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Животът на Александър, цар на македонците
"II romanzo di Alessandro" è tra le opere dell'antichità greca più tradotte: dalla sua prima comparsa in età ellenistica è stata copiata e riscritta una infinità di volte, non solo nella sua lingua originaria, ma anche in una molteplicità di lingue e dialetti di epoca sia tardoantica sia medievale sia moderna. La Fondazione Valla inizia con questo volume - primo di tre - la pubblicazione "sinottica" del "Romanzo di Alessandro": ciascun volume affiancherà il testo di tre redazioni greche del "Romanzo" e del parallelo testo latino delle "Imprese di Alessandro il Macedone" di Giulio Valerio, mentre il commento seguirà il filo delle avventure di Alessandro raffrontando le diverse versioni di ogni episodio.
86 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 250
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
July 2, 2016
The Alexander Romance is a fascinating, bizarre little book. History buffs will be familiar with the many accomplishments of Alexander the Great, who led his Macedonian army on an astonishing campaign of conquest across Asia and into India, toppling the Persian empire in the process. These are the kinds of feats that make a man into a near-legend in his own time. Apparently, by the third century AD, this transformation from man into myth was complete.
The Romance was written around the year 250 or so, over 500 years after Alexander died in 323 BC. I suppose it is a biography of sorts, in that it tells a story of Alexander’s life from birth to death, although it is an insane one. The anonymous author starts off fast & loose with his treatment of the historical record, inventing a fanciful tale whereby Alexander’s mother is impregnated by an Egyptian wizard (presumably because the author was from Egypt).
Then, things get weird.
The book proceeds to describe Alexander’s life and deeds in chronological order. However, the Romance is supremely unhelpful as a biography, as the author is mostly concerned with relating fantastic and wondrous stories about Alexander that grow increasingly fanciful as he drifts away from the Mediterranean. Among his many feats:
• Alexander descends to the bottom of the sea in a kind of glass jar;
• Alexander fights off an army of giant, savage, female cannibals that are covered with hair;
• Alexander meets and converses with some talking trees; and
• Alexander gets some giant birds to carry him into the sky in a basket.
This is just a small sample of the many legendary stories contained herein. In addition to these outright fabrications, the description of Alexander’s travels is confused and tortured, with Alexander seemingly teleporting from the Near East to Italy and other sites in the Mediterranean, apparently due to the author’s complete lack of knowledge regarding real-world geography.
That said, this book is awfully fun to read. The story was extremely popular in late antiquity and through the Middle Ages, and seems to have been influential on later medieval romances. The wild stories contained in the Romance are entertaining in and of themselves, but it’s also interesting to see how the mythology around Alexander developed over time, as the myth began to outgrow the man.
There is a great line in Plutarch’s (more sober) biography of Alexander. Shortly after Alexander’s death, a writer was reading a passage from a biography of Alexander featuring a romantic encounter between Alexander and a mythical Amazon queen. Hearing this, Lysimachus (one of Alexander’s generals who accompanied the king on his campaigns) stated "I wonder where I was at the time." One can only imagine what he would have thought about these tales, but they make for pretty fun reading. 3.5 stars recommended!
The Romance was written around the year 250 or so, over 500 years after Alexander died in 323 BC. I suppose it is a biography of sorts, in that it tells a story of Alexander’s life from birth to death, although it is an insane one. The anonymous author starts off fast & loose with his treatment of the historical record, inventing a fanciful tale whereby Alexander’s mother is impregnated by an Egyptian wizard (presumably because the author was from Egypt).
Then, things get weird.
The book proceeds to describe Alexander’s life and deeds in chronological order. However, the Romance is supremely unhelpful as a biography, as the author is mostly concerned with relating fantastic and wondrous stories about Alexander that grow increasingly fanciful as he drifts away from the Mediterranean. Among his many feats:
• Alexander descends to the bottom of the sea in a kind of glass jar;
• Alexander fights off an army of giant, savage, female cannibals that are covered with hair;
• Alexander meets and converses with some talking trees; and
• Alexander gets some giant birds to carry him into the sky in a basket.
This is just a small sample of the many legendary stories contained herein. In addition to these outright fabrications, the description of Alexander’s travels is confused and tortured, with Alexander seemingly teleporting from the Near East to Italy and other sites in the Mediterranean, apparently due to the author’s complete lack of knowledge regarding real-world geography.
That said, this book is awfully fun to read. The story was extremely popular in late antiquity and through the Middle Ages, and seems to have been influential on later medieval romances. The wild stories contained in the Romance are entertaining in and of themselves, but it’s also interesting to see how the mythology around Alexander developed over time, as the myth began to outgrow the man.
There is a great line in Plutarch’s (more sober) biography of Alexander. Shortly after Alexander’s death, a writer was reading a passage from a biography of Alexander featuring a romantic encounter between Alexander and a mythical Amazon queen. Hearing this, Lysimachus (one of Alexander’s generals who accompanied the king on his campaigns) stated "I wonder where I was at the time." One can only imagine what he would have thought about these tales, but they make for pretty fun reading. 3.5 stars recommended!
December 1, 2010
This Romance started off as a pretty straight historical document about the life and deeds of Alexander the Great, written shortly after his death.
It didn't stay that way long; as the story diffused through the known world it soon began to pick up more fantastical elements - then more - and more. Different versions are found in different regions (see the Introduction to this edition for a readable overview of these matters) with different elements included and excluded. The tone varies according to the perspective of each author and various inconsistencies and repetitions exist.
The editor/translator tackles this in the following way; first it's the Greek Alexander Romance he's translating - material not found in Greek manuscripts is excluded. Second - it's more fun to include as much as possible, so he conflates the manuscripts. Third, where incidents are retold in a different sequence in some manuscripts, the alternative versions are put in an appendix with notes in the text as to where each would have appeared.
All of that seems to work out pretty well for a general reader rather than a scholar and the translation seems fine, too.
The tale itself is told with gusto and is great fun; the various fantastical episodes put me in mind of the Thousand and One Nights and are the primary attraction: If you want a serious book, choose something else, because this one has sorcerors, oracles, giants, Amazons, Centaurs and even naked philosophers (the latter being most likely real) to name just a few and not the daftest things you will encounter.
On the other hand, if you want to read it precisely because it is full of preposterous adventures, as I did, you will not be disappointed! The episode with the flying women is a favourite of mine.
It didn't stay that way long; as the story diffused through the known world it soon began to pick up more fantastical elements - then more - and more. Different versions are found in different regions (see the Introduction to this edition for a readable overview of these matters) with different elements included and excluded. The tone varies according to the perspective of each author and various inconsistencies and repetitions exist.
The editor/translator tackles this in the following way; first it's the Greek Alexander Romance he's translating - material not found in Greek manuscripts is excluded. Second - it's more fun to include as much as possible, so he conflates the manuscripts. Third, where incidents are retold in a different sequence in some manuscripts, the alternative versions are put in an appendix with notes in the text as to where each would have appeared.
All of that seems to work out pretty well for a general reader rather than a scholar and the translation seems fine, too.
The tale itself is told with gusto and is great fun; the various fantastical episodes put me in mind of the Thousand and One Nights and are the primary attraction: If you want a serious book, choose something else, because this one has sorcerors, oracles, giants, Amazons, Centaurs and even naked philosophers (the latter being most likely real) to name just a few and not the daftest things you will encounter.
On the other hand, if you want to read it precisely because it is full of preposterous adventures, as I did, you will not be disappointed! The episode with the flying women is a favourite of mine.
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June 18, 2020Our friends repeatedly urged us to turn back, but I was reluctant because I wanted to see the end of the world.
The god has addressed you himself by the mightiest of names. “Heracles, O Alexander,” he called you, thus indicating to you that you are to exceed all other men by your deeds and to be remembered through the ages.
__________
Then Ptolemy came to him and said, ‘Alexander, to whom do you leave your kingdom?’
’To him who is strong, who is willing, who can keep it, and who can maintain it,’ was the reply.
. . .
Then the air was filled with mist, and a great star was seen descending from the sky, accompanied by an eagle; and the statue in Babylon, which was called the statue of Zeus, trembled. When the star ascended again to the sky, accompanied by the eagle, and had disappeared, Alexander fell into his eternal sleep.
__________
Alexander never married the daughter of Darius, and the king’s claims could not be other than fiction. No historian claims her for a daughter of Darius; that piece of legend is due directly to the Alexander Romance. (Introduction)
As Strabo put it: ‘All who wrote about Alexander preferred the marvellous to the true.’ (2.1.9) (Introduction)
The idea that Alexander was Nectabano’s son belongs essentially to Egyptian tradition, and is related to Egyptian nationalist beliefs in the return of a king to Memphis. (Introduction)
__________
With hair and beard of gold . . .
For what is more glorious than gold, with which we make our honours to the gods?
And as the child fell to the ground, there were great claps of thunder and flashes of lightning, so that all the world was shaken.
When Philip saw what had happened, he leapt up, drew his sword, and rushed at Alexandr in a rage; but he tripped on the edge of his couch and fell over.
Alexander laughed and said to Philip: ‘You are eager to conquer all Asia and to destroy Europe to its foundations, yet you are unable to take a single step.’
The archers were innumerable, ad the sun could not be seen for their arrows.
It is said that he compelled the Theban musician Ismenias to play his pipes while the city was being demolished.
When the war was over, Alexander went to look at the dedications. He found Diogenes sitting in a sunny place and said, ‘Who are you?’
Those around him replied, ’This, your majesty, is Diogenes the philosopher, who so often advised the Athenians to fight against your power.’
When Alexander heard this, he went up to the place where Diogenes was sitting sunning himself (it was morning, and he was leaning on his barrel), and said to him, ‘Diogenes, what favour can I do you?’
’Nothing,’ replied the other, ‘except to go away and leave me the sunshine, so that I can warm myself.’
All the cities welcomed him with garlands.
To bloom forever in incorruptible youth . . .
Here there was a temple and a statue of Orpheus, around which stood the Pierian Muses and wild beasts. When Alexander looked at it, the statue broke out in a sweat.
But I would rather be a Thersites in Homer than Agamemnon in your poetry.
Brave men should fight on the open plain; only women shut themselves in for fear of what is to come.
Every task that is begun with enthusiasm is swift to reach its completion.
I see that the war is growing in intensity. I thought that Alexander had the mind of a bandit, but in fact he is attempting the deeds of a king.
The sentries, seeing him dressed as he was, took him for a god.
But Darius sat still, wearing his crown set with precious stones, his silk robes woven with gold thread in the Babylonian style, his cloak of royal purple, and his golden shoes studded with gems which covered his shins.
Any old tale can carry its listeners, if it is told with conviction.
Darius was sitting on his bed, deeply disturbed. There he saw an evil omen. A statue of King Xerxes, of which he was particularly fond because of its high artistic quality, suddenly fell through the ceiling.
If fate’s balance slips just a little to one side, it exalts the humble above the clouds and hurls others from their heights into Hades.
He was richer than Croesus . . .
To drink of the spring of immortality . . .
Now I have decided to make no more attempts at the impossible. Farewell.
Every band esters only what is better than his own.
If you wish to know who we are—we are naked and we have devoted ourselves to the pursuit of wisdom. This we have done, not by our own decision but through the agency of Providence above. Your business is war, ours is wisdom.
A woman gives suck first with her right breast.
Almost godlike in appearance . . .
‘How many years have I left to live?’ Asked Alexander.
‘It is best for a living man not to know when his end will come,’ was the reply. ‘As soon as he learns the hour of his death, from that moment he is as good as dead. But if he remains in ignorance, this helps him to forget about his death, even though he must die one day.
The horse Bucephalus ran into their midst and, staining close to Alexander, began to water the bed with his tears. Both the Persians and Macedonians exclaimed in amazement when they saw the horse weeping.
On the point of death, Alexander made the following speech:
‘I, who crossed all the inhabited earth,
And the uninhabited places, and the places of darkness,
Was unable to evade fate.
A small cup can yield a man to death,
And send him down among the dead with a drop of poison.
The army, seeing me compelled to die,
Wish to help and are powerless.
For the est—I shall lie buried in Hades.
'. . . You look s if you wish to help me, but you cannot.'
When Alexander spoke like this to Bucephalus, the whole army howled, making a tremendous noise. The treacherous slave who had prepared the poison and who had plotted against their lives thought that Alexander was dead, and came running to see. When Bucephalus saw him, he cast off his morose and dejected look, and, just as if he were a rational, even a clever man, he avenged his master. He ran into the midst of the crowd, seized the slave in his teeth and dragged him to Alexander; he shook him violently and have a loud whinny to show that he was going to have his revenge. Then he took a great leap into the air, dragging the treacherous and deceitful slave with him, and smashed him against the ground. The sale was torn apart bits of him flew all over everyone like snow falling off a roof n the wind. The horse got up, neighed a little, and then fell down before Alexander and breathed his last. Alexander smiled at him.
Nothing is stronger than reason . . . reason is of more value than thousands of gold pieces and precious stones.
February 18, 2019
رواية مشكوك فى اصلها وخيالية ولكنها ممتعة لان شخصية الاسكندر من اكتر الشخصيات التاريخية اللى بحبها
February 28, 2022
تنبيه هامّ جدّا:
هذه رواية أسطورية وليس تاريخًا لحياة الاسكندر
وأنا لا أحب الأساطير بكلّ أنواعها
September 12, 2015
Es cierto: el autor de esta biografía novelada tiene poco rigor histórico, confunde geografías (al grado de que en ocasiones comete errores garrafales), perpetra anacronismos y mezcla anécdotas sacándolas de su contexto temporal. ¿Y entonces por qué las cinco estrellas? Nada más que por la deliciosa fabulación que acomete en la segunda parte del libro, cuando Alejandro recorre los territorios de la India y sus aventuras, de por sí singulares hasta muy cerca de la locura, se convierten en la descripción de una galería de animales y seres que sólo es posible encontrar en bestiarios medievales y relatos del estilo de Las mil y una noches, de los cuales es una indudable influencia. De esta forma, y al tratarse del último personaje histórico/mítico del mundo helénico, podemos contemplar un libro tan extraño como apasionante, digno —como la propia historia real del rey macedonio que dominara una buena parte del mundo— de un hijo de los dioses.
October 19, 2020
Me siento muy consternada porque no hablan de Hefestión. La historia de Alejandro pierde sin su amante. :(
Le preguntó Alejandro si tenía bienes propios.
Contestó él:
—Nuestras propiedades son la tierra, los árboles frutales, la luz del sol, la luna, el coro de los astros, el agua. Cuando tenemos hambre acudimos a los árboles frondosos y comemos sus frutos naturales. En la luna creciente todos nuestros árboles producen frutos. Tenemos a mano también el gran río Éufrates, y cuando tenemos sed, nos llegamos hasta él y bebemos su agua hasta contentarnos.
Le preguntó Alejandro si tenía bienes propios.
Contestó él:
—Nuestras propiedades son la tierra, los árboles frutales, la luz del sol, la luna, el coro de los astros, el agua. Cuando tenemos hambre acudimos a los árboles frondosos y comemos sus frutos naturales. En la luna creciente todos nuestros árboles producen frutos. Tenemos a mano también el gran río Éufrates, y cuando tenemos sed, nos llegamos hasta él y bebemos su agua hasta contentarnos.
April 5, 2016
Taking rides on birds, diving in the sea, weird / mythological creatures, wacky geography, the last egyptian king for a father... what a MESS, but, it was fun to read.
August 25, 2021
اعتقد مينفعش اعتبار الكتاب ده اكتر من قصة مسلية بس على مستوى المصداقية فكرني بالقصص الي كانت بتشدني وانا صغير في البداية والنهاية, في الاخر مينفعش نبصلهم على انهم اكثر من حكاية
February 23, 2024
Well, this ancient Greek romance is, aesthetically, a bit of a bust--it's all over the place, a hodge-podge of various sources marred by a ton of scribal errors, and, all-in-all, not a consistent or really fun read, but it does kick off at least three later European novel strategies of note so it's worth a peruse for that. It's our first Occidental historical novel, epistolary novel (at times), and also appears to be the first collection of tall travel stories that would resurface in the middle ages with Mandeville's Travels and others and inspire one of the first modern English novels, Gulliver's Travels.
So, here you get romanticized (but also just shoddy and wrong) history re: Alexander the Great, a series of threatening letters between warring potentates (since dramatically it's hard to get scenes between generals leading armies against one another--hence, I think, this literary device to give them dialogue), and a series of exotic monster men and Amazon women episodes tacked on at the end. I suppose it was something of a chore and perhaps even an accomplishment to cut and past all of this Alexander material from what must have been various textual sources--and the novel, given the number of manuscripts surviving was probably the most popular classical fiction of them all) still, by pretty much any contemporary aesthetic standard, it's rather a quaint mess.
So, here you get romanticized (but also just shoddy and wrong) history re: Alexander the Great, a series of threatening letters between warring potentates (since dramatically it's hard to get scenes between generals leading armies against one another--hence, I think, this literary device to give them dialogue), and a series of exotic monster men and Amazon women episodes tacked on at the end. I suppose it was something of a chore and perhaps even an accomplishment to cut and past all of this Alexander material from what must have been various textual sources--and the novel, given the number of manuscripts surviving was probably the most popular classical fiction of them all) still, by pretty much any contemporary aesthetic standard, it's rather a quaint mess.
June 24, 2025
An unbelievable biography — literally, in that it’s not to be believed! A fascinating document that treats the truth as a first draft and myth as construction material. Very cool. Great intro and composition by Stoneman. Would have loved the supplements to be better integrated with the text(s).
January 20, 2024
The original historical fiction. It romanticizes its militaristic hero without any subversive irony.
October 10, 2025
If you are after a tale of sorcerous and fantasy you will find it here – but sparingly and if that is something you are after, you would be better of reading Herodotus or the Tales of John Manderville. Where this book shines is in showing the challenges with ancient texts. Think of the most puerile textual criticisms of the Bible and you will find them manifested here. The Greek Alexander Romance was a very popular book of heavily mythacised history but is only accessible to us in a Frankenstein format, stitched together from various manuscripts from different time periods and languages often with large discrepancies and variations (ranging from the innocent and ignorant all the way to politically/ethnically motivated). The translator/editor with wry wit guides you through this mess and shows the real talent and hard work classicists put in to understanding these stories.
February 27, 2021
Fabulosa biografía de Alejandro Magno escrita en el siglo III, y cuando digo fabulosa, no me refiero a que sea magnífica, si no a que el autor se inventó casi todo. Bestseller de la antigüedad, fue el libro más traducido (treinta idiomas) después de la Biblia, hasta el principio de renacimiento. Pasé un buen rato leyéndome esta novela y disfruté mucho con el prólogo de Carlos García Gual.
August 29, 2020
This is basically ancient fanfic that starts off with Alexander's true father being an Egyptian magician. Reminds me of Herodotus's Histories, scenes with horse-men, talking birds, giants, etc... Very entertaining read.
March 10, 2018
Too episodic for me to enjoy and feel like there was a coherent movement through the narrative.
August 7, 2020
Tagged fiction and history because it's a historical document, and has only a vague relationship with reality.
This was a really fun read.
This was a really fun read.
June 9, 2021
raving bonkers
July 18, 2024
A fascinating introduction plus a short but very imaginative story that's a blast to read. The book also comes with supplements, notes and a map - Hopefully I'll grow to personally understand and appreciate the latter two more over time.
October 10, 2025
Los viajes de Gulliver es un fanfic de esto, pero mucho peor.
December 15, 2020
I really enjoyed this book!
April 4, 2015
Whether you like this book or not will largely depend on what you're looking for in a story. First of all, this is not a coherent work by one writer. The Greek Alexander Romance is a collection of myths and legends that sprang up around the person of Alexander the Great in the centuries following his death. While there are a couple of scraps of history in it, they are completely out of chronological order and usually wildly inaccurate. The reason to read this is for the amalgam of Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, and Persian legends that are woven together in a tapestry over the course of centuries of telling and retelling. My favorite parts of the story were the travel tales. Alexander travels to the realm of the gods, he harnesses giant birds in order to fly to outer space, he creates a glass cage to explore the depths of the ocean, he meets dog-headed men, headless men, Amazons, strange beasts and more.
If you put yourself in the right mindset, you can really enjoy this book. If you're coming looking for a modern novel, or, worse, historical fiction, you'll be disappointed.
If you put yourself in the right mindset, you can really enjoy this book. If you're coming looking for a modern novel, or, worse, historical fiction, you'll be disappointed.
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March 21, 2020كتاب (حياة الإسكندر) كالليسثينيس المُزيف.
هذا الكتاب هو سيرة ذاتية للإسكندر المقدوني لكاتب مجهول أطلق عليه النقاد علي أن يسموه كالليسثينيس المُزيف وذلك لما جاء في الكتاب من زيف وبهتان لأخبار كثيرة عن الإسكندر ، وكالليسثينيس الاسم الاصلي هو لاحد فلاسفة وعلماء زمان الإسكندر وهو المؤرخ الوحيد الذي كان رافق الإسكندر في حملته علي آسيا وذلك خلاف صاحبنا المزيف صاحب هذه السيرة .
يتكون الكتاب من اربعة اجزاء
الاول: مولد الاسكندر وشبابه وحملته ودخول طيبة
الثاني:وصوله كورنثوس وقيام الحلف ،وزيارة معبد الربة أثينا وحتي دخوله مصر ووصوله الي آسيا بعد هزيمة الفرس
الثالث:غزو الهند وعبور الصحراء الكبري
الرابع:عبارة عن وصية باسم الاسكندر .
الكتاب رغم وجود اخبار وقصص كثيرة به وان كان بعض صحيح ولكنها كلها نُسفت ولا تعد كمرجع حيث يكفي أن يبدأ بهذه الكذبة الكبيرة وهي أن الإسكندر إبن نيكتانيبو أخر فرعون مصري الذي كان ساحرا وهرب الي مقدونيا وخالط الملكة أوليمبياس زوجة فيليب الثاني حيث تهيأ لها في صورة الإله آمون فأنجبت الإسكندر .
لذلك لابد من توخ الحذر عند مطالعة هذا الكتاب .
#حياة_الإسكندر
#كالليسثينيس_المزيف
#قراءة_2020
#محمد_عبدالمقصود
هذا الكتاب هو سيرة ذاتية للإسكندر المقدوني لكاتب مجهول أطلق عليه النقاد علي أن يسموه كالليسثينيس المُزيف وذلك لما جاء في الكتاب من زيف وبهتان لأخبار كثيرة عن الإسكندر ، وكالليسثينيس الاسم الاصلي هو لاحد فلاسفة وعلماء زمان الإسكندر وهو المؤرخ الوحيد الذي كان رافق الإسكندر في حملته علي آسيا وذلك خلاف صاحبنا المزيف صاحب هذه السيرة .
يتكون الكتاب من اربعة اجزاء
الاول: مولد الاسكندر وشبابه وحملته ودخول طيبة
الثاني:وصوله كورنثوس وقيام الحلف ،وزيارة معبد الربة أثينا وحتي دخوله مصر ووصوله الي آسيا بعد هزيمة الفرس
الثالث:غزو الهند وعبور الصحراء الكبري
الرابع:عبارة عن وصية باسم الاسكندر .
الكتاب رغم وجود اخبار وقصص كثيرة به وان كان بعض صحيح ولكنها كلها نُسفت ولا تعد كمرجع حيث يكفي أن يبدأ بهذه الكذبة الكبيرة وهي أن الإسكندر إبن نيكتانيبو أخر فرعون مصري الذي كان ساحرا وهرب الي مقدونيا وخالط الملكة أوليمبياس زوجة فيليب الثاني حيث تهيأ لها في صورة الإله آمون فأنجبت الإسكندر .
لذلك لابد من توخ الحذر عند مطالعة هذا الكتاب .
#حياة_الإسكندر
#كالليسثينيس_المزيف
#قراءة_2020
#محمد_عبدالمقصود
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2012
Most of this is historically inaccurate, but it's one of about half a dozen ancient texts left concerning Alexander the Great, and truth be told, it's probably the most entertaining. It's fun, it's ridiculous, but it also features some of the historical events of the other accounts, which are more or less regarded as historically accurate. A nice twist on the Alexander legend; a fun read! It's quite short as well, so it's nice to just quickly zoom through.
July 15, 2022
This was a very enjoyable read of what I gather is an example of some of the earliest 'fan-fiction.' While an historical character, very little here is historically accurate. No matter, the account, in this edition an amalgamation of several sources, is a fun adventure through the known (at the time) world, with a hero considered so fated to rule and considered so worthy to do so by all, including his horse, which we are told, wept upon its rider's death, and avenged it too.
October 11, 2013
I couldn't leave this book. O my Alexander ..
October 5, 2023
I loved this!!! So fun. When Alexander the Great asks what he can do for you, say, "Nothing. Go away and leave me in the sunshine, so that I can warm myself."
November 8, 2023
This picture often popped in my mind while reading:
Far from being an accurate historical account of his life and conquests, the Romance shows an Alexander who’s the glossy archetype of the resourceful Explorer King, and most importantly, one who can never do wrong (not even when he razed Thebes to the ground, he clearly had a very plausible reason for doing so!). He alternates between playing the witty know-it-all and assuming the role of the humble apprentice, he can outsmart every king but gets momentarily outsmarted by a cunning queen (!), he goes on undercover missions while being disguised in enemy territory (and his army has to patiently play along), he can be prone to murderous fits of rage when he’s wronged and can still laugh at his own expense. The bottom line is: this Alexander didn’t really exist. And yet, he existed in numerous different ways, as many as the multiple traditions of the Romance that were circulating during the Middle Ages.
Did it matter to the ordinary reader? Quite the contrary. After the third century CE, the adventures of Alexander were so incredibly popular that the book was considered a best-seller: no man had ever traveled so far, and speculations of what he had seen were as suggestively unrestrained as a child’s imagination. Surely, centuries later this fictional element is still what captures our interest: not so much the jumbled historical sequences (quite impossible to follow in a linear way), but his mythical encounters with strange-looking people and wild creatures. In this flight of fantasy, Alexander’s pothos leads him to explore the heavens and the deep sea. Eventually he will have to retreat from both because they are far too vast and full of dangers, even for the one on earth who’s closest to the gods.
So, there you have it. King, conqueror, explorer: Alexander was so legendary and cool that he was at the center of an endless, ink-stained tug-of-war of who could claim his true origins most effectively. His popularity was such that, despite being notoriously devoted to the ancient Greek pantheon, he got turned into a Christian hero, waging wars as a vessel for divine Providence.
Don’t read the Romance if you are looking for things to make sense, because they don’t. Read it to get a glimpse of the Middle Ages’ most beloved problematic fictional character.
Far from being an accurate historical account of his life and conquests, the Romance shows an Alexander who’s the glossy archetype of the resourceful Explorer King, and most importantly, one who can never do wrong (not even when he razed Thebes to the ground, he clearly had a very plausible reason for doing so!). He alternates between playing the witty know-it-all and assuming the role of the humble apprentice, he can outsmart every king but gets momentarily outsmarted by a cunning queen (!), he goes on undercover missions while being disguised in enemy territory (and his army has to patiently play along), he can be prone to murderous fits of rage when he’s wronged and can still laugh at his own expense. The bottom line is: this Alexander didn’t really exist. And yet, he existed in numerous different ways, as many as the multiple traditions of the Romance that were circulating during the Middle Ages.
Did it matter to the ordinary reader? Quite the contrary. After the third century CE, the adventures of Alexander were so incredibly popular that the book was considered a best-seller: no man had ever traveled so far, and speculations of what he had seen were as suggestively unrestrained as a child’s imagination. Surely, centuries later this fictional element is still what captures our interest: not so much the jumbled historical sequences (quite impossible to follow in a linear way), but his mythical encounters with strange-looking people and wild creatures. In this flight of fantasy, Alexander’s pothos leads him to explore the heavens and the deep sea. Eventually he will have to retreat from both because they are far too vast and full of dangers, even for the one on earth who’s closest to the gods.
‘Soon a flying creature in the form of a man approached me and said, “O Alexander, you have not yet secured the whole earth, and are you now exploring the heavens? […] Look down on earth, Alexander!”
I looked down, somewhat afraid, and behold, I saw a great snake curled up, and in the middle of the snake a tiny circle like a threshing-floor. Then my companion said to me, “Point your spear to the threshing-floor, for that is the world. The snake is the sea that surrounds the world.”
So, there you have it. King, conqueror, explorer: Alexander was so legendary and cool that he was at the center of an endless, ink-stained tug-of-war of who could claim his true origins most effectively. His popularity was such that, despite being notoriously devoted to the ancient Greek pantheon, he got turned into a Christian hero, waging wars as a vessel for divine Providence.
'How many have become miserable and lost all their possessions as a result of my wars? But others have profited from the property of others. Everyone takes from everyone, and leaves what he has taken to others: no possession is permanent.'
Don’t read the Romance if you are looking for things to make sense, because they don’t. Read it to get a glimpse of the Middle Ages’ most beloved problematic fictional character.
January 25, 2018
Over the course of centuries, an amalgam of legends merge with history to craft the fantastical narrative The Greek Alexander Romance. Defining attributes, chivalry and heroism, conflate to tell the adventure of Alexander’s military conquests. Throughout his conquests, Alexander is idolized for his nobility and loyalty to the moral code. The first celebration of his heroic actions is earned after his victory of the Chariot race in the Olympic games against his enemy, Nicolaus. He continues to achieve praise by reconciling his parents and killing Lysias reflecting his values (53-54). Alexander’s kingly nature is established and his marvelous conquest to fulfill his prophecy begins.
Alexander’s a seemingly endless feat against the cities that show resistance make him appear matchless earning praise from his people. The exchange of letters between Alexander and his boastful foe, Darius, accentuate his authentic morality. Loud threats made by Darius are used by Alexander as an indication of how bravely his army must fight for victory, in order not to be shamed by defeat (71). Alexander proceeds without hesitation to fulfill his noble deeds. As he heroically defeats his Persian opponents, he disdains to make a boast of it. Instead, he orders the bravest and noblest Persian dead to be buried (76). Alexander honored those who mirrored his own heroism displaying his values of loyalty to moral code and courtesy. These values embody the romantic element of chivalry. Fantastic beasts are another defining element of a romance and are placed seamlessly throughout the story. Proceeding Alexander’s sacrifice made at the hero-shrine, an eagle swooped down, carried them through the air, and dropped them at another alter (66). These fantastical scenes are combined with historical elements of Alexander's conquest which define the romantic genre of the novel.
Alexander’s a seemingly endless feat against the cities that show resistance make him appear matchless earning praise from his people. The exchange of letters between Alexander and his boastful foe, Darius, accentuate his authentic morality. Loud threats made by Darius are used by Alexander as an indication of how bravely his army must fight for victory, in order not to be shamed by defeat (71). Alexander proceeds without hesitation to fulfill his noble deeds. As he heroically defeats his Persian opponents, he disdains to make a boast of it. Instead, he orders the bravest and noblest Persian dead to be buried (76). Alexander honored those who mirrored his own heroism displaying his values of loyalty to moral code and courtesy. These values embody the romantic element of chivalry. Fantastic beasts are another defining element of a romance and are placed seamlessly throughout the story. Proceeding Alexander’s sacrifice made at the hero-shrine, an eagle swooped down, carried them through the air, and dropped them at another alter (66). These fantastical scenes are combined with historical elements of Alexander's conquest which define the romantic genre of the novel.
May 29, 2018
Alexander the Great left quite an imprint behind him, not least thanks to the wacky corpus of tales that grew up in his memory. The Alexander Romance tradition is a rich and varied one, blending elements of the historical Alexander (successor of Philip of Macedon, does a whole bunch o' conquering in Greece and Asia, dies young) with more outlandish and even outright fantastical episodes (he's the son of an Egyptian deity, he finds the fountain of youth and the Isles of the Blessed, he encounters centaurs and dog-headed dudes, etc etc).
I've encountered versions of these stories in medieval Arabic literature, to which they came via Syriac, with some additional material (such as his encounter with Gog and Magog) that the Qur'an associates with a mysterious figures known as Dhu al-Qarnayn ('the two-horned'); I've really enjoyed encountering them again here, along with plenty of other material. Translator Richard Stoneman's introduction guides us through what is clearly a fiendishly complex textual transmission with admirable clarity, the translation itself is accessible, and really the whole thing is just very entertaining. For fans of Sir John Mandeville's 'travels', the Prester John legend, and miscellaneous 'aja'ib.
I've encountered versions of these stories in medieval Arabic literature, to which they came via Syriac, with some additional material (such as his encounter with Gog and Magog) that the Qur'an associates with a mysterious figures known as Dhu al-Qarnayn ('the two-horned'); I've really enjoyed encountering them again here, along with plenty of other material. Translator Richard Stoneman's introduction guides us through what is clearly a fiendishly complex textual transmission with admirable clarity, the translation itself is accessible, and really the whole thing is just very entertaining. For fans of Sir John Mandeville's 'travels', the Prester John legend, and miscellaneous 'aja'ib.
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