Portrait of Alexander in Persian Alexander-Romances of the Islamic Era

Bibliographic Data

ID5113134
AuthorsMinoo S Southgate (corresponding author)
Year1977
Volume97
Issue3
Pages278
Publication date1977-07-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Oriental Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0279 • E-ISSN: 2169-2289
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/600734
OpenAlexW2323961281
LanguageEN
Citations received7

Persian medieval romance-writers drew their knowledge of Alexander from the PseudoCallisthenes, Syriac sources, the Koran and Arabic legends of the Dhil-Qarnain (the Twohorned), and to a minor extent Persian material. Most writers Persianize Alexander and justify his attack against Darius. They maintain the outlines of the Pseudo-Callisthenes, but change the portrait of Alexander. Under the influence of Diets and Sayings of the Philosophers and Islamic tradition, they present Alexander as a wise ruler, a sage, a zealous fighter for Islam, and a prophet. The Persian romances of Alexander are based on the *6 recension of the Pseudo-Callisthenes, the source also of Historia de Preliis of Archpresbyter Leo in the West. But the Alexander of the Persian romances is much more colorful than his Western counterpart. Firdawsi sends Alexander to the pilgrimage of Ka'bah. Nizimi celebrates him first as a king and conqueror, then as a sage and a prophet. In Iskandarndmah, in addition to being a zealous Moslem, Alexander becomes an ardent lover with numerous wives and concubines. Finally, Tarsuisi turns Alexander's story into a long and fabulous romance that barely resembles the Pseudo-Callisthenes. The following pages will present a composite portrait of Alexander in the romances mentioned above

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Islam · Literature · Persian · Portrait · Theology · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Philosophy

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