Wow! eBook
Legends of Alexander the Great
by: Richard Stoneman (Author)
Publisher: I.B. Tauris
Publication Date: 2011/12/12
Language: English
Print Length: 192 pages
ISBN-10: 1848857853
ISBN-13: 9781848857858
Book Description
'How can a man become a god?' So enquired Alexander the Great of the Brahmin sages of India. And how did they reply? 'By doing what it is impossible for a man to do.' And that answer set a keynote for the Conqueror's entire career, which was characterized throughout by Alexander's attempts to achieve the unachievable:to scale the fresh heights and make the incredible real and tangible on earth. He wrestled an Indian monster larger than an elephant, fought ants the size of foxes and contested bats with human teeth. He became a Jewish convert, sailed up the Ganges and visited the Earthly Paradise. Already a legend in his own lifetime, the glittering figure of Alexander preoccupied European, Jewish and Arabic folklore until the 15th century. Richard Stoneman, who is one of his leading mode interpreters, here presents a range of Greek and Latin texts which recount the Conqueror's adventures in the east. Essential reading for students of late antique and medieval literature, these stories are still unsurpassed for sheer entertainment, opening a window onto a rumbustious world of legend as rich as that of the Arabian Nights.This revised edition offers a substantial new introduction by the editor.
About the Author
'How can a man become a god?' So enquired Alexander the Great of the Brahmin sages of India. And how did they reply? 'By doing what it is impossible for a man to do.' And that answer set a keynote for the Conqueror's entire career, which was characterized throughout by Alexander's attempts to achieve the unachievable:to scale the fresh heights and make the incredible real and tangible on earth. He wrestled an Indian monster larger than an elephant, fought ants the size of foxes and contested bats with human teeth. He became a Jewish convert, sailed up the Ganges and visited the Earthly Paradise. Already a legend in his own lifetime, the glittering figure of Alexander preoccupied European, Jewish and Arabic folklore until the 15th century. Richard Stoneman, who is one of his leading mode interpreters, here presents a range of Greek and Latin texts which recount the Conqueror's adventures in the east. Essential reading for students of late antique and medieval literature, these stories are still unsurpassed for sheer entertainment, opening a window onto a rumbustious world of legend as rich as that of the Arabian Nights.This revised edition offers a substantial new introduction by the editor.
