About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherLiverpool University Press

ISBN-101835537480

ISBN-139781835537480

eBay Product ID (ePID)10066420222

Product Key Features

Number of Pages272 Pages

Publication NameAlexander the Great : Letters-A Selection

LanguageEnglish

SubjectAncient / Greece, Ancient Languages (See Also Latin), Ancient & Classical

Publication Year2024

TypeLanguage Course

Subject AreaLiterary Criticism, Foreign Language Study, History

AuthorGiustina Monti

SeriesAris and Phillips Classical Texts

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.8 in

Item Weight12 Oz

Item Length8.2 in

Item Width5.8 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

Reviews"Giustina Monti's edition of Alexander's Letters is a really important contribution to scholarship. These letters, preserved largely by Plutarch and Arrian, cover a wide range of topics: angry ripostes to the Persian king Darius, reports on battles to Antipater back at home, more or less chatty letters to his friends, even one to his mother telling her what he was told at the oracle of Siwah. Some seem pretty clearly to be inauthentic - not forgeries, perhaps, but rather later literary exercises; some though give every impression of being genuine and containing good, hard information... If she is right, they become an immensely valuable resource for sifting some truth from the morass of Alexander legend." Christopher Pelling FBA, Emeritus Regius Professor of Greek, University of Oxford, "Readers of Plutarch's Alexander, wanting an expansion of Hamilton's always useful but succinct 1969 commentary, will find pages of value on those twenty-eight short passages in Alexander considered here by Monti." Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2024.10.31, "The careful evaluation of each letter in Monti's selection makes her book a new work of reference on its subject... she has not only breathed new life and insight into a knotty problem in Alexander Quellenforschung, but also has fashioned a desirable tool for anyone working in depth on Alexander-history." Tony Spawforth, Classics for All

Table Of ContentIntroduction 1. The Sources for the Letters of Alexander 2. How Did the Letters Reach Later Writers? The Archive and the Royal Grammatistes 3. The Formula of Salutation used by Alexander in his Letters 4. The Persian Custom of Writing Letters 5. The Contents of the Letters and their Addressees: I. The Great King Darius II. Antipater III. Olympias IV. Pedagogues and Friends V. Alexander's Trust in Doctors: Warning Letters 6. Language 7. History of Modern Scholarship on the Letters Chronological Table Conspectus Siglorum Letters: A Selection Commentary Bibliography: Critical Editions Studies Index Locorum General Index

SynopsisThis book offers the first critical edition with an English translation and commentary on some of the letters attributed to Alexander and transmitted by mainly Plutarch and Arrian. The vast majority of the texts examined here are constituted by Alexander's 'private' letters, but the book also includes some letters regarded as official. Thirty-four letters are included, although there are many more letters allegedly written by Alexander, which are definitely forgeries. The doubts about the letters mostly come from the fact that the Romance of Alexander is considered a sort of epistolary novel, thus it has been argued that at some point a collection of Alexander's letters was put together, containing a nucleus of genuine letters, but also expanded with forgeries. This volume attempts to isolate the letters which are regarded as authentic by the majority of modern scholars, with each letter followed by an outline of previous scholarly discussion of its authenticity. The book brings to wider attention a much-neglected corpus by employing an innovative approach. The traditional study of epistolography tends to focus on literary rather than historical aspects of the genre, whereas this book, by exploring the culture behind the action of writing at Alexander's court and the diverse approaches in relation to the letters, suggests that different criteria and new ways of writing history, prompted by Eastern standards, were introduced at his court. Furthermore, the collection shows that the step Alexander made, when he assumed the title of Great King, had formal and cultural implications. Finally, the book discusses the provenance of the letters, especially who among the historians contemporary with Alexander knew and handed the letters down.

LC Classification NumberDF234.A1A4 2024