The Alexander Romance is any of several collections of legends concerning the mythical exploits of Alexander the Great. The earliest version is in Greek, dating to the 3rd century. Several late manuscripts attribute the work to Alexander's court historian Callisthenes, but the historical figure died before Alexander and couldn't have written a full account of his life. The unknown author is still sometimes called Pseudo-Callisthenes. Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. ... // Overview Events 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men 212-216: Baths of Caracalla 230-232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east 235-284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire 250-538: Kofun era, the first... Callisthenes, or Kallisthenes, ( in Greek) of Olynthus (c. ...

Versions of the romance

Alexander was a legend in his own time. In a now-lost history of the king, the historical Callisthenes portrayed the sea in Cilicia as drawing back from him in proskynesis. Writing after Alexander's death, another participant, Onesicritus, went so far as to invent a tryst between Alexander and Thalestris, queen of the mythical Amazons. (According to Plutarch, when Onesicritus read this passage to his patron Lysimachus, one of Alexander's generals who went on to become a king himself, Lysimachus quipped "I wonder where I was at the time."^[1]) Cilicia as Roman province, 120 AD In Antiquity, Cilicia (Κιλικία) was the name of a region, now known as Çukurova, and often a political unit, on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), north of Cyprus. ... Darius I on the relief of the northern stairs to the Apadana in Persepolis. ... Onesicritus, or Onesicrates, of Aegina or Astypaleia (probably simply the old city of Aegina) was one of the writers on Alexander the Great. ... In Greek mythology, Queen Thalestris of the Amazons brought three hundred women to Alexander the Great, hoping to breed a race of children as strong and intelligent as him. ... The Amazons (in Greek, Αμαζόνες) were an ancient nation of female warriors or a society dominated by women, at the edges of Scythia in Sarmatia (Herodotus). ... Mestrius Plutarchus (Greek: Πλούταρχος; 46 - 127), better known in English as Plutarch, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. ... Lysimachus (c. ...

Throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Romance underwent numerous expansions and revisions exhibiting a plasticity unseen in "higher" literary forms. Latin and Syriac translations were made in Late Antiquity. From these, versions were developed in all the major languages of Europe and the Middle East, including Armenian, Georgian, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, Serbian, Slavonic, Romanian, Hungarian, German, English, Italian, and French. Farther east, a late Mongol version is also extant. Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (7th century BC), and continues through the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Syriac is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. ... Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Serbian (српски језик; srpski jezik) is one of the standard versions of the Shtokavian dialect, used primarily in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and by Serbs in the Serbian diaspora. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Honorary guard of Mongolia. ...

The story of Dhul-Qarnayn in the Qur'an (Sura The Cave 18:83-98) matches the Gog and Magog episode in the Romance, which has caused some controversy among Islamic scholars. Alexander was identified in Persian and Arabic-language sources as "Dhû-'l Qarnayn", Arabic for the "Horned One", likely a reference to the ram horns Alexander wears on coins minted during his rule to indicate his descent from the Egyptian god Ammon. Islamic accounts of the Alexander legend, particularly in Persia, combined the Pseudo-Callisthenes material with indigenous Sassanid Persian ideas about Alexander. The Alexander Romance is the source of many incidents in Ferdowsi's Shahnama. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Sura (sometimes spelt Surah , plural Suwar ) is an Arabic term literally meaning something enclosed or surrounded by a fence or wall. ... Surat al-Kahf (Arabic: سورة الكهف ) (The Cave) is the 18th sura of the Quran with 110 ayat. ... The tradition of Gog and Magog begins in the Hebrew Bible with the reference to Magog, son of Japheth, in the Book of Genesis and continues in cryptic prophecies in the Book of Ezekiel, which are echoed in the Book of Revelation and in the Quran. ... Egyptian mythology or Egyptian religion is the succession of tentative beliefs held by the people of Egypt for over three thousand years, prior to major exposure to Christianity and Islam. ... Amun (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen, Greek Ἄμμων Ammon, and Ἅμμων Hammon, Egyptian Yamanu) was the name of a deity, in Egyptian mythology, who gradually rose to become one of the most important deities in Ancient Egypt, before fading into obscurity. ... After Islamic Conquest  Modern SSR = Soviet Socialist Republic Afghanistan  Azerbaijan  Bahrain  Iran  Iraq  Tajikistan  Uzbekistan  This box:      The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty (Persian: []) is the name used for the fourth Iranian dynasty, and the second Persian Empire (226–651). ... The Pahlavi script was used broadly in the Sasanid Persian Empire to write down Middle Persian for secular, as well as religious purposes. ... Ferdowsi Tousi (فردوسی طوسی in Persian) (more commonly transliterated Firdausi, Ferdosi or Ferdusi) (935–1020) is considered to be one of the greatest Persian poets to have ever lived. ... Shahnameh Shahnameh Scenes from the Shahnameh carved into reliefs at Tus, where Ferdowsi is buried. ...

Li romans d'Alixandre: Alexander in 12th century French literature

Attributed to clergyman Alexandre de Bernay (also known as Alexandre de Pâris), the medieval French Roman d'Alexandre (Li romans d'Alixandre) is based on the translations of various episodes of the conqueror's life as composed by previous poets (Lambert de Tort, Eustache and more importantly Albéric of Besancon). Unlike other authors of the era who undertook the Alexander saga, he did not base his work on the Pseudo-Callisthenes or on the various translations of Julius Valerius' work. As is common in medieval literature, the project stems from the desire to improve on the work of others and to offer the complete life of the hero to the public, a theme that is also very present in the cyclical turn that the chansons de geste took at the time. It should be noted that Thomas de Kent also penned (probably) the very same decade a version of the saga, Le roman de toute chevalerie, which is independent of Alexandre de Bernay's poem: Alexander's influence on the medieval imagination is thus shown as being as great, if not greater, than that of other pagan figures such as Hercules or Aeneas. Alexander of Paris, also known as Alexander of Bernay, was a Norman poet of the 12th century, who wrote Li romans dAlexandre (Romance of Alexander), one of the first poems written in French on the mythical exploits of Alexander the Great. ... The chansons de geste, Old French for songs of heroic deeds, are the epic poetry that appears at the dawn of French literature. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Heracles. ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. ...

In part poème épique and roman, Alexandre's work explores in great detail (and ambiguity) the various facets of the character, combining both the "estoire rose" and "estoire noire". This results in a lush characterization that is absent in the previous poems. The poem also undertakes, like many medieval writings, the education of young noblemen (the "gentils chevalieres") and paints a picture of the political and social changes present at the time (the accession to power of common men and the poverty that thus strike the lower levels of nobility and the recentralization of power in 12th century France). Alexander is shown as generous, loyal and courageous: he is a protective and giving figure, the emblem of unification of the noblemen under one active and strong voice. The epic is a broadly defined genre of narrative poetry, characterized by great length, multiple settings, large numbers of characters, or long span of time involved. ... As a literary genre, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic prose and verse narrative current in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. ... Characterization is the process of conveying information about characters in fiction. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

The exploration of the mysteries of India also is an important theme of the work, one that was surely impressive to the medieval public (akin to important scientific breakthroughs nowadays, for example). Not only brave and generous, our hero is also cunning and curious, wanting to understand the various phenomena that he will encounter on his path. The desire to conquer land and castles is thus reactivated by the desire to conquer the realm of knowledge (the voyage in the sky and underwater), but also the realm of immortality, as is shown by the will of the hero to equal mythic characters such as Hercules and Dionysus who became demi-gods after defeating their mortal conditions by various feat of strength and wisdom. Alexander will not realize this goal: poisoned by his own men (the "sers felons" Antipater and Divinuspater), as was another key figure of the work, Darius. The cause of the death of the hero is shroudded in ambiguity: prophetic in nature, it poses the problem of divine retribution, patricide and political mistakes. Was Alexander killed because of his desire to elevate himself to the gods' level? Was he killed by the magician Nectanabo, who is his father in the Greek and Roman tradition, and who also presided over his birth (Alexander kills him in a spite of rage)? Or was he killed because he gave his trust to men of inferior condition? It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Heracles. ... Dionysus with a leopard, satyr and grapes on a vine, in the Palazzo Altemps (Rome, Italy) Dionysus or Dionysos (from the Ancient Greek Διώνυσος or Διόνυσος, associated with the Italic Liber), the Thracian god of wine, represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficial influences. ... Darius III or Codomannus (c. ... Nectanebo II (ruled 360 - 343 BC), also known by the name Nakhthoreb, was the third and last king of the Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt and the last native ruler of the country. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ...

The poem, by not giving a definitive answer to this question, stresses the importance of respect of religious and father figures (whether real father figures, or authority figures in the feudal system), while reminding the young nobles who are the public of the tale to associate themselves only with other nobles. Very baroque in composition and esthetic, Alexandre de Bernay's version of the poem is the basis of Alexander's myth in the French literature to come with many continuations depicting mainly the vengeance of the "douze pairs" or shedding a different light on the life of the conqueror. Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ... French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak other traditional non-French languages. ...

The Alexander Romance in Middle English

In medieval England the Alexander Romance experienced a remarkable popularity. It is even referred to in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, where the monk apologizes to the pilgramage group for treating a material so well known. However, unlike the indigenous legend of King Arthur and the related romances dealing with the Matter of Britain, the Alexander Romance neither confines itself to the history and culture of Western Europe, nor is it a story situated in the Middle Ages. There are five major romances in Middle English which have been passed down to us and most remain only in fragments. Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). ... A bronze Arthur in plate armour with visor raised and with jousting shield wearing Kastenbrust armour (early 15th century) by Peter Vischer, typical of later anachronistic depictions of Arthur. ... The Matter of Britain or the Arthurian legend is a name given collectively to the legends that concern the Celtic and legendary history of the British Isles, especially those focused on King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the...

Alexander A, sometimes referred to as The Romance of Alexander or Alexander of Macedon, is a fragment of 1247 lines and written in alliterative verse. It was probably written between 1340 and 1370, shortly before the beginning of the alliterative revival, of which it is believed to be one of the oldest remaining poems. It has been preserved in a school notebook dating from 1600. In the broad strokes Alexander A deals with the begetting of Alexander by Nectanebus, his birth and early years and breaks off in the midst of the account of Philip's siege of Byzantium. It is likely that the source for this fragment has been the I²-recension of the Historia de Preliis. Beside that it has been expanded with additional material taken from Paulus Orosius' Historiae adversum paganos, the adverse remarks, which are typical of Orosius, however have been omitted by the poet, whose main concern is Alexander's heroic conduct. The Old English epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse. ... Byzantium (Greek: Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city, which, according to legend, was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas or Byzantas (Βύζας or Βύζαντας in Greek). ... Paulus Orosius (c. ...

Alexander B, also referred to as Alexander and Dindimus, is also written in alliterative verse. This fragment is found in the MS Bodley and consists of five letters which are passed between Alexander and Dindimus, who is the king of the Brahmins, a people of philosophers who shun all worldly lusts, ambitions and entertainments. In this respect their way of life resembles the ideal of an aescetic life, which was also preached by medieval monastic orders, such as the Franciscans. The source of Alexander B again is the I²-recension of the Historia de Preliis. A Brahmin (anglicised from the Sanskrit adjective belonging to Brahma, also known as Brahman belonging to ; Vipra, Dvija twice-born, Dvijottama best of the twice born or earth-god) is considered to be the highest class (varna) in the Indian caste system of Hindu society [1] [2], although this status...

Alexander C, or The Wars of Alexander, is the longest of the allitertive versions of the Middle English Alexander Romances. It goes back to the I³-recension of the Historia de Preliis and can be found in the MS Ashmole 44 and in the Dublin Trinity College MS 213. Although both manuscripts are incomplete they supplement each other fairly well. In this version much space is given to letters and prophecies, which often bear a moralizing and philosophical tenor. The letters are an integral part of the Pseudo-Callisthenes tradition. The dominant theme is pride, which inevitably leads to the downfall of kings. In The Wars of Alexander the hero is endowed with superhuman qualities, which shows in the romance in so far as his enemies fall to him by the dozens and he is always at the center of action.

Notes

References

• Gosman, Martin (1988). "Le roman de toute chevalerie et le public visé: la légende au service de la royauté". In Neophilologus 72, 335-343.
• Gosman, Martin (1982). "Le roman d'Alexandre et les "juvenes": une approche socio-historique". In Neophilologus 66, 328-339.
• Gosman, Martin (1997). La légende d'Alexandre le Grand dans la littérature française du douzième siècle. Rodopi. ISBN 90-420-0213-1.
• Harf-Lancner, Laurence (translator and commentator, edited by Armstrong and al.) (1994). Le roman d'Alexandre, Livre de poche. ISBN 2-253-06655-9.
• Southgate, Minoo (translator) (1978). Iskandarnamah : a Persian medieval Alexander-romance. New York: Columbia Univ. Press. ISBN 0-231-04416-x.
• Stoneman, Richard (editor and translator) (1991). The Greek Alexander Romance. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044560-9.

See also

• Greek literature
• Greek mythology

// Main article: Ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in Ancient Greek from the oldest surviving written works in the Greek language until the 4th century and the rise of the Byzantine Empire. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ...

External links

• The Medieval Alexander Project at the University of Rochester