Drawing on decades of research on Alexander literature from all over the world, this book is bound to become a medievalist's best companion. It studies Alexander romances from the East and the West ...in literary form and content.
Until recently, popular biographers and most scholars viewed Alexander the Great as a genius with a plan, a romantic figure pursuing his vision of a united world. His dream was at times characterized ...as a benevolent interest in the brotherhood of man, sometimes as a brute interest in the exercise of power. Green, a Cambridge-trained classicist who is also a novelist, portrays Alexander as both a complex personality and a single-minded general, a man capable of such diverse expediencies as patricide or the massacre of civilians. Green describes his Alexander as "not only the most brilliant (and ambitious) field commander in history, but also supremely indifferent to all those administrative excellences and idealistic yearnings foisted upon him by later generations, especially those who found the conqueror, tout court, a little hard upon their liberal sensibilities." This biography begins not with one of the universally known incidents of Alexander's life, but with an account of his father, Philip of Macedonia, whose many-territoried empire was the first on the continent of Europe to have an effectively centralized government and military. What Philip and Macedonia had to offer, Alexander made his own, but Philip and Macedonia also made Alexander form an important context for understanding Alexander himself. Yet his origins and training do not fully explain the man. After he was named hegemon of the Hellenic League, many philosophers came to congratulate Alexander, but one was conspicuous by his absence: Diogenes the Cynic, an ascetic who lived in a clay tub. Piqued and curious, Alexander himself visited the philosopher, who, when asked if there was anything Alexander could do for him, made the famous reply, "Don't stand between me and the sun." Alexander's courtiers jeered, but Alexander silenced them: "If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." This remark was as unexpected in Alexander as it would be in a modern leader. For the general reader, the book, redolent with gritty details and fully aware of Alexander's darker side, offers a gripping tale of Alexander's career. Full backnotes, fourteen maps, and chronological and genealogical tables serve readers with more specialized interests.
Scholars have long recognized the relevance to Christianity of the many stories surrounding the life of Alexander the Great, who claimed to be the son of Zeus. But until now, no comprehensive effort ...has been made to connect the mythic life and career of Alexander to the stories about Jesus and to the earliest theology of the nascent Christian churches. Ory Amitay delves into a wide range of primary texts in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew to trace Alexander as a mythological figure, from his relationship to his ancestor and rival, Herakles, to the idea of his divinity as the son of a god. In compelling detail, Amitay illuminates both Alexander’s links to Herakles and to two important and enduring ideas: that of divine sonship and that of reconciliation among peoples.
A lo largo del siglo XVIII, los Borbones invirtieron numerosos esfuerzos en consolidar su concepción, particularmente esplendorosa, del rey y de la monarquía para dejar atrás el decrépito legado de ...los últimos Austrias. Con ese propósito, la nueva Casa Real Española fijaría su atención en la Antigüedad grecorromana y en uno de los máximos representantes de ésta, Alejandro Magno, prototipo regio con el que los Borbones se sentían muy identificados. En este artículo analizaremos cómo se explotaría esta identificación por medio del teatro, del que siempre se había servido el poder político como herramienta propagandística.
The "Vows of the Peacock" was composed in 1312 in France. One of the extant manuscripts stands out for its beautiful miniatures and scurrilous marginalia (PML, MS G24). It includes a catalogue and ...concordance of all Peacock manuscripts.
Alexander's heirs Anson, Edward M
2014., 2014, 2014-07-01, 2014-04-24
eBook
Alexander’s Heirs offers a narrative account of the approximately forty years following the death of Alexander the Great, during which his generals vied for control of his vast empire, and through ...their conflicts and politics ultimately created the Hellenistic Age. -Offers an account of the power struggles between Alexander’s rival generals in the forty year period following his death -Discusses how Alexander’s vast empire ultimately became the Hellenistic World -Makes full use of primary and secondary sources -Accessible to a broad audience of students, university scholars, and the educated general reader -Explores important scholarly debates on the Diadochi
<!CDATATo all those who witnessed his extraordinary conquests, from Albania to India, Alexander the Great appeared invincible. How Alexander himself promoted this appearance—how he abetted the belief ...that he enjoyed divine favor and commanded even the forces of nature against his enemies—is the subject of Frank L. Holt's absorbing book.
Solid evidence for the supernaturalized Alexander lies in a rare series of medallions that depict the triumphant young king at war against the elephants, archers, and chariots of Rajah Porus of India at the Battle of the Hydaspes River. Recovered from Afghanistan and Iraq in sensational and sometimes perilous circumstances, these ancient artifacts have long animated the modern historical debate about Alexander. Holt's book, the first devoted to the mystery of these ancient medallions, takes us into the history of their discovery and interpretation, into the knowable facts of their manufacture and meaning, and, ultimately, into the king's own psyche and his frightening theology of war. The result is a valuable analysis of Alexander history and myth, a vivid account of numismatics, and a spellbinding look into the age-old mechanics of megalomania.>
Waldemar Heckel provides a revisionist overview of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Emphasising the aims and impact of his military expeditions, the political consequences of military action, ...and the use of propaganda, both for motivation and justification, his underlying premise is that the basic goals of conquest and the keys to military superiority have not changed dramatically over the millennia. Indeed, as Heckel makes clear, many aristocratic and conquest societies are remarkably similar to that of Alexander in their basic aims and organisation. Heckel rejects the view of Alexander as a reincarnation of Achilles - as an irrational youth on a heroic quest for fame and immortality. In an engaging and balanced account of key military events, Heckel shows how Alexander imposed his will on the willing and how the defeated were no longer capable of resisting his military might.
From premodern societies onward, humans have constructed and produced images of ideal masculinity to define the roles available for boys to grow into, and images for adult men to imitate. The figure ...of Alexander the Great has fascinated people both within and outside academia. As a historical character, military commander, cultural figure and representative of the male gender, Alexander’s popularity is beyond dispute. Almost from the moment of his death Alexander’s deeds have had a paradigmatic aspect: for over 2300 years he has been represented as a paragon of manhood - an example to be followed by other men - and through his myth people have negotiated assumptions about masculinity. This work breaks new ground by considering the ancient and medieval reception of Alexander the Great from a gender studies perspective. It explores the masculine ideals of the Greco-Roman and medieval past through the figure of Alexander the Great, analysing the gendered views of masculinities in those periods and relates them to the ways in which Alexander’s masculinity was presented. It does this by investigating Alexander’s appearance and its relation to definitions of masculinity, the way his childhood and adulthood are presented, his martial performance and skill, proper and improper sexual behaviour, and finally through his emotions and mental attributes. Masculine Ideals and Alexander the Great will appeal to students and scholars alike as well as to those more generally interested in the portrayal of masculinity and gender, particularly in relation to Alexander the Great and his image throughout history.
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