Undergraduate Course: The Legendary Afterlives of Alexander the Great (CLGE10010)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course explores the legacy of Alexander the Great in its manifold manifestations across Eurasian cultures from the ancient world to the modern. The focus is on the ways in which people of all backgrounds engaged with his story and helped to shape it across more than 2,000 years of history. Participants will examine the growth of legends and literary traditions that transcend history and cultural boundaries. |
| Course description |
This course will focus on the reception of Alexander's legacy from 323 BC to the present, primarily through the engagement with the Alexander Romance and its literary tradition. We will study intriguing intersections in the history of ideas, primarily through the holy wanderings of the Alexander Romance, a text only rivalled by the Bible in terms of geographical spread. We will follow its diverse paths through literature and rich legends from its inception in the Greek world to its receptions from medieval Iceland to Malaysia. Participants will become acquainted with the complex developments of Alexander-related thought and ideas in numerous contexts and cultures, including the medieval Scottish world. We will study several features of cultural history through these texts, e.g. religion, social and intellectual.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics related subject matter at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate, by way of coursework, class participation and examination, command of a range of sources relevant to Alexander's afterlives
- demonstrate an ability to analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship, primary source materials, and conceptual approaches considered in the course during the class discussion, and in the examination and coursework-assessment
- demonstrate an ability to understand and apply specialised research or professional skills, techniques and practices to the variety of source material considered in the course (from multiple historical periods)
- demonstrate, by way of seminar performance and coursework the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course, and demonstrate originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others (coursework: presentations)
- demonstrate in a research-based coursework essay their ability to conduct a sustained individual enquiry into a particular aspect of the topic
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Reading List
Stoneman, R. 2008. Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend. New Haven & London.
Stoneman, R. 1991. The Greek Alexander Romance. London.
Stoneman, R. 2012. Legends of Alexander the Great. London.
Stoneman, R., K. Erickson & I. Netton. eds. 2012. The Alexander Romance in Persia and the East. Groningen.
Zuwiyya, D. ed. 2011. A Companion to Alexander Literature in the Middle Ages. Leiden.
Doukifar-Aerts, F. 2010. Alexander Magnus Arabicus: a survey of the Alexander tradition through seven centuries: from pseudo-Callisthenes to Suri. Paris.
Mitsakis, K. 1970. 'The tradition of the Alexander Romance in Modern Greek literature,' in Laourdas, B. & C. Makaronas. eds. Arkhaia Makedonia I. Thessaloniki. 376- 86.
Van Donzel, E. & A. Schmidt. 2010. Gog and Magog in Early Eastern Christian and Islamic Sources: Sallam's Quest for Alexander's Wall. Leiden.
Amitay, O. 2010. From Alexander to Jesus. Berkeley, CA.
Wood, M. 1997. In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great. A Journey from Greece to Asia. London.
Cary, G. 1956. The Medieval Alexander. [ed. D. J. A. Ross]. Cambridge, UK. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Christian Djurslev
Tel: (0131 6)50 3473
Email: C.Djurslev@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Alexandra Adam
Tel: (0131 6)50 3767
Email: alex.adam@ed.ac.uk |
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