The Alexander legend is second only to the Arthurian legends in general popularity in the Middle Ages. But the Alexander legend spread much further than did the Arthurian legends, which remained mostly a western European phenomenon, whereas the Alexander legend spread into the cultures of the Middle East and Ethiopia. A Companion to Alexander Literature of the Middle Ages offers the reader a guide to the multilingual and multicultural complexity of the medieval Alexander legend.
The fourteen chapters cover the Alexander legend in the Hellenistic period, late antiquity, and the Middle Ages, in the following languages: Greek and Classical Latin; medieval Hebrew; medieval Syriac; medieval Arabic; medieval Persian; Coptic; Ethiopic (Ge’ez); medieval Latin (Walter of Châtillon’s very important Alexandreis); medieval French; medieval Spanish; medieval English and Scots; medieval German; medieval Scandinavian languages; and medieval Italian. The survey concludes with a useful “Bibliography of Print Editions by Chapter” (365-377). Though the coverage is admirably broad, it does miss a few important sources for the medieval Alexander legend, such as the Armenian version of Pseudo-Callisthenes (most easily found in The Romance of Alexander the Great by Pseudo-Callisthenes, translated from the Armenian version by A. M. Wolohojian [New York: Columbia University Press, 1969]) and the Middle Dutch version by Jacob van Maerlant (Alexanders Geesten van Jacob van Maerlant, ed. J. Franck [Groningen: Wolters, 1882]), as well as the romance Perceforest, whose first book is, in part, an Alexander story (Perceforest is most conveniently found in Nigel Bryant’s recent translation, Perceforest: The Pre-History of King Arthur’s Britain [Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2011]). One other recent publication relevant to the study of the medieval Alexander legend that should be mentioned, that was unavailable to the authors of this book, is Benjamin Garstad’s edition and translation of Apocalypse by Pseudo-Methodius and An Alexandrian World Chronicle in the series Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012).
The emphasis in the essays is on the description of the Alexander texts and their sources. The essays generally follow a similar format, though there is some variation from this format, especially in the chapters on the European traditions. But, even with the variation, comparison between chapters is relatively easy. As to the format: first there is a general description of the tradition, followed by sections on authorship; dating and sources; manuscripts; modern editions and translations; structure and plot; and finally, style.
The quotations in the book are for the most part translated, as would be expected in a book of this type, though in Z. David Zuwiyya’s essay on the Spanish Alexander traditions and Roberta Morosini’s on the Italian traditions, quotations in Latin, Spanish, and Italian are left untranslated.
Even with its minor flaws, however, A Companion to Alexander Literature in the Middle Ages is an excellent companion to the study of the medieval Alexander traditions.
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[Review length: 467 words • Review posted on September 5, 2012]