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IDEA CZŁOWIEKA I BÓSTWA W STAROŻYTNOŚCI CZĘŚĆ II: Alexander the Great in the Persian legends: from the Pseudo-Callisthenes’s Greek Romance about Alexander of Macedon to the Sikandar of Firdousi’s Shah-Nameh

100%
Ionescu, Dan-
Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica
|
2014
|
vol. 15(4)
PL
The main aim of my study is to analyse the origins and evolution of Alexander’s legendin the Islamic world and especially in the Persian speaking realms. My starting point isthe Greek Alexander Romance that was most probably written in Alexandria of Egypt;in this article I try to follow the spreading of Alexander’s legend that stems from Pseudo-Callisthenes’s Greek Alexander Romance into the world of the Near East and Middle East.The successive transformations suffered by the figure of Alexander in the Syriac, MiddlePersian (Sassanian Pahlavī), and Arabic Islamic literature have formed the basis for thecreation of Alexander’s figure of a rightful Persian “King of kings”, as it appears into theepic poems of Firdousi and Nizami. However, underground this official image of IskandarDhū-l Qarnayn (‘the Two-Horned Alexander”) or simply Sikandar in the new Persian languageevolved after the Arab Islamic conquest of Iran, there was another strand of Iraniantradition about Alexander of Macedon, namely the Zoroastrian tradition that perceivedthe Macedonian hero as a destroyer of the “Good Religion” and of the true Kings and nobilityof Iran; in short the Macedonian conqueror was seen by them as a wrathful demon.This image of the bad or accursed “Alexander the Roman” is constructed according to theZoroastrian religious principles: the true Iranian Kings ruled through the grace of thesupreme creator God, the righteous and good Deity Ahura-Mazdā (Ormazd/Ormuzd);Alexander appears here more of a destroying entity of the race sprung from the Evil One(Angra Mainyu/Ahriman). This image of an evil “Alexander the Greek/Macedonian/Roman”,was further strengthened by the never ending conflicts between the Parthian ArsacidKingdom and the Seleucid Kingdom, then from the struggle between Parthia andRome, and finally by the wars fought between Sassanian Persia and the Eastern RomanEmpire. It has nevertheless influenced as a Zoroastrian background the image of the goodShahanshah Sikandar (the good “King of kings” Alexander) in the Persian epic poems(Firdousi’s Shah-Name and Nizami’s Iskandar-Name). Another important part of this study is the discussion on the origins of somefigures that appear linked to Alexander in the Islamic legends: the mysterious figureof Dhū-l Qarnayn (“The Two-Horned One”) that appeared in the 18th Chapter(Surah Al-Kahf) of the Koran and that was later identified by the Hadith (theCommentaries to the Koran) and by Islamic scholars with Alexander of Macedon,but also with other royal and prophetic figures from the Pre-Islamic Arabic andPersian past. It was also of special importance the bound formed during Iskandar’s(Alexander’s) quest for the “Fountain of Life” (the Alexander counterpart to theGrass or Herb of Immortality searched by Ghilgamesh, King of Uruk) with the“Green Man” of Islam, Al-Khadir. The mythological and religious underground ofboth Dhū-l Qarnayn’s and Al-Khadir’s figures is underlined by this article of mine.
2
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THE IDEA OF MAN AND DIVINITY IN ANTIQUITY PART II: Alexander the Great in the Persian legends: from the Pseudo-Callisthenes’s Greek Romance about Alexander of Macedon to the Sikandar of Firdousi’s Shah-Nameh

100%
Ionescu, Dan-
Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica
|
2014
|
vol. 15(4)
EN
The main aim of my study is to analyse the origins and evolution of Alexander’s legendin the Islamic world and especially in the Persian speaking realms. My starting point isthe Greek Alexander Romance that was most probably written in Alexandria of Egypt;in this article I try to follow the spreading of Alexander’s legend that stems from Pseudo-Callisthenes’s Greek Alexander Romance into the world of the Near East and Middle East.The successive transformations suffered by the figure of Alexander in the Syriac, MiddlePersian (Sassanian Pahlavī), and Arabic Islamic literature have formed the basis for thecreation of Alexander’s figure of a rightful Persian “King of kings”, as it appears into theepic poems of Firdousi and Nizami. However, underground this official image of IskandarDhū-l Qarnayn (‘the Two-Horned Alexander”) or simply Sikandar in the new Persian languageevolved after the Arab Islamic conquest of Iran, there was another strand of Iraniantradition about Alexander of Macedon, namely the Zoroastrian tradition that perceivedthe Macedonian hero as a destroyer of the “Good Religion” and of the true Kings and nobilityof Iran; in short the Macedonian conqueror was seen by them as a wrathful demon.This image of the bad or accursed “Alexander the Roman” is constructed according to theZoroastrian religious principles: the true Iranian Kings ruled through the grace of thesupreme creator God, the righteous and good Deity Ahura-Mazdā (Ormazd/Ormuzd);Alexander appears here more of a destroying entity of the race sprung from the Evil One(Angra Mainyu/Ahriman). This image of an evil “Alexander the Greek/Macedonian/Roman”,was further strengthened by the never ending conflicts between the Parthian ArsacidKingdom and the Seleucid Kingdom, then from the struggle between Parthia andRome, and finally by the wars fought between Sassanian Persia and the Eastern RomanEmpire. It has nevertheless influenced as a Zoroastrian background the image of the goodShahanshah Sikandar (the good “King of kings” Alexander) in the Persian epic poems(Firdousi’s Shah-Name and Nizami’s Iskandar-Name). Another important part of this study is the discussion on the origins of somefigures that appear linked to Alexander in the Islamic legends: the mysterious figureof Dhū-l Qarnayn (“The Two-Horned One”) that appeared in the 18th Chapter(Surah Al-Kahf) of the Koran and that was later identified by the Hadith (theCommentaries to the Koran) and by Islamic scholars with Alexander of Macedon,but also with other royal and prophetic figures from the Pre-Islamic Arabic andPersian past. It was also of special importance the bound formed during Iskandar’s(Alexander’s) quest for the “Fountain of Life” (the Alexander counterpart to theGrass or Herb of Immortality searched by Ghilgamesh, King of Uruk) with the“Green Man” of Islam, Al-Khadir. The mythological and religious underground ofboth Dhū-l Qarnayn’s and Al-Khadir’s figures is underlined by this article of mine.
3
Content available remote

The place of the legend of Alexander of Macedon in the larger context of the Old Romanian literature

51%
Ionescu D.-T.
In Gremium. Studia nad Historią, Kulturą i Polityką
|
2019
|
vol. 13
7-25
EN
The main aim of this quite a short study was to complete the essential image of Alexander of Macedon as he appears through the pages of the Romanian Alexandria, with an overview on the so-called Old Romanian “popular” literature: somehow the true essence of this hero (Alexander of Macedon) and of his legend had eluded me many times. Compared with the Romanian History of Troy, so faithful still to Homer and his epigonoi, the Romanian Alexandria seems to the untrained reader of old Romanian literature (like the author of these lines confesses to be) a collection of wild fantasy stories. This article tries to highlight the place of this tale about Alexander the Great (his legendary story) in the larger context of the popular Old Romanian literature and the stories of some of its manuscripts and early printed versions, stories which are sometimes even stranger than the tale of the main character of the legend, Alexander himself.
PL
Głównym celem tego krótkiego badania jest ukazanie ogólnego wizerunku Aleksandra Macedońskiego, jaki wyłania się z treści rzymskiej Aleksandrii z jednoczesnym przeglądem tzw. starorzymskiej literatury „ludowej”: w jakiś sposób istota tego bohatera (Aleksandra Macedońskiego) i jego legendy wielokrotnie mi umykała. W porównaniu do rzymskiej Historii Troi, wciąż tak wiernej Homerowi i jego epigonoi, rzymska Aleksandria wydaje się niewprawionemu czytelnikowi literatury starorzymskiej (do bycia którym przyznaje się autor tych słów) kolekcją burzliwych, fantastycznych historii. Niniejszy artykuł stara się podkreślić miejsce tej opowieści o Aleksandrze Wielkim (jego legendarnej historii) w szerszym kontekście starorzymskiej literatury ludowej i historii zawartych w niektórych jej rękopisach i wczesnych starodrukach, historii, które czasami są nawet dziwniejsze niż opowieść o głównym bohaterze tej legendy, o samym Aleksandrze.
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