Alexander re-mapped: geography and identity in the Alexander Romance in Armenia

Thesis

This thesis examines the reception of legendary traditions of Alexander III of Macedon in a region peripheral to his historical empire: Armenia. Its interest is in the relationship between the edges of the world in the Alexander Romance, and Alexander’s place and identity in Armenian literature. The central question is: to what extent did writers in the Armenian language adopt, alter or subvert the image of Alexander and the geographical ideas expressed in the Alexander Romance?

It finds that the complexity of the Armenian response to Alexander is located particularly in a literary tradition of the medieval period: the composition of kafas (short monorhymed poems) to accompany the Alexander Romance narrative, starting in the late 13th, early 14th century by Xač‘atur Keč‘aṙec‘i and continued in the 16th century primarily by Grigoris Ałt‘amarc‘i and his pupil Zak‘aria Gnunec‘i.

This thesis first seeks precursors to the kafas’ contents in three genres of Armenian text relevant to Alexander: geography, history and apocalypse. Particular attention is paid to the use of Alexander as marker of geographical extremity, pursuing the ways that these texts presaged the kafas – and highlighting how often they did not. The second and larger section of the thesis turns to the kafas about Alexander’s encounters with remote regions and foreign kings as multifarious Armenian responses to the Alexander Romance. It translates and analyses their contents, as well as drawing lateral lines across text networks in and beyond the Armenian language that situate the kafas in the full breadth of their contexts. This thesis answers its central question: through these poetic interventions, Armenian traditors re-mapped the world of the Alexander Romance to suit a medieval Christian Armenian cosmological understanding.

Authors: MacFarlane, A

• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: armenian poetry; Grigoris Ałt‘amarc‘i; armenian literature; alexander romance; Xač‘atur Keč‘aṙec‘i; Zak‘aria Gnunec‘i
• Subjects: Literature, Medieval; Kafa (Armenian poetry); Alexander, the Great, 356 B.C.-323 B.C.--Legends; Armenian literature; History; Armenian poetry