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1 results

  • 12 - The Persian Alexander (1)

  • Edited by Richard Stoneman, University of Exeter
  • Book:
    A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture
    Published online:
    13 January 2022
    Print publication:
    03 February 2022, pp 271-287

  • Summary

    This chapter endeavours to highlight some characteristics of the Persian tradition concerning the heroic aspect of Alexander the Great. Firstly, it states that the royal Alexander was modelled on Kay Khosrow/Cyrus the Great, fitting him within a heroic structure which emphasised an ideal kingship. As a conqueror who became a ‘legitimate Persian king’, Alexander embodies values the Iranians had already brought into their own ideologies of kingship. Therefore, other monarchs during Iranian history tried to link themselves to Alexander, legitimising the transfer of political power and the use of the past in the construction of their image. Secondly, this chapter studies some thematic elements of Alexander’s adventures which were transferred to the other heroes, especially those of the Sistāni cycle of epic. It claims that the influence of the Alexander Romance on this genre goes further than the versions dedicated to Alexander’s adventures, making him as an exemplum, a model of a hero-king.