: Where No Man]] by [[Sondra Marshak]] and [[Myrna Culbreath]], one chapter is devoted to an interview with [[Gene Roddenberry]]. The authors compared Kirk's friendship with Spock to the bond between Alexander the Great and his friend Hephaistion. In context, a series of historical novels about Alexander's life by Mary Renault were appearing at the time this book was being prepared, and Roddenberry had read them. Shatner had played Alexander in a 1968 TV-movie, and both he and Roddenberry described themselves as fans of the historical Alexander.
In the first authorized biography of William Shatner, [[Shatner: Where No Man]] by [[Sondra Marshak]] and [[Myrna Culbreath]], one chapter is devoted to an interview with [[Gene Roddenberry]]. The authors compared Kirk's friendship with Spock to the bond between Alexander the Great and his friend Hephaistion. In context, a series of historical novels about Alexander's life by Mary Renault were appearing at the time this book was being prepared, and Roddenberry had read them. Shatner had played Alexander in a 1968 TV-movie, and both he and Roddenberry described themselves as fans of the historical Alexander.
Roddenberry was interviewed the week after the announcement of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Phase_II Star Trek: Phase II], the originally planned television series. Marshak and Culbreath began by asking him a series of questions about the [[Kirk-Spock]] friendship, particularly in the context of [[Mary Renault]]'s [[The Alexander Trilogy|novels about Alexander the Great]].
Asked if he saw the Kirk-Spock friendship as "two halves which come together to make a whole", Gene replied:
{{Quotation|Oh, yes. As I've said, I definitely designed it as a love relationship. I think that's what we're all about -- love, the effort to reach out to each other. I think that's a lovely thing. Also, dramatically, I designed Kirk and Spock to complete each other, and in fact the Kirk, Spock, McCoy triad to be the dramatic embodiment of the parts of one person: logic, emotion, and the balance between them. You cannot have an internal monologue on screen, so that is a way of personifying it, getting it out where it can be seen -- that internal debate which we all have within And I designed Kirk and Spock, as I told you, as dream images of myself, the two halves. But in terms of the characters, yes. That closeness. Absolutely.}}
Roddenberry further revealed that he had cast Shatner as Kirk partly on the basis of his performance as Alexander.
{{Quotation2|''Marshak and Culbreath:'' "There's a great deal of writing in the Star Trek movement now which compares the relationship between Alexander and Hephaistion to the relationship between Kirk and Spock -- focusing on the closeness of the friendship, the feeling that they would die for one another --"
<P>
''Roddenberry:'' "Yes, there's certainly some of that, certainly with love overtones. Deep love. The only difference being, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_love the Greek ideal]... we never suggested in the series... physical love between the two. But it's the... we certainly had the feeling that the affection was sufficient for that, if that were the particular style of the 23rd century." (He looks thoughtful.) "That's very interesting. I never thought of that before."<ref>Page 148. Who is "we"?</ref></p>}}
===Portrayed in Star Trek===
===Portrayed in Star Trek===
This [[pairing]] is often used and referenced in Kirk and Spock fiction and art, both [[m/m]] and [[gen]]. From a 1976 letter by Beverly C in [[The Halkan Council]] #22: "True, Kirk insists on the dominant part in everything, friendship and love as well as career; this is not unprecedented, nor is it impossible for such a man to find a lasting relationship. Take the case of Alexander, which is an excellent parallel. Alexander the Great was also a dynamic leader, who settled for nothing less than the top position, yet he managed to maintain for nearly twenty years a love relationship - with Hephaistion, one of his chief generals. The parallel is so good because the similarity between Spock and Kirk is so apparent, Spock is a man content to remain in his present position, Hephaistion was also a capable, intelligent man who preferred to remain subordinate to Alexander - as long as he could be near Alexander. Yet he was not passive or "feminine" any more than Spock is. As [[Gerry Downes|Gerry]] points out, Spock is as masculine and strong as Kirk is; it is reflected in different ways, part temperamental, part cultural."
This [[pairing]] is often used and referenced in Kirk and Spock fiction and art, both [[m/m]] and [[gen]]. From a 1976 letter by Beverly C in [[The Halkan Council]] #22: {Quotation|
True, Kirk insists on the dominant part in everything, friendship and love as well as career; this is not unprecedented, nor is it impossible for such a man to find a lasting relationship. Take the case of Alexander, which is an excellent parallel. Alexander the Great was also a dynamic leader, who settled for nothing less than the top position, yet he managed to maintain for nearly twenty years a love relationship - with Hephaistion, one of his chief generals. The parallel is so good because the similarity between Spock and Kirk is so apparent, Spock is a man content to remain in his present position, Hephaistion was also a capable, intelligent man who preferred to remain subordinate to Alexander - as long as he could be near Alexander. Yet he was not passive or "feminine" any more than Spock is. As [[Gerry Downes|Gerry]] points out, Spock is as masculine and strong as Kirk is; it is reflected in different ways, part temperamental, part cultural.}}
===Some Fanwork Examples===
* [[Succubus, Incubus]] (1978) was one of the first stories to note the linking character/relational similarities between Kirk/Spock and Alexander/Hephaistion.
* [[Succubus, Incubus]] (1978) was one of the first stories to note the linking character/relational similarities between Kirk/Spock and Alexander/Hephaistion.
* [[The Gateway of the King]] (1984), a story in the British zine [[The Voice]]
* [[The Gateway of the King]] (1984), a story in the British zine [[The Voice]]