The Song of Alexander (also known as the Syriac Alexander Poem or Metrical Homily) is a Christian Syriac text written between the 6th and 7th centuries AD concerning legends about Alexander the Great. It had been falsely attributed nearly unanimously in the manuscript tradition to Jacob of Serugh (451–521), and for this reason, the author is sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Jacob (or Ps-Jacob). It is also presently thought to have been written closely after and have been influenced by the Syriac Alexander Legend, and so its date is closely tied to when the latter is dated.[1]
There are two main hypotheses that concern the relation between the Song and the Legend. The first was proposed originally by Theodor Nöldeke and asserts that the Song textually depended on the Legend.[2] The second was proposed by Wilhelm Bousset and argues that there is no direct dependence; instead, they share a common source.[3] Today, opinion has shifted towards Nöldeke's position with its defense by Reinink, who placed the date of the Song to 628–636, in the immediate years after the composition of the Legend which he dated to around 628.[1] Both positions nevertheless have remained options.[4] The dating of the Song has typically depended on its post-dating the Legend and this has placed it in the years following the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628. A recent proposal however has dated the Legend to the mid-6th century and, in turn, views the Song as a composition of some time during or after the last quarter of the 6th century.[4]
An English translation and Syriac edition of the text was published by Budge in 1889.[5] The standard critical edition today is that of G.J. Reinink published in 1983.
In antiquity, the Song gave rise to an Arabic translation known from two manuscripts.[6]