In his brief life, Alexander the Great gained fame as the military
genius who conquered the known world. After death, his legend only
increased.
Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) precipitated immense historical
change in the Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds. But the resonance
his legend achieved over the next two millennia stretched even
farther--across foreign cultures, religious traditions, and distant
nations.
This engaging and handsomely illustrated book for the first time gathers
together hundreds of the colorful Alexander legends that have been told
and retold around the globe. Richard Stoneman, a foremost expert on the
Alexander myths, introduces us first to the historical Alexander and
then to the Alexander of legend, an unparalleled mythic icon who came to
represent the heroic ideal in cultures from Egypt to Iceland, from
Britain to Malaya.
Alexander came to embody the concerns of Hellenistic man; he fueled
Roman ideas on tyranny and kingship; he was a talisman for
fourth-century pagans and a hero of chivalry in the early Middle Ages.
He appears in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic writings, frequently as a
prophet of God. Whether battling winged foxes or meeting with the
Amazons, descending to the underworld or inventing the world's first
diving bell, Alexander inspired as a hero, even a god. Stoneman traces
Alexander's influence in ancient literature and folklore and in later
literatures of east and west. His book provides the definitive account
of the legends of Alexander the Great--a powerful leader in life and an
even more powerful figure in the history of literature and ideas.
