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The encounter with the Brahmans in the Old Russian and Latin versions of the Alexander Romance: modification of the sources
Abstract
The article examines the interpolated Brahmans’ episode in the Latin «Historia de preliis» (redaction J2) and the old Russian «Chronograph Alexander» (second redaction) and analyses similarities and differences that exist between the two versions. Their representations ofthe Brahmans share some common features, but the emphasis in their criticism of Alexander and Macedonian soldiers is placed on different aspects - the theological ones in the «Historia de preliis» and the practical ones in the «Chronograph Alexander». The image of Alexander is not quite the same either: in the Latin version he does not accept the mode of life and teachings of Brahmans and develops his own counter-theory preaching how a man should and should not live, in the Russian version Alexander fully recognizes the truth of the Brahmans’ leader, but forced into the path of conquest by the will of Providence, he cannot change his own fate.
Keywords
medieval literature, Alexander the Great, Alexander romance, brahmans