THE STORY OF ALEXANDER.*
THE philosopher Kallisthenes, a favourite disciple of Aris- totle, had attended Alexander on his Oriental expedition, and for a time stood high in his esteem ; but having censured his adoption of Persian habits, and advised the Hellenic warriors not to comply with his demand for adoration, he was put to death on a charge of conspiracy. It is generally admitted that Kallisthenes wrote a narrative of Alexander's campaigns, which is no longer extant; but in the Alexandrian period, when literary forgeries were frequent, a work was circulated which Mr. Steele terms that of the Pseudo-Kallisthenes. His theory— that during the rule of the Ptolemies a tale was invented which represented Alexander to have been the son neither of Philip nor of Jupiter Ammon, but of the exiled Egyptian Monarch and magician, Anectanabus, and that this was done to render the natives tranquil under the rule of a Hellenic dynasty— seems well worthy of acceptance ; certainly the legend flattered the unsocial vanity and exclusiveness of the population. The story was soon augmented by numerous and more marvellous adventures, until the history of "Macedonia's madman" re- sembled the cairn raised over some departed hero, on which each wayfarer casts a stone. The original work was trans- lated into Latin by Julius Valerius early in the fourth century of our era, and also in the tenth by the Italian Leo ; but we have no reason to suppose that they drew on their imaginations for any fabulous adventures. Mr. Steele informs us that the story was first introduced into Euro- pean literature by Alberic de Besancon early in the twelfth century ; but we think it must have been known at least fifty years earlier. Alberic's prose work is lost, but he also composed a poem on the same subject in deca- syllabic verse, probably the earliest specimen of the heroic pentameter to be found in any modern language. He ignored the Egyptian figment of Alexander's illegitimacy, probably on moral grounds or from respect for his hero, but added many chivalrous adventures which we believe to have been the pro- duce of his own imagination. But a much more complete development of the legend was effected by Lambert of Tours and Alexander of Paris, who composed an epic poem in lines of fourteen syllables, hence called Alexandrines, a metre adopted by Chapman in his translation of Homer, and Drayton in his "Polyolbion"—poems which have not won from posterity
all the esteem which they may deserve and in a modified form by Scott and Macaulay. Several other poets and prose. writers took up the legend, added various " deeds of chivalrous emprise," and imparted to it a decidedly feudal and, as we think, an Oriental colouring. Thus this Romance of Alexander became to Western Europe what-
" Thebes and Pelops' line
And the tale of Troy divine " were to the rhapsodists of Hellas, a central point round which a cycle of bards of more or less poetic fancy revolved. Eustace of Kent introduced the French work into England, but we have not ascertained by whom it was translated. Gower has introduced some episodes from it into his Confessio Amantis and Chaucer speaks of it as being well known to all persons of culture.
The Persians claim Alexander as of their race, and the son of that Darius whom he overthrew ; this idea was probably • The Story of Alexander. Told by Hobert Steele. London : David Nutt.
borrowed from the legend of Cyrus the Elder dethroning his grandfather Astyages, and the Arabs hold him to have been a native of their land, and originally named Mazdan= lord of the marches or boundaries. The unrestrained spirit of nationality too often leads to inaccuracy, as when Irish patriots assert that Alfred was educated in their country, an interesting fact which brutal Saxon historians have maliciously suppressed.
Mr. Steele has given his readers a very agreeable and interesting narrative, collected from the writers we have men- tioned, and his book promises to be a favourite with the young, for whom it is probably intended. He would, we think, have added utility to amusement by affixing some notes pointing out the historical and geographical errors into which the mediaeval writers have fallen, and the sources whence some of the exploits related may have been derived. Cer- tainly the schoolboy who believed that the city of Chalcedon was in Italy, or that Alexander conquered that country, would have to spend a bad quarter-of-an-hour in the head- master's study, and the visit of the hero to the court of Darius in the disguise of a herald, was probably suggested by that of Alfred to the Danish camp. The dwarfs whom the Macedonians encountered represent the ideas entertained of the Mongolian Huns and Avars who had extended their depredations as far as Central Germany and the head of the Adriatic, and were believed to be of supernatural, or rather diabolic, origin ; while the thick darkness which enveloped the hosts of Persia and Hellas, and put a stop to the engagement, arose from some glimmering recollection of the eclipse predicted by Thales, which so terrified the armies of Cyrus and Crcesus. The man-eating horse Bucephalus is a revival of the cannibal steeds of the Thracian King Diomedes; and the maiden who poisoned by a kiss, was probably derived from a similar legend of an Oriental monarch, coupled with the skill in this species of pharmacy, for which Italian ladies were notorious, even as early as the best days of the Roman Republic, while her metamorphosis into a serpent may be traceable to the tale of the family of Lusignan, and the serpent-bride Melusina.
We hope that Mr. Steele will persevere in his investigations of medimval romance and chivalry, in which department, though much has been done, yet much remains unexplored ; and for this work, to judge from the book before us, he seems very well qualified. The Alexander Story and similar legends will give pleasure to the young and the imaginative, to the sentimental and the combative alike, but we fear that in this utilitarian age, some may be disposed to say to our author what the Cardinal Hippolito of Este said to Ariosto, "Dove diavolo avete trovato tante fanfaluche ? "
Previous page
