British Library showcases two millennia of storytelling inspired by the ancient Macedonian conqueror
Nor could they, he argues, as a repository largely of the printed word. “That is something you would need to do in a place that has access to archaeological fragments, perhaps even at an archaeological site itself.”
In its own terms, the diversity and wealth of material the library can showcase is striking, capturing some of the dazzling range of stories told about one man over two millennia. There is a small fragment of papyrus, dating from the second or third century AD, on which a child has sketched an imagined speech that Alexander might have given after defeating Darius.
He was upheld as the model for the young Henry VIII, whose teacher modestly compared himself to Alexander’s tutor Aristotle in a pamphlet given to his student. The eldest son of King James I, Prince Henry Frederick, was given the optimistic nickname of “the second Alexander”, though he would die at 18 – his childhood armour, covered in illustrations of the Macedonian general, is also featured in the exhibition.
The ongoing contemporary resonance of Alexander is one reason why the exhibition felt timely, said Edwards. “The stories tell us he was trying to bring together a multicultural empire, to merge a Persian and Greek culture – we know that led to discontent among his soldiers on both sides.” Recently, too, the ruler has been celebrated as ancharacter from history, said Edwards – his relationships with men as well as women having been discussed even in his lifetime.
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