Alexander the Great
Journey to the End of the Earth
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this succinct portrait of Alexander the Great, distinguished scholar and historian Norman Cantor examines the military conquests and personal life of this legendary ruler. Drawing on the writings of Alexander’s contemporaries, along with current psychological and cultural studies, Cantor shows Alexander as he was — a great figure in the ancient world whose puzzling personality fueled his military accomplishments.
Cantor delves into Alexander’s ambiguous relationship with his father, Philip II of Macedon; his oedipal involvement with his mother, the Albanian princess Olympias; and his bisexuality. He traces Alexander’s attempts to bridge the East and West, using Achilles, hero of the Trojan War, as his model. Finally, Cantor explores Alexander’s view of himself in relation to the pagan gods of Greece and Egypt. More than a biography, Norman Cantor’s Alexander the Great is an insightful psychological rendering of an extraordinary man.
Norman F. Cantor (1929-2004) was professor emeritus of history, sociology, and comparative literature at New York University. His many books include the New York Times best-seller In the Wake of the Plague, Antiquity, The Civilization of the Middle Ages, Medieval Lives, and Inventing the Middle Ages, which was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The last work of the late historian Cantor (In the Wake of the Plague) is a flat and uninspiring study of a leader of gigantic proportions and unparalleled courage. Drawing heavily on previous modern biographies, as well as on biographical sketches from Plutarch, Arrian and other ancient writers, Cantor recreates Alexander's world, his military campaigns and his family life. Cantor mechanically traces Alexander's military exploits through Persia, Jerusalem and India, where he often freed the people of one region from a tyrant and then enslaved them himself. In tantalizing brevity, Cantor provides a picture of the bloody civil wars, the superstition and fears, and the environment of honor and shame in which the young prince grew up. Alexander's reputation as a chivalrous leader developed much later, Cantor says, both in the Alexandrine romances of the first century and in Christian legend and lore of the Middle Ages. The author clearly demonstrates that Alexander's greatness derives primarily from his abilities as a field commander rather than from his abilities as a political leader. Regrettably, Cantor offers no startling information that would help distinguish his short biography from the more complete and detailed works of Robin Lane Fox, Peter Green or Michael Wood. Map.
