Alexander in a diving bell being lowered in the sea. Equally large, on the other hand, are stories, of each of which he is the hero, which might have had a core of facts, but which kept on being edited and embellished and embroidered over centuries. Most of his deeds - who, for all the campaigns he led, all the conquests he made, all the questions he raised, died at the young age of 33 - were recorded during his lifetime and shortly afterwards, leaving an imprint on the scroll of time that would be hard to equal. There are, on the one hand, well-documented facts about the life of Alexander, son of Philip of Macedonia, descendant of the demigod Hercules, tutored by none other than Aristotle. The lives of great figures get surrounded by legends which keep growing like barnacles that cling to the bottoms of great ships and thrive. No one knows for certain, but then this is the very essence of the legend of Alexander. I have no idea where this quite moving line of verse comes from: possibly from a Persian source, for Alexander’s is a prominent presence in some of the greatest works of Persian literature: from the Shahnama of Firdausi to the Khamsa-s (quintet) of Nizami and Khusrau. Miniature from The Book of the Life of the Good King, Alexander, in French. “There is nothing that we will take to the other world: humility he taught us, and the fruitless-ness of gathering material wealth.” Alexander with other creatures in a diving bell. But no, he was Sikandar, Sikandar-eAzam.” Every now and then, our teacher would turn philosophical, and recite for our benefit: “Sikandar jab chalaa duniya se, donon haath khaali the.”. “Do you know how the Hindi-walas call him?” he would ask, and then add with a little sneer, “Alakshendra, even Alak-sundar. While describing his conquests and his learning, his nostrils would flare up a little, and a seldom seen shine would appear in his eyes. But, for our teacher, he was always Sikandar-e-Azam, the Great Sikandar. The lesson was in Urdu: the name was written and therefore pronounced as Sikandar, which in the telling sometimes sounded like Iskandar. I remember, as if it was yesterday, the enthusiasm with which a teacher of ours in school used to read out and narrate to us the ‘story’ of Alexander the Great which was in our prescribed syllabus. “For my own part, I would rather excel in knowledge of the highest secrets of philosophy than in arms.”- Attributed to Alexander the Great
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |