Alexander the Great in legend

There are many legendary accounts surrounding the life of Alexander the Great, with a relatively large number deriving from his own lifetime, probably encouraged by Alexander himself.

Ancient

Prophesied conqueror

King Philip had a dream in which he took a wax seal and sealed up the womb of his wife. The seal bore the image of a lion. The seer Aristander interpreted this to mean that Olympias was pregnant, since men do not seal up what is empty, and that she would bring forth a son who would be bold and lion-like.[1] (Ephorus FGrH 70 217)

After Philip took Potidaea in 356 BC, he received word that his horse had just won at the Olympic games, and that Parmenion had defeated the Illyrians. Then he got word of the birth of Alexander. The seers told him that a son whose birth coincided with three victories would always be victorious.[2] When the young Alexander tamed the steed Bucephalus, his father noted that Macedonia would not be large enough for him.[2]

Deified Alexander

In 336, Philip sent Parmenion with an army of 10,000 men, as vanguard of a force to free the Greeks living on the western coast of Anatolia from Persian rule. The people of Eresus on the island Lesbos erected an altar to Zeus Philippios. Alexander himself was the model for the image of Apollo on coins issued by his father.[3]

When Alexander went to Egypt, he was given the title "pharaoh", which included the epithet "Son of Ra", declaring him to be the son of the sun. A story told that one night King Philip had found a huge snake in the bed next to his sleeping wife. Olympias was from Epirus and may have practiced a mystery cult that involved snake-handling.[2] The snake was said to be Zeus Ammon in disguise. After his visit to the Siwa Oasis in February 331, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father. Upon his returned to Memphis in April, he met envoys from Greece who reported that the Erythraean Sibyl had confirmed that Alexander was the son of Zeus.[3]

By 330, Alexander had started to adopt elements of Persian royal dress.[3] In 327 he introduced proskynesis a ritualized honor accorded by Persians to their rulers. This Greek soldiers resisted, as such prostrations were reserved for honoring the gods. They considered this blasphemy on Alexander's part and sure to bring condemnation from the gods.[4]

Alexander Romance

Main article: Alexander Romance

In the first centuries after Alexander's death, probably in Alexandria, a quantity of the more legendary material coalesced into a text known as the Alexander Romance, later falsely ascribed to the historian Callisthenes and therefore known as Pseudo-Callisthenes. This text underwent numerous expansions and revisions throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, 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. The "Romance" is regarded by many Western scholars as the source of the account of Alexander given in the Qur'an (Sura The Cave). It is the source of many incidents in Ferdowsi's "Shahnama". A Mongolian version is also extant.

Greek Folklore

Alexander is also a character of Greek folklore (and other regions), as the protagonist of 'apocryphal' tales of bravery. A maritime legend says that his sister is a mermaid and asks the sailors if her brother is still alive. The unsuspecting sailor who answers truthfully arouses the mermaid's wrath and his boat perishes in the waves; a sailor mindful of the circumstances will answer "He lives and reigns, and conquers the world", and the sea about his boat will immediately calm. Alexander is also a character of a standard play in the Karagiozis repertory, "Alexander the Great and the Accursed Serpent". The ancient Greek poet Adrianus composed an epic poem on the history of Alexander the Great, called the Alexandriad, which was probably still extant in the 10th century, but which is now lost to us.

Medieval

Oriental tradition

Eskandar fighting the enemy, 15th century Persian miniature, Czartoryski Museum

Western tradition

Epic poems based on Alexander romance

Apocryphal letters

Women and Alexander

References

  1. ↑ Plutarch Al. 2.2–3
  2. 1 2 3 Worthington, Ian. Alexander the Great: Man and God", Routledge, 2004
  3. 1 2 3 Lendering, Jona. "Alexander the God", Livius.org
  4. ↑ Hamblin, William and Peterson, Daniel. "Alexander the Great wasn't content to be merely human", Deseret News, August 23, 2014
  5. ↑ Willmington's Guide to the Bible By H. L. Willmington Page 821 ISBN 978-0-8254-1874-7
  6. ↑ The Hellenistic world from Alexander to the Roman conquest By M. M. Austin Page 242 ISBN 0-521-29666-8
  7. ↑ Encyclopædia Iranica - Page 12 ISBN 978-0-7100-9109-3
  8. ↑ Alexander the Great was called "the Ruman" in Zoroastrian tradition because he came from Greek provinces which later were a part of the eastern Roman empire - The archeology of world religions By Jack Finegan Page 80 ISBN 0-415-22155-2
  9. ↑ Edward Frederick Knight (1893). Where Three Empires Meet: A Narrative of Recent Travel in Kashmir, Western Tibet, Gilgit, and the Adjoining Countries. Longmans, Green, and Company. pp. 330–.
  10. ↑ E.g. the Greek scholar G. G. Aperghis goes so far as to state: "Rather than considering the arrival of the Greeks as bringing something entirely new to the management of an empire, one should probably see them as apt pupils of excellent [Achaemenian] teachers. (link)"
  11. ↑ Balai Seni Lukis Negara (Malaysia) (1999). Seni dan nasionalisme: dulu & kini. Balai Seni Lukis Negara.
  12. ↑ S. Amran Tasai; Djamari; Budiono Isas (2005). Sejarah Melayu: sebagai karya sastra dan karya sejarah : sebuah antologi. Pusat Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional. p. 67. ISBN 978-979-685-524-7.
  13. ↑ Radzi Sapiee (2007). Berpetualang Ke Aceh: Membela Syiar Asal. Wasilah Merah Silu Enterprise. p. 69. ISBN 978-983-42031-1-5.
  14. ↑ Dewan bahasa. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. 1980. pp. 333, 486.
  15. ↑ Early Modern History ISBN 981-3018-28-3 page 60
  16. ↑ John N. Miksic (30 September 2013). Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300_1800. NUS Press. pp. 147–. ISBN 978-9971-69-574-3.
  17. ↑ Marie-Sybille de Vienne (9 March 2015). Brunei: From the Age of Commerce to the 21st Century. NUS Press. pp. 47–. ISBN 978-9971-69-818-8.
  18. ↑ Yusoff Iskandar (1992). Pensejarahan Melayu: kajian tentang tradisi sejarah Melayu Nusantara. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementerian Pendidikan, Malaysia. p. 147. ISBN 978-983-62-3012-6.
  19. ↑ S. Amran Tasai; Djamari; Budiono Isas (2005). Sejarah Melayu: sebagai karya sastra dan karya sejarah : sebuah antologi. Pusat Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional. pp. 66, 67, 68. ISBN 978-979-685-524-7.
  20. ↑ Ismail bin Bachik (1975). Sejarah kesusasteraan Melayu tradisional dan moden: untuk peperiksaan sijil tinggi persekolahan, GCE (Singapura) dan mahasiswa tahun pertama di universiti. Syarikat Nusantara. p. 40.
  21. ↑ Buyong bin Adil (Haji.) (1972). Sejarah Singapura: rujukan khas mengenai peristiwa2 sebelum tahun 1824. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. p. 14.
  22. ↑ Dewan bahasa. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. 1967. p. 541.
  23. ↑ Radzi Sapiee (2007). Berpetualang Ke Aceh: Membela Syiar Asal. Wasilah Merah Silu Enterprise. p. 69. ISBN 978-983-42031-1-5.
  24. ↑ Soeroto (Drs.). Indonesia ditengah-tengah dunia dari abad keabad: peladjaran sedjarah untuk sekolah menengah.
  25. ↑ Mermaids and Ikons: A Greek Summer (1978) page 73 by Gwendolyn MacEwen ISBN 978-0-88784-062-3
  26. ↑ Folktales from Greece Page 96 ISBN 1-56308-908-4

See also

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