Armenian Alexander Romance

Armenian illuminated manuscript of the 14th century

The Armenian Alexander Romance, known in Armenian as The History of Alexander of Macedon,[1][2] is an Armenian recension (or version) of the Greek Alexander Romance (in its α recension) from the fifth-century. It incorporates many of its own elements, materials, and narratives not found in the original Greek version.[3] While the text did not substantially influence Eastern legend, the Armenian romance is considered to be a highly important resource in reconstructing the text of the original Greek romance.[4] The text continued to be copied until the eighteenth century,[5] and the first Armenian and scholar to substantially study the text was Father Raphael Tʿreanc. He published an Armenian edition of it in 1842.[4]

In original Greek romance, Alexander is posthumously described as "the horned king" (βασιλέα κερασφόρον) by an oracle instructing one of his generals, Ptolemy, on where to bury him. The Armenian version repeats this statement, making it a witness of the motif of the horns of Alexander, alongside the Syriac Alexander Legend and other versions of Alexander legends.[6] Unlike the horns motif, no tradition of building a wall against Gog and Magog is found in the text.[7]

The Armenian Romance greatly influenced the History of the Armenians of Movses Khorenatsi, with which it shares up to thirty direct parallels.[8]

  1. ^ MacFarlane, Alex (2023-04-11), ""My City Which Is of Bronze": The City of Bronze Encroaching on the Alexander Romance", Armenia through the Lens of Time, Brill, pp. 306–323, doi:10.1163/9789004527607_016, ISBN 978-90-04-52760-7, retrieved 2024-03-22
  2. ^ Desclaux, Vanessa (2020-05-20). "Un roman d'Alexandre arménien". MANUSCRIPTA : Manuscrits médiévaux conservés à la BnF (in French). Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  3. ^ Traina, Giusto (2016-08-22), "Some Observations on the Armenian Pseudo-Callisthenes", Some Observations on the Armenian Pseudo-Callisthenes, De Gruyter, pp. 23–30, doi:10.1515/9783110489941-004, ISBN 978-3-11-048994-1, retrieved 2024-03-21
  4. ^ a b Wolohojian, Albert Mugrdich (1969). The Romance of Alexander the Great by Pseudo-Callisthenes (PDF). Columbia University Press. pp. 5–8.
  5. ^ Kouymjian, Dickran (2012). "Did Byzantine Iconography Influence the Large Cycle of the Life of Alexander the Great in Armenian Manuscripts?". Byzantium and Renaissances. Dialogue of Cultures, Heritage of Antiquity, Tradition and Modernity. University of Warsaw Press. pp. 209–216.
  6. ^ Tesei, Tommaso (2023). "Alexander's Horns". The Syriac Legend of Alexander's Gate. Oxford University Press. pp. 137–146.
  7. ^ Donzel, Emeri Johannes van; Schmidt, Andrea Barbara; Ott, Claudia (2009). Gog and Magog in early syriac and islamic sources: Sallam's quest for Alexander's wall. Brill's Inner Asian Library. Leiden: Brill. pp. 37, also n. 62. ISBN 978-90-04-17416-0.
  8. ^ Agatʻangeghos; Thomson, Robert W. (1976). History of the Armenians (1 ed.). State University of New York Press. pp. 24–25. ISBN 978-0-87395-323-8.