Publication: Pervivencia y transmisión de elementos grecolatinos en el mito de Alejandro en la literatura indo-persa
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2021-01-18
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid
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Abstract
De acuerdo con la tesis sostenida en este trabajo, la transmisión de la Novela de Alejandro en Oriente a lo largo de la Antigüedad tardía y la Edad Media no debe ser estudiada como un fenómeno aislado, sino como parte inseparable de un movimiento mucho más amplio: la transmisión en bloque de la cultura grecolatina a Oriente, y en especial su absorción y apropiación por el mundo islámico. La investigación aquí realizada estudia la presencia de elementos de origen griego, no necesariamente procedentes de la tradición del Pseudo-Calístenes, en seis extensas obras sobre la vida de Alejandro/Eskandar escritas en persa en el período 1000-1300: los libros 33-35 del Šāhnāmé de Ferdōsí, el Šarafnāmé y el Eqbālnāmé de Neẓāmí Ganŷaví, el Dārābnāmé de Ṭarsusí, el Eskandarnāmé en prosa anónimo y el Āyiné-ye Sekandarí de Amir Josró. A partir del análisis de estos elementos, algunos de los cuales aparecen intactos y otros significativamente alterados, podemos hacernos una idea de la incidencia y recepción de la cultura grecolatina en la Persia medieval, así como de las vías por las que se operó su transmisión y su fusión con las tradiciones locales sobre Alejandro. Los bloques temáticos estudiados son:a) Relatos sobre el nacimiento y ascendencia de Alejandro, que presentan múltiples variantes pero tienden a aparecer instrumentalizados como discursos de legitimación política: en la Novela alejandrina, el rey desciende de los faraones; en la persa, de los Aqueménidas. De acuerdo con nuestra investigación, las versiones orientales del relato de la concepción de Alejandro/Eskandar recogen distintos motivos provenientes de una antigua “leyenda negra” sobre este personaje, de carácter difamatorio, forjada en Persia en pleno período helenístico. b) Excursos sobre teoría política de raíz helénica y de filiación abiertamente platonizante que aparecen agregados a las versiones persas de la Novela: la interpretación de Alejandro/Eskandar como rey filósofo (tema ligado al género literario del speculum principis) y la construcción de una utópica ciudad ideal. En la transmisión y reelaboración de estas ideas al mundo islámico en general, y a la visión de Alejandro/Eskandar por Neẓāmí en particular, representan un papel fundamental el filósofo Fārābī y el colectivo de los Ijwān aṣ-Ṣafā. c) Reinterpretaciones de los sabios y filósofos de la Antigüedad convenientemente islamizados como figuras de prestigio: Aristóteles, Platón, Apolonio de Tiana, Hipócrates o Claudio Ptolomeo. En la representación de este círculo de filósofos, ciertos modelos de la antigua literatura simposíaca y de las colecciones gnomológicas tardoantiguas encuentran continuidad en las versiones persas de la Novela. d) Relatos de mirabilia en los que afloran ciertos motivos paradoxográficos de origen oriental presentes ya en la literatura griega desde mucho antes de la expedición de Alejandro: es el caso de los cinocéfalos, los otolicnos o los animales fantásticos que extraen oro del Himalaya (grifos, hormigas o avispas, según el autor). El azaroso recorrido de estos motivos, de raíz popular, ilustra la complejidad de la transmisión de elementos literarios entre Oriente y Occidente a lo largo de la Antigüedad y la Edad Media. e) La presencia de elementos simbólicos de gran relieve en la mística islámica cuyas raíces se hunden en las religiones de la Antigüedad: es el caso del mito de la búsqueda del agua de la vida por Alejandro...
As argued in the present dissertation, the transmission of the Alexander Romance in the East during Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages should not be studied as an isolated phenomenon, but as a part pertaining to a much larger movement: the massive transmission of Greek and Latin culture into the East, and especially its absorption and appropriation by the Islamic world. The present study focuses on the recurrence of elements of Greek origin —not only from the Pseudo-Callisthenes tradition— in six extensive works about the life of Alexander/Iskandar written in Modern Persian within the years 1000-1300, namely: books 33-35 from Firdawsī’s Shāhnāmeh, Niẓāmī Ganjavī’s Sharafnāmeh and Iqbālnāmeh, Ṭarsusī’s Dārābnāmeh, the anonymous Iskandarnāmeh prose romance and Amīr Khusraw’s Āyīneh-i Sikandarī. From the analysis of these elements, some of which appear unchanged in the Persian versions whereas others are significantly altered, we reach a deeper insight in the incidence and reception of Greek and Latin culture in Medieval Persianate, as also in the routes followed by its transmission and its fusion with local traditions about Alexander. The main topics covered are: a) Stories on Alexander’s birth and lineage. Although these offer multiple variants, they typically convey a discourse of political legitimation: i.e. in the Alexandrian Romance, Alexander is the Pharaoh’s offspring, while in the Persian versions he descends from the Achaemenid kings. As a result of our research, we argue that in Eastern versions of the story of Alexander’s conception and birth we can find some elements rooted in an ancient “black legend” surrounding this character. Such a defamatory account originated in post-Alexandrian Persia. b) Side narratives concerning political theories of Greek origin and Platonic inspiration, which appear as additions in some versions of the Persian Romance, i. e. the image of Alexander as a philosopher king (a topic related to the literary genre known as speculum principis) and the construction of political Utopia. We can pinpoint two main actors in the transmission of these ideas into Islamic culture in general and into Niẓāmī’s vision of Alexander in particular: these are the philosopher Fārābī and the collective known as Ikhwān aṣ-Ṣafā. c) Reinterpretations, from an Islamic viewpoint, of Ancient sages and philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Apollonius of Tyana, Hippocrates or Claudius Ptolemy. In the representations of this philosophical circle, certain motifs of Ancient symposiac literature and gnomologic collections from Late Antiquity reappear in some versions of the Persian Romance. d) Mirabilia-type accounts where we can find certain paradoxographical motifs of Oriental origin which were already present in Ancient Greek literature much before Alexander’s campaigns, namely: Cynocephali (dog-headed) and Otoliknoi (big-eared) tribes, and the marvelous gold-digging animals from the Himalayas (griffins, ants or wasps, according to different authors). The complex route of transmission of these motifs, originally belonging to Persian folklore, illustrates the interaction of Eastern and Western literary traditions during Ancient and Middle Ages. e) The presence in Islamic mysticism of certain key symbolic elements rooted in Ancient religions, i.e. the water of life myth...
As argued in the present dissertation, the transmission of the Alexander Romance in the East during Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages should not be studied as an isolated phenomenon, but as a part pertaining to a much larger movement: the massive transmission of Greek and Latin culture into the East, and especially its absorption and appropriation by the Islamic world. The present study focuses on the recurrence of elements of Greek origin —not only from the Pseudo-Callisthenes tradition— in six extensive works about the life of Alexander/Iskandar written in Modern Persian within the years 1000-1300, namely: books 33-35 from Firdawsī’s Shāhnāmeh, Niẓāmī Ganjavī’s Sharafnāmeh and Iqbālnāmeh, Ṭarsusī’s Dārābnāmeh, the anonymous Iskandarnāmeh prose romance and Amīr Khusraw’s Āyīneh-i Sikandarī. From the analysis of these elements, some of which appear unchanged in the Persian versions whereas others are significantly altered, we reach a deeper insight in the incidence and reception of Greek and Latin culture in Medieval Persianate, as also in the routes followed by its transmission and its fusion with local traditions about Alexander. The main topics covered are: a) Stories on Alexander’s birth and lineage. Although these offer multiple variants, they typically convey a discourse of political legitimation: i.e. in the Alexandrian Romance, Alexander is the Pharaoh’s offspring, while in the Persian versions he descends from the Achaemenid kings. As a result of our research, we argue that in Eastern versions of the story of Alexander’s conception and birth we can find some elements rooted in an ancient “black legend” surrounding this character. Such a defamatory account originated in post-Alexandrian Persia. b) Side narratives concerning political theories of Greek origin and Platonic inspiration, which appear as additions in some versions of the Persian Romance, i. e. the image of Alexander as a philosopher king (a topic related to the literary genre known as speculum principis) and the construction of political Utopia. We can pinpoint two main actors in the transmission of these ideas into Islamic culture in general and into Niẓāmī’s vision of Alexander in particular: these are the philosopher Fārābī and the collective known as Ikhwān aṣ-Ṣafā. c) Reinterpretations, from an Islamic viewpoint, of Ancient sages and philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Apollonius of Tyana, Hippocrates or Claudius Ptolemy. In the representations of this philosophical circle, certain motifs of Ancient symposiac literature and gnomologic collections from Late Antiquity reappear in some versions of the Persian Romance. d) Mirabilia-type accounts where we can find certain paradoxographical motifs of Oriental origin which were already present in Ancient Greek literature much before Alexander’s campaigns, namely: Cynocephali (dog-headed) and Otoliknoi (big-eared) tribes, and the marvelous gold-digging animals from the Himalayas (griffins, ants or wasps, according to different authors). The complex route of transmission of these motifs, originally belonging to Persian folklore, illustrates the interaction of Eastern and Western literary traditions during Ancient and Middle Ages. e) The presence in Islamic mysticism of certain key symbolic elements rooted in Ancient religions, i.e. the water of life myth...
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Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Departamento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Medieval, leída el 28-09-2020