The Mythic Alexander

 

“Each country, each generation, sees [Alexander] in a different light.” (Green, 480)

 

“Is it not passing brave to be a king, and ride in triumph through Persepolis?” (Marlowe, cited in Green, 481)

 

Alexander as military myth

      Romans give him the title “the Great”

      Imitatio Alexandri

      Impact on Caesar and other Roman generals

            Prophecy of the “New Alexander” who would conquer Persia

      Medieval use of Alexander the Great as a military model

      Renaissance the “Great Captains”

      Continues in historians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

            Dodge

            Tarn

            Fuller

            Military education

 

 

Literary and legendary figure

      Pseudo-Callisthenes

            2rd century AD novel in Greek

                  some historical core

            translations:

                  Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew

                  Ethiopic

                  Latin, English, French, German, Italian, Icelandic

                  Bulgarian

            This is the version of Alexander most known throughout the Middle Ages

            King Arthur of the Middle East

      Persian Shahnameh

            Alexander as secret son of Darius III

            Good Persian king restoring order to Iran

      Continues with modern novels

 

 

Alexander and Modern History

      Many different interpretations of Alexander by modern historians