Battling without Beards
This paper explores the literary tradition of the curious chreia that Alexander ordered his men to shave off their beards before battle. The story is represented by various sources from the imperial period but most prominently in the Encomium of Baldness by Synesius of Cyrene. The latter source posi...
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2018 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:200366 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/200366 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/karanos.5 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Alexander the Great Synesius of Cyrene Arrian Anabasis Fourth-century BC Greece Alejandro Ptolomeo I Arriano Sinesio de Cirene Dion Crisóstomo Julio Africano Chreia Tradición literaria Antigüedad tardía Literatura cristiana temprana |
| Sumario: | This paper explores the literary tradition of the curious chreia that Alexander ordered his men to shave off their beards before battle. The story is represented by various sources from the imperial period but most prominently in the Encomium of Baldness by Synesius of Cyrene. The latter source posits that the story comes from the History of Alexander by Ptolemy, son of Lagus, but this claim cannot be true when Synesius' version is compared to other extant uses of the chreia. This paper exemplifies some of Synesius' methods of working, arguing that we need to invest more energy in appreciating the wider tradition of Alexander in late antiquity to understand our earlier texts. |
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