The Treatment of classical material in the Libro de Alexandre

335 Pages·67 MB·English

by  Ian Michael

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PUBLICATIONS OF THE FACULTY OF ARTS
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
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No. 17 •
THE TREATMENT OF CLASSICAL
MATERIAL IN THE LIBRO DE
ALEXANDRE
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THE TREATMENT OF
CLASSICAL MATERIAL
IN THE
LIBRO DE ALEXANDRE
by
IAN MICHAEL
SeniorL ectureri n Spanish
in the Universityo f Manchester
MANCHESTER
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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© IAN MICHAEL 1970
L~970
Published by the University of Manchester at
THB UNIVERSITY PRESS
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316-324 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR
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1910 SBN: 7190 1247 3
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Printed in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London
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CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
X1.
ABBREVIATIONS :xiii
I INTRODUCTION
I
\ iI
THE NATURE OF THE SOURCES AND THE
WORK OF EARLIER CRITICS
12
1. The nature of the sources 17
(a) Gautier de Chatillon's Alexandreis 17
(b) Historia de Proelii.r 2.0
(c) Roman d' Alexandre
22.
(d) 1/ia.rL atina 2.4
(e) Other sources 2.4
2. The work of earlier critics 2j
III MEDIEVALIZATION: THE CONCEPT OF
KINGSHIP 2.8
1. Royal birth and childhood 29
Royal parentage 32
2.
3. Royal learning and education 41
4. Royal valour 4j
s.
Royal ambition and desire for fame ,o
6. Royal liberality 60
7. Nobility 63 I
l
8. Royal anger 70
9. Treachery 74
1 o. Conclusions 84
IV CHRISTIANIZA TION 88
Christian elements in the narration of events
1. 89
(a) The roles of God and Satan 89
(b) Christian ritual
99
V
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Vl CONTENTS
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Christian elements in the descriptions
2. III
(a) Places
I I.2.
(b) Things IIj
3. Christian elements in direct discourse
119
(a) Prayers
119
(b) Addresses and exhortations
123
(c) Oaths and interjections
13.2.
4. Christian elements in similes and metaphor-
ical expressions 134
5. Incidental Christian comments by the poet
139
6. Conclusions
• 141
V MORALIZATION
143
Moral criticism of Alexander 144
1.
.z. Moralistic exhortations and reflections 157
3. Moral criticism of contemporary society 163
4. Proverbs and aphorisms 167
5. Other moral comments and generalizations 169
6. Conclusions 174
VI Ol'HER ASPECTS OF MEDIEVALIZATION 176
, ·1. Medievalization in the narration of events 176 •
z.. Medievalization in the descriptions 194
3. Medievalization in direct discourse 219
4. Medieval similes and metaphorical expressions
.2..2..2.
(a) Animal husbandry 223
(b) Domestic life 226
(c) Business and crafts 229
(d) Sports and pastimes 3
2 1
(,) The natural world 233
(I) Metaphors in negative expressions 231
5. Superficial medieval elements 38
2
(a) Superficial medieval elements in the narra-
tion of events 3 8
2
(b) Incidental comments by the poet 239
6. Conclusions 247
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CONTENTS vu
Page
VII THE STRUCTURE OF THE LIBRO DB
ALEXANDRE 249
The basic linear narrative 5
I. 2 1
(a) The modifications of Gautier's narrative plan 2 s
1
(b) The narrative insertions from other sources 252
The story of the Trojan war 56 •
2. 2
3. The description of Babylon 261
4. The description of hell and the deadly sins 263
S· The description of Alexander's tent 266
6. Other digressions 70
2
7. Form in the Libro de Alexandre 274
8. The poet's aesthetic concept 275
9. Meaning in the Libro de Alexandre 2.78
APPENDICES
I. DIVISION OF THE 'LIBRO DE ALEXANDRE' INTO
EPISODES, TOGETHER WITH THE SOURCE
REFERENCES .287
2. DISTRIBUTION OF BASIC NARRATION AND
DIGRESSION IN THE 'LIBRO DE ALEXANDRE' 294
3· ANALYSIS IN PERCENTAGES OF NARRATION,
D1scouRsE, DESCRIPTION AND CoMMENTIN
THE 'LIBRO DE A.LExANDRE' 296
BIBLIOGRAPHY 2.99
INDEX
310
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ACKNO.WLEDGEMENTS
This study is a revised and partially abbreviated version of my
doctoral thesis presented to the University of Manchester in
1967. I am glad to have this opportunity of paying tribute to
Mr W. V. 1bomas, who enriched my early studies, to Mrs
Rita Hamilton of King's College, London, who has been a
constant source of advice, and to Emeritus Professor J. W.
Rees, who so admirably supervised my research, officially
until his retirement and unofficially thereafter. I also wish to
express my gr.1titude to my colleague Dr G. B. Gybbon
Monypenny, who undertook the arduous task of reading the ..
I
various drafts of the study and suggested many improvements,
to Professor A. D. Deyermond of Westfield College, London,
who helped to clarify the presentation of an interpretation
with which he is not in entire agreement, and to Professor
H. Ramsden, who proposed important structural modifications.
Emeritus Professor Eugene Vinaver, Dr F. Whitehead and
Professor T. E. Hope willingly answered my queries about
Old French; from these and from my other colleagues in the
Medieval Seminar at the University of Manchester I received
valuable advice. Mr F. W. Hodcroft of St Cross College,
Oxford, solved a number of textual difficulties for me, and
Dr Ian Macpherson of the University of Durham and my
colleague Mr R. M. Price generously helped to correct the
proofs. Professor R. S. Willis of Princeton University most
kindly gave me copies of his monographs; my indebtedness
to his work will be apparent throughout the present study.
The late Dr Moses Tyson, Librarian Emeritus of the
University of Manchester, assisted me on numerous occasions,
and Dr F. W. Ratcliffe, the present Librarian, Mr S. Roberts,
the Deputy Librarian, Dr G. C. Johnson, the Chief Cataloguer,
and the staff of the University Library have shown me
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Xll ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
unfailing patience and kindness. Finally I wish to thank the
Syndics of the Cambridge University Press for permission to
quote extensively from George Cary, The MedievalA lexander,
and also Princeton University Press for permission to quote
extensively from Elliott Monographs Nos. 31, 3z, 33 and 36.
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ABBREVIATIONS
Alex: El libro d, Alexandre: Texts of the Paris and the Madrit;I
Manuscripts, ed. Raymond S. Willis, Jr. (Princeton and
= =
Paris, 1934) [O Osuna-Madrid Ms; P Paris Ms]. Unless
otherwise stated, the quotations are from O MS, but the
variants in P MS are given in square brackets when they arc
significant. Most of A. G. Solalinde's suggested corrections
to the Willis edition (HR, IV, 1936, 75-80) have been
adopted. A few minor orthographic changes have been
made (e.g. 'a' is usually given as 'rr', the letter resembling
final sigma as 'z', and the small sigma sometimes as 'tz.'; see
Willis edition, pp. xxix-xxxi) and punctuation has been
added.
Apo/: El libro d, Apolonio, ed. C. Carroll Marden (Baltimore,
1917, Princeton and Paris, 192.2.), vols.
2.
Cary: George Cary, The MedievaAl lexander (Cambridge, 1956).
Contribution:J ulia Keller, Contribuciona l 11ocab11/adrei/o P oema
de Alixandre (Madrid, 193
2.) .
Debt: Raymond S. Willis, Jr., The Debt of the Spanish' Libro d,
Alexandre' to the French' Roman d' Alexandre' (Princeton and
Paris, 1935 ).
'Description': Ian Michael, 'The description of hell in the
Spanish Libro de Alexandre', in MedievalM iscellanyp resented
to EugeneV inaver (Manchester, 1965), pp. 2.20-2.2.9.
'Estado actual': Ian Michael, 'Estado actual de los estudios
sobre El libro de Alexandre', Anuario de Estudios Medievales,
s
II (1965), 81-595.
G: Gautier de Chatillon, Alexandrei.r,e d. F. A. W. Miildener
(Leipzig, 1863).
HPr, 11: Oswald Zingerle, 'Die Quellen zum Alexander des
Rudolf von Ems. Im Anhange: Die Hi.rtoria de preliis',
GermanistischAe bhandlungenI,V (1885), 12.9-2.65.
xiii
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