Ancient AtG authors

[bela_black]

Has anyone here read any of the Greek AtG sources before? (original Greek or translation)
I'm  referring particularly to Arrian, Diodorus and Plutarch. I'm asking because I've got a assignment to write
which is about a comparison of Alexander's portrayal in Ancient and Modern literature, with a focus on his "philhellenism" vs. his "orientalism".
I'm

Comments

[shezan]

You can read them all; the stuff on Alexander is very short and each complements the others.

[bela_black]

So do you think that there'd be enough material about the philhellenism/orientalism matter or would you rather go for someone else (not that there are so many ... )?

[shezan]

These are primary sources; your concepts are modern. Read them, then read interpretations and modern histories.

[bela_black]

Well, actually I do think that it's possible to say whether a primary source depicts Alexander more as Greek or more as Oriental if the author does reveal his own attitude.

I also realize that I need to go a lot deeper and work with interpretations etc once I started, but at the moment I'm just in the progress of getting an idea of how to approach the entire thing, so I found it a good idea to just see whether I should consider these sources at all. So yeah, that's what I asked for, but anyhow, thanks for your advice.

[snaegel]

I would want to start with Arrian (and contrast with a Cleitarchean), but why don't you bring them all up on Project Gutenberg/the net and grep what you're looking for?

Who are your modern authors?

The thing about your assignment is you can choose your conclusions by choosing your authors. I don't think the ancient|modern divide is the most useful way of dividing how different people have seen Alexander.

[bela_black]

The thing is, my teacher wants me to structure the entire thing quite soon and is of the opinion that this is possible without having read the sources at all. I disagree and do think that it's neccessary but since he doesn't I don't have that much of time left, and thought I'd just ask if people had read them and what everyone thinks before.

Mary Renault, and either Gisbert Haefs or Nicholas Nicastro.

Well, it's actually not so much about describing different views on Alexander in general, but more about how those people see him. It's not like I need to say: "So, this is how people in Ancinet times saw him, and this is how they see him today", it's rather a compilation of different attitudes in different times. The entire assignment is supposed to be around 15-20 pages, so you see that it's not meant to be really universal, but only exemplary.

[snaegel]

I do sort of agree with your teacher, at least to begin with, because you can read summaries and then read the relevant bits and read the whole thing when you've more or less found what you're looking for and just want to fill in the background.

The different times/individual people thing is fun; of course the most interesting time (300s BC) is inaccessible (all Greek/Roman 'ancient' sources are 'modern' in comparison - 400 years is a seriously long time in Macedonia), but as you are comparing particular people and have made the Very Good modern choice of Mary Renault, you can choose whoever you want: the 'best' source (Arrian)/someone Mary Renault disapproves of (Quintus Curtius Rufus)/whoever you find most interesting. The Greek/Persian thing will always come up.

[bela_black]

Well, he's probably right in the end, but I'm not sure whether it works for me. I'm just being perfectionist and want to have it all planned out correctly, and as long as I'm able to do it that way, I'll try because it makes me feel better ;) (I know, no good practice for uni)

Yes, I suppose I'll just choose the sources (since I need more than one) which are most suitable for my topic. I can't take Curtius Rufus, however, since the Ancient authors are supposed to be Greek. But I guess you're right, in the end I can choose more or less who I want since I'm relatively free. :)

[hildabeast]

I think all of them talk about how he becomes orientalised, if you want that - wearing Persian clothes, proskynesis, etc. For Greekness look for the fairly unsubtle Iliad/Achilles references perhaps?

[bela_black]

For Greekness look for the fairly unsubtle Iliad/Achilles references perhaps?
Yes, that's what I had in mind, for the modern authors too, btw, since it's so dominant in Mary Renault.

Do you know to what degree the authors reveal their own view on things (not only describing events)?

I suppose I'll just have to end up reading all of them, so yay for Atg!reading-marathon :D

[hildabeast]

Do you know to what degree the authors reveal their own view on things (not only describing events)?

Interesting question! I am starting my MA dissertation on basically this topic in a week's time. But basically all our Alexander evidence is Roman, right, so it's hard to say whether the authors are revealing their own view on Alexander's behaviour or whether they're following tradition or whether they're deliberately portraying him in a certain way (Arrian 1.12 for the rather explicit statement that he'll be the Homer to Alex's Achilles.) Certainly they do have their own view though.

Plutarch would prob be the best to read straight through if you're looking for a not-necessarily-historical opinion. Get a copy of Arrian with an index and use that.

[bela_black]

Oh wow, interesting dissertation topic. But what do you mean by "Alexander evidence"? I mean, how's what Roman authors say more of an evidence than what the Greeks say? (I'm probably giving away my non-knowledge on Latin historiography, so um)

Plutarch would prob be the best to read straight through if you're looking for a not-necessarily-historical opinion.
Ha yeah I've already started reading Plutarch, but then the library wanted the book back.
However, I'll probably do that. My point about a "not-necessarily-historical opinion" is simply that I don't really want someone only describing how he started dressing orientally, adopted the proskyensis etc. Because that's what everyone (Ancient and Modern) tells me, so it won't really reveal anything new and I need someone who gives away some of their own attitude so that I can see whether the author sees him as Greek or Oriental.

Oh well, I hope I didn't bring myself into trouble with that assignment topic.