Alexander Cycle
Alexander Cycle
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Alexander Cycle
《亚历山大循环》(Alexander Cycle)
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The exploits of Alexander the Great (356-23 BC) gave rise to a very large number of works, in many different languages. Three main works in Syriac and several shorter texts.
亚历山大帝 (Alexander the Great)（公元前 356-前 323 年）的事迹催生了大量著作，涉及多种语言。叙利亚语 (Syriac) 文献中有三部主要著作及若干较短的文本。
The exploits of Alexander the Great (356–23 BC) gave rise to a very large number of works, in many different languages. The three main works concerning him in Syriac are:
亚历山大 (Alexander) 大帝（公元前 356–前 23 年）的功绩催生了大量著作，涉及多种语言。关于他的三部主要叙利亚语 (Syriac) 著作是：
- A translation of Pseudo-Callisthenes (based on the Greek recension delta), preserved in a number of late E.-Syr. mss. (ed. with ET by Budge). According to Nöldeke, this was not translated directly from Greek, but by way of a lost Middle Persian version; this view has, however, been recently challenged by Ciancaglini, who points to strong evidence that it was made directly from Greek. The Syriac version includes a visit by Alexander to China, which is an episode absent from all other texts. There is also a Modern Syriac version.
- 伪卡利斯泰尼斯 (Pseudo-Callisthenes) 的一个译本（基于希腊语 (Greek) 校订本 delta），保存于若干晚期东方叙利亚语 (E.-Syr.) 手稿 (mss.) 中（由巴奇 (Budge) 编辑 (ed.) 并附英译 (ET)）。据诺尔德克 (Nöldeke) 称，此译本并非直接译自希腊语 (Greek)，而是通过一个已佚的中古波斯语 (Middle Persian) 版本转译；然而，这一观点最近受到钱卡格里尼 (Ciancaglini) 的挑战，她指出有有力证据表明它是直接译自希腊语 (Greek)。该叙利亚语 (Syriac) 版本包含亚历山大 (Alexander) 访问中国 (China) 的情节，这是所有其他文本中都没有的一段插曲。还有一个现代叙利亚语 (Modern Syriac) 版本。
- A narrative poem on Alexander attributed to Yaʿqub of Serugh , but dating almost certainly from soon after the emperor Heraclius’s victory over the Persians (629/30). The different recensions are edited by Reinink (ET in Budge, 163–200).
- 一首关于亚历山大 (Alexander) 的叙事诗，归于萨鲁格的雅各 (Yaʿqub of Serugh) 名下，但几乎肯定成书于皇帝希拉克略 (Heraclius) 战胜波斯人 (Persians) (629/30 年) 之后不久。不同修订本由赖尼克 (Reinink) 编辑（英译 (ET) 见巴奇 (Budge), 163–200）。
- A christianized legend of Alexander entitled ‘The exploits of Alexander’. This is found in the mss. of the Syriac version of Pseudo-Callisthenes (and is included in Budge’s edition) and, in a somewhat different, but related, form, in the Zuqnin Chronicle. This too is thought to date from shortly after 629/30. According to van Bladel (2008), this provided the source for the section on Alexander in the Qurʾān.
- 一则亚历山大 (Alexander) 的基督教化传说，题为《亚历山大功绩》(The exploits of Alexander)。此传说见于伪卡利斯泰尼斯 (Pseudo-Callisthenes) 叙利亚语译本的手稿 (mss.) 中（并收录于巴奇 (Budge) 版中），并以一种略有不同但相关的形式，见于《祖克宁编年史》(Zuqnin Chronicle) 中。这也被认为断代于 629/30 年之后不久。据范布拉德尔 (van Bladel) (2008) 称，这为《古兰经》(Qurʾān) 中关于亚历山大 (Alexander) 的部分提供了来源。
Other Syriac texts relating to Alexander are:
其他与亚历山大 (Alexander) 有关的叙利亚语文本包括：
- A short life, preserved in a single ms. of the 8th/9th cent. (ET in Budge, 159–61).
- 一篇短传，保存于单一手稿 (ms.) 中，年代为 8/9 世纪 (cent.)。（英译 (ET) 见巴奇 (Budge), 159–61）
- Sayings attributed to Alexander, preserved in various sources, including Bar ʿEbroyo ’s Amusing Stories.
- 归于亚历山大 (Alexander) 的格言，保存于各种来源中，包括巴尔·埃伯罗约 (Bar ʿEbroyo) 的《趣味故事》(Amusing Stories)。
- A set of short laments over Alexander, said to have been uttered by various philosophers. These are also found in Arabic, in the Annals of Eutychius (ca. 935).
- 一组关于亚历山大 (Alexander) 的短篇哀歌，据称由多位哲学家所作。这些亦见于阿拉伯语 (Arabic)，收录于《欧提奇乌斯编年史》(Annals of Eutychius)（约 (ca.) 935 年）。
- An account of Alexander’s encounter with the Brahmin Dandamis (an excerpt from Palladius ’s ‘On the Peoples of India and on the Brahmins’).
- 亚历山大 (Alexander) 与婆罗门 (Brahmin) 丹达米斯 (Dandamis) 会面的记述（帕拉狄乌斯 (Palladius)《论印度诸民与婆罗门》(On the Peoples of India and on the Brahmins) 节选）
- Various notices in Chronicles.
- 编年史中的各类记载。
- Ms. Vat. Syr. 555 (W.-Syr., dated 1501) contains an astronomical ‘Book of Alexander’.
- 手稿 (Ms.) 梵蒂冈叙利亚文 (Vat. Syr.) 555（西部叙利亚文 (W.-Syr.)，断代 1501 年）收录一部天文学《亚历山大书》(Book of Alexander)。
References
S. P. Brock, ‘The Laments of the Philosophers over Alexander in Syriac’, JSS 15 (1970), 205–18. (an appendix gives details of other Syriac texts on Alexander; repr. in Studies in Syriac Christianity [1992], ch. VIII)
E. A. W. Budge, The History of Alexander the Great (1889; repr. 2003).
G. J. Reinink, Das syrische Alexanderlied. Die drei Rezensionen (CSCO 454–5; 1983).
S. P. Brock, ‘Stomathalassa, Dandamis and Secundus in a Syriac monastic anthology’, in After Bardaisan, ed. Reinink and Klugkist, 35–50, esp. 40–46.
C. A. Ciancaglini, ‘The Syriac version of the Alexander Romance’, LM 114 (2001), 121–40.
S. Gero, ‘The Legend of Alexander the Great in the Christian Orient’, BJRL 75 (1993), 3–9.
G. J. Reinink, ‘Die Entstehung der syrischen Alexanderlegende als politisch-religiöse Propagandaschrift für Herakleios’ Kirchenpolitik’, in After Chalcedon, ed. Laga et al., 263–81.
, ‘Alexandre et le dernier empereur du monde: les dévéloppements du concept de la royauté chrétienne dans les sources syriaques du septième siècle’, in Alexandre le Grand dans les littératures occidentales et proche-orientales (1999), 149–59.
, ‘Alexander the Great in the seventh-century “Apocalyptic” texts’, Vizantorussica 2 (2003), 150–78.
K. van Bladel, ‘The Syriac sources of the early Arabic narratives of Alexander’, in Memory as History. The Legacy of Alexander in Asia, ed. H. P. Ray and D. T. Potts (2007), 54–75.
, ‘The Alexander Legend in the Qurʾan 18:83–102’, in The Qurʾan in its Historical Context, ed. G. S. Reynolds (2008), 175–203.
Citation
Sebastian P. Brock. 2011. “Alexander Cycle.” In Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Beth Mardutho. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Alexander-Cycle.