Alexander the Great in Arrian’s ›Anabasis‹: A Literary Portrait

Vasileios Liotsakis

Published by De Gruyter 2019

Alexander the Great in Arrian’s ›Anabasis‹

A Literary Portrait

Vasileios Liotsakis

Volume 78 in the series Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110659979

Overview
Contents

About this book

Arrian’s Alexandrou Anabasis constitutes the most reliable account at our disposal about Alexander the Great's campaign in Asia. However, whereas the work has been thoroughly studied as a historical source, its literary qualities have been relatively neglected, with no autonomous monograph existing on this matter. Vasileios Liotsakis fills this gap in the studies of Alexander the Great’s literary tradition, by offering the first monograph on Arrian’s compositional strategies. Liotsakis focuses on the narrative techniques and verbal choices, through which Arrian allows praise and criticism to intermingle in his portrait of the Macedonian king. His main point of argument is that Arrian systematically exploits an abundance of narrative means (military descriptions, presentation of peoples, march-narratives, anachronies, and epic elements) in order to draw the reader’s attention not only to Alexander’s intellectual skills but also to the fact that the king was gradually corrupted by his success. This book puts Arrian’s literary contrivances under the microscope, sheds new light on unexplored aspects of the Anabasis’ narrative arrangement, and contributes to the studies of Alexander’s prosopography in Classical historiography.

Author / Editor information

Vasileios Liotsakis, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg, Germany.

Reviews

"[Liotsakis'] book contains rich pickings both for historians and for students of ancient historiography, constituting a reminder to the former—if one is needed nowadays—of the often rhetorical quality of the latter. Despite L.’s manifest ease in the milieu of ‘literary theory and the classics,’ the book is readable and surprisingly jargon-free. Its originality makes it a landmark in its field of study." Tony Spawforth in: Classics For All, https://classicsforall.org.uk/book-reviews/alexander-the-great-in-arrians-anabasis/ , (22.11.2019)

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Foreword Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Overall Design: From Praise to Criticism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	14
2. March-Narrative and Characterization Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
3. Atemporality and Characterization Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	122
4. Arrian Homericus: Alexander, the Epic Hero Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
5. General Conclusions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	226
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Index nominum et rerum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
Index locorum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	269

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: For students of Classical historiography, Ancient history, and narratology.
Pages
- Front matter: 11
- Main content: 284
Illustrations
- Tables: 3
Keywords: Alexandrou Anabasis; Arrian; Alexander the Great; Macedonia

eBook

Published: May 6, 2019
ISBN: 9783110659979

Hardcover

Published: May 6, 2019
ISBN: 9783110658736