A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture

Cambridge University Press
Edition: New, 2/3/2022
EAN 9781107167698, ISBN10: 1107167698

Hardcover, 468 pages, 24.8 x 17.8 x 2.5 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English

Alexander III of Macedon (356-323 BC) has for over 2000 years been one of the best recognized names from antiquity. He set about creating his own legend in his lifetime, and subsequent writers and political actors developed it. He acquired the surname 'Great' by the Roman period, and the Alexander Romance transmitted his legendary biography to every language of medieval Europe and the Middle East. As well as an adventurer who sought the secret of immortality and discussed the purpose of life with the naked sages of India, he became a model for military achievement as well as a religious prophet bringing Christianity (in the Crusades) and Islam (in the Qur'an and beyond) to the regions he conquered. This innovative and fascinating volume explores these and many other facets of his reception in various cultures around the world, right up to the present and his role in gay activism.

1. Introduction
Greek and Roman formations, and new prospects Richard Stoneman
2. Alexander and Alexandria in life and legend Dorothy Thompson
3. The image of Alexander in ancient art Olga Palagia
4. Alexander, Philosophy and Rome
A Trajanic moment Sulochana Asirvatham
5. Christianizing Alexander traditions in late antiquity Christian Djurslev
6. Alexander in ancient Jewish literature Ory Amitay
7. The medieval Alexander
Art and politics Maud Perez-Simon
8. Alexander the great and the crusades Mark Cruse
9. The slavic Alexander Susana Torres Prieto
10. Alexander the great in byzantine tradition, 330-1453 AD Anthony Kaldellis
11. The Spanish Alexander
A figure of praise and blame Rich Rabone
12. The Persian Alexander (1)
The Royal Alexander Haila Manteghi
13. The Persian Alexander (2)
Amir Khusraw and the philosophical view of Alexander Richard Stoneman
14. Alexander in medieval arab minds Faustina Doufikar-Aerts
15. Alexander in the age of Shakespeare
the plays of Sir William Alexander Richard Stoneman
16. Alexander the great in Opera Jon Solomon
17. Alexander in the long eighteenth century (ca. 1660-1830) Pierre Briant
18. Images of Alexander in Germany
Hero, Explorer of new spaces, Cosmopolitanist and Champion of the west Josef Wiesehöfer
19. Alexander the Gay and the Gloryhole that was Greece Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and Shaun Tougher.