The Divine Lie Or Eating Soup With A Fork is a somewhat satirical account of western civilization beginning with an encounter between a man sitting in a bathtub and a guy on a black horse, and ending sometime next Tuesday. The guy on the horse is referred to by historians as Alexander the Grape... excuse me... Great. The guy in the tub is Diogenes or Dio for short. The book is based on real historical figures, however, some of the events described probably didn't occur exactly as written. There is, for example, no evidence to show that ballroom dancing has anything to do with testicles.
There is also the, not so funny, story of a man named Sore Feet or Oedipus in Greek, and his family. Oedipus refuses to be part of Alexander's war games. He deserts the army and he and his family pay the price.
So, what is the alternative to The Divine Lie? You have to read the book to find out.