Format:
XIV, 416 S.
,
Ill.
ISBN:
9789491431043
Series Statement:
Ancient narrative 15
Content:
Alexander the Great of Macedon was no stranger to controversy in his own time. Conqueror of the Greek states, of Egypt and of the Persian Empire as well as many of the principalities of the Indus Valley, he nevertheless became revered as well as vilified. Was he a simply a destroyer of the ancient civilizations and religions of these regions, or was he a hero of the Persian dynasties and of Islam? The conflicting views that were taken of him in the Middle East in his own time and the centuries that followed are still reflected in the tensions that exist between east and west today. The story of Alexander became the subject of legend in the medieval west, but was perhaps even more pervasive in the east. The 'Alexander Romance' was translated into Syriac in the sixth century and may have become current in Persia as early as the third century AD. From these beginnings it reached into the Persian national epic, the "Shahnameh", into Jewish traditions, and into the Qur'an and subsequent Arab romance
Content:
Introduction ; Note on Transliteration and Bibliography ; Part 1 Formation of a tradition. Persian Aspects of the Romance Tradition / Richard Stoneman ; Mapping the Alexander Romance / Daniel L. Selden ; King Midas' Ears on Alexander's Head: In Search of the Afro-Asiatic Alexander Cycle / Faustina C.W. Doufikar-Aerts ; The Alexander Romance and the Pattern of Hero-Legend / Graham Anderson ; Part 2 Perspectives. The Persians in Late Byzantine Alexander Romances: A Portrayal under Turkish Influences / Corinne Jouanno ; Adventures of Alexander in Medieval Turkish / Hendrik Boeschoten ; Some Talk of Alexander: Myth and Politics in the North-West Frontier of British India / Warwick Ball ; Part 3 Texts. Alexander the Great in the Shāhnāmeh of Ferdowsī / Haila Manteghi ; The King Explorer: A Cosmographic Approach to the Persian Alexander / Mario Casari ; "Umāra"s Qissa al-Iskandar as a Model of the Arabic Alexander Romance / David Zuwiyya ; Al-Tabari's Tales of Alexander: History and Romance / El-Sayed M. Gad ;Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik and the Version of the Alexander Romance / Emily Cottrell ; Aspects of Alexander in Coptic Egypt / Leslie S.B. MacCoull ; The Islamized Alexander in Chinese Geographies and Encyclopaedias / Yuriko Yamanaka ; Part 4 Themes. Sekandar, Dragon-Slayer / Daniel Ogden ; Stories of the Persian Bride: Alexander and Roxane / Sabine Müller ; Alexander the Philosopher in the Greco-Roman, Persian and Arabic Traditions / Sulochana Asirvatham ; In Search of Water of Life: The Alexander Romance and Indian Mythology / Aleksandra Szalc ; The Kingship of Alexander the Great in the Jewish Versions of the Alexander Narrative / Aleksandra Klęczar ; Alexander in Bavli Tamid: In Search for a Meaning / Ory Amitay ; Part 5 Images. The Impact of Alexander the Great in the Art of Central Asia / Olga Palagia ; Oriental Imagery and Alexander's Legend in Art: Reconnaissance / Agnieszka Fulinska ; A Flying King / Firuza Melville
Note:
Papers delivered at the Conference The Alexander Romance in Persia and the East, held at the University of Exeter, July 26 - 29, 2010
Language:
English
Subjects:
History
Keywords:
Iran
;
Mittlerer Osten
;
Ferner Osten
;
Alexanderdichtung
;
Iran
;
Mittlerer Osten
;
Ferner Osten
;
Alexanderdichtung
;
Konferenzschrift
