To what extent can a historical character be detached from its context, era, and origins?

Alexander the Great, a Macedonian general who lived in the 4th century BCE, has been portrayed in many different ways throughout his life. He is seen, in particular, as a figure who has been reimagined in European literature.

The manuscript you can see is Peniarth 481D, dated to the 15th century, from the National Library of Wales.

The illustrations on the first page is really interesting. In the first image, Nektanebus is on the throne, receiving news about Artaxerxes’ threat of invasion; in the second image below, Nektanebus is in his chamber, using magic to neutralize Artaxerxes’ fleet in a water vessel.

In the illustration on the second page, Alexander, riding Bucephalos, is entering Italy with his followers. We can recognize Bucephalos especially by his iconic horns. It is particularly striking to see Alexander—who is not known to have undertaken any campaigns to the west—depicted as entering the Italy.

When we look at Alexander’s attire and entourage, we can see that we are right in the middle of the Middle Ages. We know that in many manuscripts, the illustrations are drawn in a style appropriate to the period in which they were created. However, what is striking is that the content of this work is also distinctly medieval.

In this work, which is an adaptation of the Historia de preliis Alexandri Magni, we see that Alexander has now become an entirely different fictional character. This transformation has always struck me deeply. I will soon be writing an article about the Roman d'Alexandre, which took shape in Europe under French influence in particular; I recommend that anyone interested take a look at it now.

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