Alejandro Magno: El destino de un mito

by Claude Mossé, Margarita Sáenz de la Calzada (translator)

La vida de Alejandro Magno, uno de los personajes históricos que más admiración despierta y que más mitología ha creado en torno a su figura.Esta interesante y rigurosa biografía se centra en los últimos diez años de vida de Alejandro, el conquistador macedonio que se apoderó del Imperio persa y condujo a su ejército hasta el norte de la India. La autora, tras relatar las hazañas del rey de Macedonia de una forma clara y sencilla, analiza, desde el punto de vista histórico e ideológico, el proceso de mitificación de Alejandro Magno y su pervivencia desde tiempos del Imperio romano hasta nuestros días.Claude Mossé es profesora emérita en la Universidad Paris-VIII y una especialista en la Antigua Grecia de reconocido prestigio en el mundo académico. Es autora de más de veinte obras, todas ellas sobre la Antigüedad.

Genres: History, Biography, Ancient History, Greece

284 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Mossé was born the daughter of a wine merchant in Paris. She is the sister of Eliane Mossé , researcher in macroeconomics, and Arlette Mosse , clinical nutritionist. In the winter of 1941, during World War II and aged 16, she first read a text on liberty and democracy by Demosthenes; since then, she has dedicated her life to Greek history, never having married or having any children.

Her favourite historical subject is 4th century BCE Athens. Mossé belongs to the same school of historical thought with Jean-Pierre Vernant and Pierre Vidal-Naquet. She is professor emeritus at the University of Paris VIII. Her works have been translated into many languages including English, German, Spanish, Italian and modern Greek.

Reviews

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recensione sul blog Alessandro III di Macedonia- Alessandro Magno & Ellenismo

[Lua · Rating 5 out of 5]

De las pocas novelas históricas que me han conseguido encantar. Claude Mossé, es una gran escritora e historiadora.

[Read me two times · Rating 3 out of 5]

Onestamente mi aspettavo di più.

[John Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, especially around reception of Alexander in Jewish tradition and later changing views of the conquerer through to present day

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

More than a biography this books aims at explain what made Alexander such a compelling character throughout history, but more importantly how his actions helped to change the world.
The book starts with a very brief overview of how Alexander reached the crown of Macedonia and then moves to enumerate his expansionist ventures. In this section there isn't much detail on fights, pillage or similar activities. The goal of this section is reinforced in the coming chapters where there's a more deep analysis of the actions and its consequences. The second half of the book focus more on how the figure of Alexander has been perceived in the following decades and why has he become such an ambiguous character.
Although. somewhat confusing at times, its an interesting book that provides a fascinating insight to the role of Alexander in shaping the world

[Poli · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I like the most about this book is it's attempt to expose the multiple layers of Alexander's Character. Also think that the author did good explaining the politics in the region before Alexander got to power and even what happened after his death with his companions fighting for power.
What I don't like is the several "We'll be back to that later" (or something like that)and
the consequent " As was mentioned earlier" the author uses throughout the book. In my opinion is annoying to have the narrative constantly interrupted with something which will be properly mentioned later.

[Lys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread in 2026.
Way too short on anything to be anything but a run-through.

Knowing more about the topic, its weak points stand out even more.