title: Alexander the Great and Three Examples of Upholding Mythological Tradition
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Tumans, Harijs
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2020-01-17T12:26:28Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2020-01-17T12:26:28Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2019-12
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Tumans H. Alexander the Great and Three Examples of Upholding Mythological Tradition. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History, 2019, vol. 64, iss. 4, рр. 1301–1316.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu02.2019.409
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/16926
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: This article discusses three episodes from the history of Alexander the Great that illustrate
  his attitude towards ancient myths and religiosity. It is known that the great conqueror used
  myths for his own political goals, however, there are at least three episodes in which cultural
  context comes to the fore and plays a particular role in the king’s ideology. First, the profanation
  of Betis’ body after the seizure of Gaza. Despite many authors’ rebukes of his action, it can
  be seen that Alexander was imitating Achilles thus trying to strengthen his authority among
  the troops. The second example is demolition of a Branchidae village in Bactria. Surely, it is an
  inexcusable act according to secular understanding, but it is righteous from the point of view
  of traditional religiosity of ancient Greeks and Macedonians. There is strong reason to believe
  that Alexander thus rather increased than lost his authority since he acted as a defender of
  the traditional religion. The third episode is a story of Alexander’s meeting with the queen of
  the Amazons. It is impossible to determine whether the story is based on some historical fact,
  although it is often mentioned in sources. It is possible to suggest that Alexander had it staged
  in order to revive an ancient myth and emulate his legendary ancestor Heracles. These three
  episodes had no clear political meaning but carried a deeply symbolic character and placed
  the king into the world of ancient myths and figures. These, together with similar mythological
  symbols, indorsed the heroic ideology that served as the foundation for the great campaign.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: en
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. History;Volume 64; Issue 4
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Alexander the Great
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: mythos
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: religion
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: legitimization
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: tradition
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Batis
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Branchidae
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Thallestris
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: heroic ethos
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: Alexander the Great and Three Examples of Upholding Mythological Tradition
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 1301-1316.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/16926/1/1301-1316.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 693,48 kB