I have managed to shorten the Alexander Romance reading assignment slightly. It will still be rather large, but this will help some.
Friday March 6, we will discuss the following selections from the Anonymous _Alexander Romance_ also called the _Life and Deeds of Alexander of Macedon_. The date of the work or rather works (there are many different versions of the "novel" in existence) is not clearly known. The original Greek composition was between 300 BC and 300 AD (a huge 600 year span), but the version we are reading is based on so-called Recension B, which was in existence at least by the 5th or 6th cent. AD. The romance shows signs of dependence on earlier collections of fictional letters, maybe even an epistolary novel, and shows embellished connections to various historical sources about Alexander.
Note that my reading assignment includes the introduction which will provide useful background.
pp. 163-225 (intro to end of book 2), 238-9 (3.25-26 Amazons), 245-6 (3.33-35 The Death)
Make specific note of any specific divergences from the historical traditions and especially any examples of where the historical tradition has been exaggerated, perverted, or recast. Why do you think these changes are made? What literary themes and story patterns do you see in the romance that we have seen before? Did these occur in the historical sources?
Jordann Markowitz
ReplyDeleteIn this account there was a much different description of Alexander's relationship with Philip and Philip's murder. What would have been the point of creating these differences?
Maeve Tischbein
ReplyDeleteThis story was apparently very popular (given the number of languages it was translated for example), was that because of its romantic form rather than simple battle accounts? Or were there other factors involved?
Katie Burke
ReplyDeleteWhat was the importance of the long section at the end? I know that the last part is typical of all Aesop fables, but my point is why are the last few pages in Alexander's own words and not the narrator's? It must have some significance.
Sara Welish
ReplyDeleteThis story was very popular but did people know that parts of it were fabricated before they read the story?
Zander,
ReplyDeleteIt seems like naktanebos is a very Blasphemous character, seeming to have the power of the Gods and impersonating Ammon. Would that type of thing have made stories less popular at the time? Or did nobody really care?
Doug Ritchey
ReplyDeleteI liked how Callisthenes changed the scene of Philip's death. The way he has Pausanias falling in love with Olympias, instead of becoming envious of King Philip's fondness for another man named Pausanias, makes the story much more believable and really fit into my idea of a "romantic" story. Also having King Philip kill his slayer further adds to this romantic scene as well as showing the greatness of Philip
Steve
ReplyDeleteIf the point of this story/book is to glorify the memory of Alexander and talk about all of his near perfect qualities, what could be the point of admitting that his real father was a hack who lied to and basically raped his mother, Olympias? This seems like a less than heroic start to life.
AR
ReplyDeleteMaeve,
I think its popularity was due to many factors. One was that Alexander was so well known that many people would have wanted to know more about him. Another was that the romance was popularized. It is more of a story than the historical sources we read. It is easier to read in the original languages (and in translation). It concentrates on Alexander as a person more. Notice that at p. 218 it suddenly turns into a first person account from the perspective of Alexander himself. That presents it as more authoritative even than the real histories (as does the reference to his "real" father at the beginning), and it provides a voyeuristic view that entices readers. Also people often like to see fantastic (but "true") stories. Think all of stories about ghosts and miracles and UFOs--people want to hear these things. The crazy stories of Alexander were entertaining and compelling for the same reasons.
Sara,
Many educated readers would have immediately or at least very quickly recognized the fictional nature of the story. However, presumably other readers would have "bought it". One could point to the Da Vinci Code or The Shack as modern parallels of fiction written as truth. Some readers mistakenly believe them to be true.
Zander,
I think that he is certainly meant to be dastardly, but remember he gets killed by his son in the end, so the bad guy gets punished. Still, it is interesting that the romance presents Alexander as the son of such a lying, devious sorcerer. Perhaps this is where the mean and tricky side of Alexander is meant to come from. In the version we read, there are Christian elements, Christians would have seen Alexander as the bad goat-king prophesied in Daniel. (Daniel 8:1-8) Certainly Alexander is glorified but I don't think he is shown as all good.
AR
ReplyDeleteDoug,
Remember the author is Pseudo-Callisthenes, i.e. not really Callisthenes. We don't know the real author's name, although as Hansen suggests he may have been a Greek speaking Egyptian with relatively little education. It is an interesting change. I wonder whether or not it is due to Christian influence. Christians often find fault with homosexual relationships, and notice that Philip's and Alexander's homosexual loves are not discussed in the romance which shows many features of Christianization.
Steve,
I am with you. As I mentioned in my response to Zander, I think that there is a critical side to this romance. Alexander's rapist/necromancer father provides some black foreshadowing about the less than good traits of Alexander. Notice Alexander's failures in diving to the bottom of the sea and in flying to heaven and in reaching the Isle of the Blessed. All of these seem to be moral failures due to his overweening arrogance. Remember pride was one of the 7 deadly sins, and this work shows the influence of early Christian thought. He is also needlessly cruel in many places, staring with killing his own father Nectanebo.