Sir, - Referring to Patsy McGarry's Irishman's Diary of May 10th, the least I can say is that his interpretations of history about Alexander the Great reflect a very peculiar reading which contradicts historical facts. Out of respect for your readers and for the sake of objectivity I would suggest that they ask the opinion of any of the distinguished professors of classics who are available in all Irish universities.
Those acquainted with this period would take only as a joke your correspondent's insinuation that Aristotle taught his pupil Alexander in the dialect spoken today in FYROM or that he wrote his philosophical works in that language. As far as the linguistic origins of this Slavic dialect is concerned, I think Mr McGarry would stand to learn a lot if he took the trouble to address the question to Bulgarian scientists on linguistics. - Yours, etc.,
Leonida B. Contouvounesios, First secretary, Embassy of Greece to Ireland, Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2.