РОМАН О АЛЕКСАНДРУ ВЕЛИКОМ У СРЕДЊОВЕКОВНОЈ СРБИЈИ: ВИТЕШКИ МОДЕЛ И ПОРТРЕТ ВЛАДАРА-РАТНИКА
THE ROMANCE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN MEDIEVAL SERBIA: THE CHIVALROUS IDEAL AND A PORTRAIT OF A WARRIOR-KING

Summary/Abstract: The Romance of Alexander the Great, together with the Romance of Troy, was one of the most popular novels in medieval Serbia. It is considered that this novel appeared in Serbia at the end of the XIII/beginning of the XIV century and that it was translated from one of the Greek medieval versions of the mentioned work. However, it has been established that the Romance of Alexander the Great has come down to us from maritime parts of Serbian medieval state, which have been exposed to the strong influence of the western culture. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to ascertain to what extent the western influences can be found in the Romance itself and to what extent the work is a translation from the Greek version of the text. The popularity of the Romance and its influence on the works of Serbian archbishop Danilo II - the famous Danilov zbornik - as well as on the works of his successors, must be ascribed to the character of Alexander the Great, a ruler who conquered almost the entire antique world. During the course of time the story of Alexander the Great underwent serious changes and the main character, the Macedonian ruler and the story of his deeds, became a story of a conquering Christian hero. The Romance of Alexander the Great corresponded with the literary trends and genres of the XIV century Serbian literature. The portrayal of the main character also corresponded with the images of the rulers of that time from the Nemanjić dynasty (mainly kings Milutin, Stefan Dečanski and Stefan Dušan), who were all marked (like Alexander himself) as warrior-kings, conquering heroes. The image of a warrior-king was also closely related to the model of medieval “gentleman“, in which one can recognize western influences, for they were both expected to be courageous, merciful, just and protectors of Christianity. Accordingly, five points related to the aforementioned models can be analized: 1. Alexander as a warrior-king and a “gentleman“ 2. Knight as a protector of Christianity 3. Warrior insignia 4. Relation towards women 5. Relation towards death All of these points tend to show the christianized Alexander, his behaviour as a ruler, but also as a medieval knight (which can be seen in the episodes of tournaments and duels in which Alexander takes part against the other knights), his care for Christianity and holy places as well as the importance of warrior insignia (spear, sword, shield and helmet), which were considered holy and sacred. Of special importance are the parallels and comparisons that can be found in the vitae of Serbian medieval kings, Danilov zbornik and the works which followed, related to Alexander the Great (starting from king Milutin) and the episodes from the Romance itself. However, in order to establish the specificity and uniqueness of the Serbian version of the Romance, a more detailed comparison of Serbian and Greek, as well as western versions of the novel must be carried out. Some future research of the Romance will aim to answer these questions.

• Details
• Contents