It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death.

In addition to vivid fictional portrayals of Theseus Socrates Plato and Alexander the Great Mary Renault wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander. Mary Renault (pronounced /rɛnoʊlt/ Ren-olt) (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983) born Eileen Mary Challans was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece.