Within the medieval versions of his legend, Alexander the Great is often physically described with feral elements and, as both a defender and extender of borders, constantly associated with lions, seen as protective and aggressive animals at the same time. Also Bucephalus frequently appears to be described as a “lion-horse”, so that the episode of his domestication allows us to compare Alexander to Ivan, the ‘Knight of the Lion’, who maintains a similar symbiotic relationship with his animal. As I will try to demonstrate, the association of the Macedonian king with lions might be due not only to his assimilation to Apollo, but also to his ambiguous nature. In fact, in the medieval tradition, Alexander is indeed a generous and just king, full of mercy and courage, but, at the same time, he happens to show ferocious features that contribute to make of him a demonic figure.

Alessandro, «re-Leone» : la morfologia ferina del sovrano-guerriero nella leggenda medievale di Alessandro Magno

Susanna Barsotti
2021

Abstract

Within the medieval versions of his legend, Alexander the Great is often physically described with feral elements and, as both a defender and extender of borders, constantly associated with lions, seen as protective and aggressive animals at the same time. Also Bucephalus frequently appears to be described as a “lion-horse”, so that the episode of his domestication allows us to compare Alexander to Ivan, the ‘Knight of the Lion’, who maintains a similar symbiotic relationship with his animal. As I will try to demonstrate, the association of the Macedonian king with lions might be due not only to his assimilation to Apollo, but also to his ambiguous nature. In fact, in the medieval tradition, Alexander is indeed a generous and just king, full of mercy and courage, but, at the same time, he happens to show ferocious features that contribute to make of him a demonic figure.
2021
Settore L-FIL-LET/09 - Filologia e Linguistica Romanza
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Barsotti-2.pdf

Accesso chiuso

Descrizione: Barsotti_Alessandro Magno
Tipologia: Published version
Licenza: Non pubblico
Dimensione 177.76 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
177.76 kB Adobe PDF   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11384/125104
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
  • OpenAlex ND
social impact