Classical Studies 2902B

Introduction: Alexander’s Fame

Discussion about how well-known A. is with general public today: huge conquests; many cities founded, espec. Alexandria “by” Egypt; the Gordian Knot episode (look up in Concise Oxford English Dictionary); his famous horse Bucephalas; and his early death at age 32. Are his features well-known? Survey of representations of A.—on coins, in carvings, and statues, and in two art pieces from Pompeii: the “Alexander Mosaic” and a wall-painting of A. and his Iranian wife Roxane, in both of which A. looks somewhat different from other representations of him—and he is shown as smaller than his wife. He may have had a slightly twisted neck; he was quite possibly barely 5 feet tall; and his two eyes were of different colours! He was, however, muscular and very tough.

His reputation has always been very controversial and remains so today. In 20^th century up till late 1950’s main view in English-speaking world was that of W.W. Tarn (1869-1957), an amateur scholar who never held a Univ. position: A. was conceived in the form of a late-Victorian/Edwardian well-intentioned and enlightened English imperialist and Tarn suggested that A. was the first person to think of the “Brotherhood of Man” and the idea of a universal empire ruled over by an enlightened monarch. This idea caught on in the era of the League of Nations, but in other parts of the world (e.g., Germany during the Third Reich) other views held sway. Tarn’s view was effectively demolished in a series of papers by Ernst Badian (starting in 1958): Badian sees A. as a calculating, manipulative and ruthless politician—a realistic human being in a rough, tough world. Reaction against this view led by W. Heckel of Calgary starting in 1976. Probably the most important scholar working on A. today is A.B. Bosworth (Univ. of Western Australia), who adopts a slightly modified Badian position (as does Paul Cartledge, author of course textbook). Survey of ancient views of A., with comment on idea of various philosophical schools having permanently fixed and doctrinaire views of A. (e.g., Peripatetics and Stoics); R. Stoneman has recently argued (in Brill’s Companion to A. the Great) that philosophers simply used A. an example of how people behave in certain situations. Importance of the Alexander Romance, a collection of fantasy tales embroidered on various aspects of A.’s life: it has both Greek and Latin versions and arose during the time of the Roman Empire; and was translated into other languages as well. It created the popular, heroic view of A.

Odd aspects of A.’s reputation, including the medieval Greek riddle—“Where is the Great Alexander?”; “The Great Alexander lives and reigns!” (the latter sentence is not an answer to the question!). Recent theory that A.’s corpse may be buried in St Mark’s cathedral in Venice!