The Alexandreis: A Twelfth-century Epic - Couverture souple

Chatillon, Walter

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1551116766 ISBN 13 : 9781551116761

Editeur : Broadview Press Ltd, 2006

Synopsis

Walter of Châtillon’s Latin epic on the life of Alexander the Great was a twelfth- and thirteenth-century “best-seller:” scribes produced over two hundred manuscripts. The poem follows Alexander from his first successes in Asia Minor, through his conquest of Persia and India, to his progressive moral degeneration and his poisoning by a disaffected lieutenant. The Alexandreis exemplifies twelfth-century discourses of world domination and the exoticism of the East. But at the same time it calls such dreams of mastery into question, repeatedly undercutting as it does Alexander’s claims to heroism and virtue and by extension, similar claims by the great men of Walter’s own generation. This extraordinarily layered and subtle poem stands as a high-water mark of the medieval tradition of Latin narrative literature.

Along with David Townsend’s revised translation, this edition provides a rich selection of historical documents, including other writings by Walter of Châtillon, excerpts from other medieval Latin epics, and contemporary accounts of the foreign and “exotic.”

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

David Townsend is Professor of Medieval Studies and English at the University of Toronto.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Broadview Press Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2006
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1551116766
• ISBN 13: 9781551116761
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 284
• Éditeur: Townsend David
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible