Empires of Romance: Alexander
Empires of Romance: Alexander
Alexander of Macedon (356–323 BC), known as Alexander the Great is, unlike King Arthur, a firmly historical figure. His bold leadership and exceptional series of conquests, stretching from Greece to the Indian sub-continent, secured his heroic reputation as one of the so-called ‘Nine Worthies’, alongside such figures as Hector, Charlemagne and Arthur. Other aspects of his career were also fascinating to medieval writers. Alexander’s tutoring by Aristotle is the framework for books of advice to princes, such as Book 7 of John Gower’s poem Confessio amantis (A Lover's Confession), and exemplifies the ideal of the philosopher-king explored by writers on politics and ethics. Alexander’s supposed discovery of monstrous creatures lurking at the edges of the world is also integral to his hold on medieval imaginations. Both in Eastern and Western traditions, Alexander (Iskandar in Persian) became an exemplar of military prowess, insatiable ambition, and in his death, a warning of the limits of any human achievement.
A telling full-page illustration from Firdawsi’s epic Shahnama (completed AD 1010) depicts Iskandar (Alexander the Great) with a talking tree which foretells his death. The female speaking head...
Iskander and the talking tree
In this beautifully balanced illustration from a fine manuscript of Nizami’s Iskandar-nama, Iskandar (Alexander the Great) comforts the dying Dara (Darius of Persia), who has been treacherously...
The death of Dara
John Gower (c.1330–1408) wrote major works in Latin, French and English. His great English poem Confessio amantis (A Lover’s Confession) is a story collection that often uses classical,...
Gower’s book of advice for Alexander
Alexander, or Iskandar, many equate with the Qur’anic character Dhu al-Qarnayn (The Two-Horned One) who travelled east and west and subdued Gog and Magog. Iskandar was a central figure in the...
Iskandar visits Mecca
This notebook formed part of the collection of Thomas Greaves (1612–1676), an orientalist and reader of Arabic who studied at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Sections from the medieval...
Alexander fragments in an Elizabethan notebook
This manuscript, one of the most sumptuous books of the Middle Ages, contains a cycle of romances about Alexander the Great. Its exquisite illustrations were completed in Flanders in 1344 by the...
A cycle of Alexander romances
