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Egyptian Logos in the “Alexander Romance”
Abstract
The name Egyptian logos is traditionally applied to chapters 1–12 of book I of the anonymous late-antique Alexander Romance, attributed to Ps.-Callisthenes. It is an utterly ahistorical introduction to the Alexander Romance, a fictional biography of Alexander the Great. The Egyptian logos contains a story of the fall of the last pharaoh of Egypt Nectanebo II, then the story of begetting of Alexander either by Ammon of Siwah or by Nectanebo impersonating the god, and further the story of the birth of Alexander. The Egyptian logos is brimming with references to magic, culture and history of Egypt of the Late Period. In keeping with the Egyptian tradition it shows Nectanbo, the legitimate pharoah of Egypt, as the person endowed with heka, or magical power. It exhibits striking ideological similarity to the Dream of Nectanebo, known from fragmentary Greek and demotic papyri. In all probability they both belong to an Egyptian literary cycle of the fall, exile and return of Nectanebo. They may have been anchored in a demotic royal tale of Nectanebo, now lost. This purported tale and its surviving offspring, the Egyptian logos of the Alexander Romance and the Dream of Nectanebo, share many features with the Egyptian wisdom literature, although the story of the birth of Alexander was clearly re-worked and adapted to the needs of the Greek reader. The Egyptian logos of the Alexander Romance, together with the passages on the founding of Alexandria and on Alexander’s stay in Egypt show Ps.-Callisthenes, the anonymous author of the Alexander Romance, as a hellenized Egyptian and a citizen of Alexandria, a person endowed with good knowledge and understanding of culture of pre-Macedonian Egypt. Ps.-Callisthenes was an erudite author keen on exploiting themes borrowed from earlier authorities.
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Wykaz skrótów źródeł antycznych
Aristid., Or. – Aelius Aristides, Orationes.
Cedrenus, Compendium – Georgius Cedrenus, Compendium Historiarum.
Celsus – Celsus, Ἀληθὴς λόγος.
Chor. – Choricius, Orationes.
Clem. Al., Strom. – Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromata.
D.S. – Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica.
Hdt. – Herodotus, Historiae.
Jos. Ap. – Flavius Josephus, Contra Apionem.
Malalas – Joannes Malalas, Chronographia.
PGM – Papyri graece magicae.
Plu. mor. – Plutarchus, Moralia.
Ps.-Callisth. – Pseudo-Callisthenes, Historia Alexandri Magni (rec. A).
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/rh.2018.46.11-27
Date of publication: 2019-04-25 10:00:22
Date of submission: 2018-02-04 20:37:34
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