Synopses & Reviews
Xerxes, Great King of the Persian Empire from 486andndash;465 B.C., has gone down in history as an angry tyrant full of insane ambition. The stand of Leonidas and the 300 against his army at Thermopylae is a byword for courage, while the failure of Xerxesandrsquo; expedition has overshadowed all the other achievements of his twenty-two-year reign.
and#160;
In this lively and comprehensive new biography, Richard Stoneman shows how Xerxes, despite sympathetic treatment by the contemporary Greek writers Aeschylus and Herodotus, had his reputation destroyed by later Greek writers and by the propaganda of Alexander the Great. Stoneman draws on the latest research in Achaemenid studies and archaeology to present the ruler from the Persian perspective. This illuminating volume does not whitewash Xerxesandrsquo; failings but sets against them such triumphs as the architectural splendor of Persepolis and a consideration of Xerxesandrsquo; religious commitments. What emerges is a nuanced portrait of a man who ruled a vast and multicultural empire which the Greek communities of the West saw as the antithesis of their own values.
Review
and#39;Recent scholarly approaches to the lives of ancient Iranian monarchs have opted for the Reception Studies approach, filtering the rulers through the long-lens of ancient and modern historiography. Not so Richard Stoneman. He boldly bucks the trend and in his Xerxes: A Persian Life proves that it is possible to write a very good biography of a long-dead Persian. He takes a cradle-to-grave (or harem-to-ossuary) approach in doing so and tackles the complex, conflicting, multi-layered sources with gusto.and#39;andmdash;Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, THE
Review
andldquo;A biography that awakens curiosity and whets the appetite for more information.andrdquo;andmdash;Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Since his death in the third century BC, each age has woven its own legends around the figure of Alexander the Great.
If the Hebrew tradition saw him as a preacher and prophet, to the Persians he was alternately a true king and an arch-Satan, while in modern Greece he is revered more as a wise man than as a conqueror. All these very disparate traditions share roots inThe Greek Alexander Romance.
One of the most influential works of late classical Greek literature, it reached Europe in the Middle Ages, and its effects are still visible to us in illuminated manuscripts and cathedral sculptures portraying Alexander's fabulous adventures - his taming of the horse Bucephalus, the encounters with Amazons and Brahmins, the quest for the Water of Life, the ascent to heaven in a basket borne by eagles. Nowadays theRomanceshould be read not only as a literary masterpiece but also as fast-paced and wonderfully exuberant entertainment.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
Synopsis
Mystery surrounds the parentage of Alexander, the prince born to Queen Olympias. Is his father Philip, King of Macedonia, or Nectanebo, the mysterious sorcerer who seduced the queen by trickery? One thing is certain: the boy is destined to conquer the known world. He grows up to fulfil this prophecy, building a mighty empire that spans from Greece and Italy to Africa and Asia. Begun soon after the real Alexander's death and expanded in the centuries that followed, The Greek Alexander Myth depicts the life and adventures of one of history's greatest heroes - taming the horse Bucephalus, meeting the Amazons and his quest to defeat the King of Persia. Including such elements of fantasy as Alexander's ascent to heaven borne by eagles, this literary masterpiece brilliantly evokes a lost age of heroism.
Synopsis
The first full-scale account of a Persian king vilified by history
About the Author
Richard Stoneman is Honorary Visiting Professor, University of Exeter, and the author of numerous books. He lives in Devon, UK.
Table of Contents
The Greek Alexander Romance Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Note on the Text
The Greek Alexander Romance: The Life and Deeds of Alexander of Macedon
Supplements to the Text
Notes
Map: The World of Alexander