Book contents
- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture
- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Alexander and Alexandria in Life and Legend
- 3 The Image of Alexander in Ancient Art
- 4 Alexander, Philosophy and Rome
- 5 Christianising Alexander Traditions in Late Antiquity
- 6 Alexander in Ancient Jewish Literature
- 7 The Medieval Alexander
- 8 Alexander the Great and the Crusades
- 9 The Slavic Alexander
- 10 Alexander the Great in Byzantine Tradition, AD 330–1453
- 11 The Spanish Alexander
- 12 The Persian Alexander (1)
- 13 The Persian Alexander (2)
- 14 Alexander in Medieval Arab Minds
- 15 Alexander in the Age of Shakespeare
- 16 Alexander the Great in Opera
- 17 Alexander in the Long Eighteenth Century (c.1660–1830)
- 18 Images of Alexander in Germany
- 19 Alexander the Gay and the Gloryhole That Was Greece
- Index
- References
11 - The Spanish Alexander
A Figure of Praise and Blame
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2022
Edited by
Book contents
- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture
- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Alexander and Alexandria in Life and Legend
- 3 The Image of Alexander in Ancient Art
- 4 Alexander, Philosophy and Rome
- 5 Christianising Alexander Traditions in Late Antiquity
- 6 Alexander in Ancient Jewish Literature
- 7 The Medieval Alexander
- 8 Alexander the Great and the Crusades
- 9 The Slavic Alexander
- 10 Alexander the Great in Byzantine Tradition, AD 330–1453
- 11 The Spanish Alexander
- 12 The Persian Alexander (1)
- 13 The Persian Alexander (2)
- 14 Alexander in Medieval Arab Minds
- 15 Alexander in the Age of Shakespeare
- 16 Alexander the Great in Opera
- 17 Alexander in the Long Eighteenth Century (c.1660–1830)
- 18 Images of Alexander in Germany
- 19 Alexander the Gay and the Gloryhole That Was Greece
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter explores the double-voiced presentation of Alexander the Great in the Libro de Alexandre, and its relationship to the poem’s structure and composition. The chapter provides an overview of the Spanish poem and its praise of Alexander, in terms which reflect its Christianised and medieval perspective, before assessing the nature and logic of the criticism of Alexander that sits alongside such praise. Emphasis is placed on the role of prophecy and providence within the poem, which both legitimise Alexander’s successes in a Christian framework and lay the groundwork for the more hostile picture that follows; and on the nature of Alexander’s moral failing in view of the poem’s acknowledged ambivalence in giving apparent primacy to greed and pride. Following a hint in Gautier de Châtillon’s Alexandreis, these sins may be seen as consequences of another moral flaw: an underlying lack of mesura, which underpins the Libro’s innovative didactic focus and whose relationship to the legitimising factor of providence facilitates the double-voiced presentation of Alexander that distinguishes his appearance in medieval Spanish garb.
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- A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture , pp. 242 - 270Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
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