AE 80 Alexander the Great and the Alexander

AE 80: Alexander the Great and the Alexander Tradition November 7, 2014 PART VIII: The Medieval Alexander-Romance, from Antiquity to the Modern World The Alexander Romance: its popularity and diffusion

“The style of the Romance is limp and rarely rises above the mediocre; chronology and geography are grossly muddled; fact and inept fictions are indiscriminately combined…” B. P. Reardon, Collected Ancient Greek Novels, p. 651 BUT: — it has enjoyed an extraordinary popularity for nearly 2, 000 years — it exists in at least 35 languages and 80+ versions — from late Antiquity until the Renaissance and even later, the Romance was virtually the sole source of knowledge about Alexander

Chronological and Geographical Absurdities: q The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow out into the Nile q The story involves towns such as Plataea in Greece (in ruins for a century before Alexander) or Antioch in Syria (not founded until after his death) q Messed-up routes: Alexander subdues Asia Minor, then makes a detour to Sicily, Italy (accepting the surrender of the Rmans), Carthage, and Libya, ending up at the shrine of Zeus Ammon at Siwah!

…but who cares, in a novel where Alexander also flies in the air and dives to the bottom of the sea and meets all manner of strange, fabulous men and beasts? Aim and effect of the Romance: The strangely potent depiction of the invincible hero, conqueror of the entire world, explorer of the unknown. Despite hints otherwise, a mortal man constantly faced with the inevitability of his own death, which effaces all his achievemnts in life

Origins of the Alexander Romance: The Romance is a written work of literature: it did not develop from an oral tradition or folktales that accumulated around the memory of a legendary historical hero Three main building blocks: — A Life of Alexander, written in a sensationalizing rhetorical style, with little concern for historical fact or accuracy (rather like today’s supermarket tabloid newspapers). Exaggerated stories, patently untrue stories, ludicrous and impossible lies. — Short fictitious letters to or from Alexander, perhaps drawn from an epistolary novel (i. e. , a novel told in letters) — A few much longer, free-standing letters (e. g. , from Alexander to his mother: III. 27 -30). [See R. Stoneman, Legends of Alexander the Great. ] This and other material came together — in late 3 rd century AD — probably in Egypt (many local Egyptian legends included, for no reason)

Translation and Diffusion of the Alexander Romance: • Because the Romance was anonymous and intended for entertainment, copyists and translators did not feel any obligation to treat it as sacrosanct, or respect the author’s intentions • This allowed additions, deletions, changes, incorporation of entirely new material • Thus, there were a number of versions, or recensions, of the earliest Alexander Romance in Greek • None of these survives in its original form, but each of them is represented in later medieval manuscripts • Virtually all of the western forms of the Romance derive from translations into Latin by Julius Valerius (early 4 th c. ) and by Leo the Archpriest (10 th c. )

What made the Romance so popular? — Amazing deeds The Acts of Alexander, Les faits du Grand Alexandre, The Gests of Alexander — A malleable tradition: each age could find its own favorite themes — Fascination with oriental adventures and clash of cultures, E vs. W — Centers around moralizing themes that appealed to the medieval mind

Illustrations are an essential element of the manuscripts of the Alexander Romance

Alexander meets Diogenes the Cynic Alexander and the Gymnosophists

Alexander at the Earthly Paradise The 13 th-century Hereford Mappa mundi The story of the Wonderstone

What sort of work is the Alexander Romance? — We describe most of the principal genres of literature using terms from Antiquity epic, lyric, drama, tragedy, comedy, etc. — Romance and Novel are terms with a Medieval origin “Romance” = medieval narratives in verse (and later in prose) composed not in Latin, but in one of the romance languages descended from Latin (e. g. French) “Novel” = “novella” = the term for a short story of the “new” kind, e. g. as presented by Bacaccio in his Decameron. The word “novel” in English is no earlier than the 17 th century — But there exist many ancient Greek “novels”. E. g. : Chariton, Chaereas and Callirhoe Xenophon, An Ephesian Tale Iamblichus, A Babylonian Tale Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Clitophon Heliodorus, An Ethiopian Tale Longus, Daphnis and Chloe Adventure tales set in exotic lands and involving star-crossed lovers