Cover not available

In:The Reality of Women in the Universe of the Ancient Novel
Edited by María Paz López Martínez, Carlos Sánchez-Moreno Ellart and Ana Belén Zaera García
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 40] 2023
► pp. 382–395

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 24
Queens, heroines and slaves

Women in two Persian Alexander romances (12th century)

 | University of Muenster
Published online: 1 December 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ivitra.40.24man
Abstract
This paper endeavours to portray the role of women in two Persian versions of the Alexander Romance from Medieval period. These women are not simply Alexander’s lovers or opponents, but his educators, an element of independence and empowerment. They present different views of women’s roles as the forces of wisdom, justice, and love.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Some female characters in the Dārābnāma
  • Some female characters in the Iskandarnāma of Niẓāmī Ganjavī
  • Apollonius and the sorcery of the dragon Zoroastrian girl
  • Alexander at the court of Queen Nūshāba (Candace)
  • Alexander in love: The tale of the Chinese slave girl
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
References (43)
Bibliography
Abel, A. ‘Iskandar Nāma’. In Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, edited by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W. P. Heinrichs, P. J. Bearman (Volumes X, XI, XII), Th. Bianquis (Volumes X, XI, XII), et al..
Amīr Khusraw Dihlavī. (1362/1983). Khamsa, ed. A. Aḥmad Ashrafī Tehran. Lo specchio Alessandrino, trans. Angelo M. Piemontese (Soveria Mannelli, (1999).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barns, J. W. B. (1956). “Egypt and the Greek Romance”, Mitteilungen aus der Papyrussammlung der Österreichsichen Nationalbibliothekn n.s. 5, pp. 29–36.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barry, Michael. (2014). Farīd-od-Dīn ‘Attār: The Canticle of the Birds Illustrated through Persian and Eastern Art, trans. A. Darbandi and Dick Davis. with commentary by Michael Barry. Paris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beelaert, Anna Livia. “Ḵāqānī Šervānī”, EIr, XV/5, pp. 521–9.
Bidez, J., Cumont, F. (1938). Les Mages Hellénisés, Zoroaster, Ostanes et Hystaspe d’ après la Tradition grecque, Paris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boyce, M. (1955). “Zariadres and Zārer”, Bulletin of School of Oriental and African Studies 17, pp. 463–77. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Briant, Pierre. (2003). Darius dans l’ombre d’Alexandre. Fayard. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2015) Darius in the Shadow of Alexander. Translated by Jane Marie Todd. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bürgel, J. Christoph. (2000). “Occult Sciences in the Iskandarnameh of Nizami”, The Poetry of Nizami Ganjavi, Knowledge, Love and Rhetoric, ed. K. Talattof and J. W. Clinton (New York, pp. 129–39. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1996). “Jāmī’s Epic Poem on Alexander the Great: An Introduction”, Oriente Moderno 15.76, pp. 415–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davis, Dick. (2002). Panthea’s Children: Hellenistic Novels and Medieval Persian Romances New York.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Blois, F. (begun by Ch. Ambrose Storey), (1994). Persian Literature: Poetry to ca. A.D. 1100 to 1225, London.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dzielska, M. (1986). Apollonius of Tyana in Legend and History, trans. Piotr Pieńkowski Rome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Firdawsī. (1389). Shāhnāma, ed. Khāliqī-Muṭlaq and M. Omīdsālār. 3rd ed. Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gagé, J. (1968). Basiléia, les Césars, les Rois d’ Orient et les Mages, Paris.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gaillard, Marina. (2009). “Hero or Anti-Hero: The Alexander Figure in the Dārāb-nāma of Ṭarsūsī”, (2009). Oriente Moderno 89.2, Studies on Islamic Legends, pp. 319–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gurgānī, Fakhr al-Dīn. (1337/1958).Vis o Rāmin, ed. M. Maḥjūb. Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ḥāfiz. (1359/1980). Dīvān, ed. Parvīz Nātil Khānlarī. Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanaway, William L. (1971). “Formal Elements in the Persian Popular Romances”, Review of National Literatures 2, pp. 139–61.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1972). Persian Popular Romances before the Safavid Period (PhD thesis Columbia University, (1970), published by UMI Dissertation Services.
(1982). “Anāhitā and Alexander”, Journal of American Oriental Society 102.2, pp. 285–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
“Eskandar-Nāma”, Encyclopaedia Iranica, VIII/6, pp. 609–12. [URL]
“Dārāb-Nāma”, Encyclopaedia Iranica, VII/1, pp. 8–9. [URL]
Irānshāh Ibn abī al-Khayr. (1370/1991). Bahmannāma, ed. Raḥīm ‘Afīfī. Iran, Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khaleghi-Motlagh, Jalāl. (1375/1996). “Tan kāma-sarāyī dar adab-i fārsī”, Majāla-yi Irānshināsī 8.1, pp. 20–2. Iran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khāqānī Shirvānī. (1338/1959). Dīvān, ed. Sajjādī. Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Manteghi, H. (2018). Alexander the Great in the Persian Tradition, History, Myth and Legend in Medieval Iran, London. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Minorsky, V. (1946). “Vis U Ramin, A Parthian Romance” Bulletin of School of Oriental and African Studies 11, pp. 741–64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1947). “Vis U Ramin, A Parthian Romance” Bulletin of School of Oriental and African Studies 12, pp. 20–35. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mujmal al-tavārīkh wa al-qiṣaṣ, ed. M. T. Bahār (Tehran, (1318/1939, reprint. 1389/2010).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Niẓāmī Ganjavī. (1378/1999). Sharafnāma, ed. V. Dastgirdī. re-ed. Sa’īd Ḥamīdīyān. 3rd ed. Iran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1376/1997). Iqbālnāma, ed. V. Dastgirdī. re-ed. S. Ḥamīdiyān. Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ogden, D. (2012). “Sekandar, Dragon-Slayer”, Alexander Romance in Persia and the East, ed. R. Stoneman, K. Erickson, I. Netton, Groningen. pp. 277–294. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Plessner, M. “Balīnūs”, EI2, I, pp. 994–95.
Ṣafā, Dh. (1363/1984). Ḥamāsa-sarāyī dar Irān, Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1371/1992). Tārīkh-i Adabīyāt dar Irān, Vol. I, 12th ed. Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1373/1994). Tārīkh-i adabīyāt dar Irān, Vol. II, 13th ed. Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stoneman, Richard (trans.), (1991). The Greek Alexander Romance. London/New York. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2008). Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend, New Haven.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2012), “Persian Aspects of the Romance Tradition”, The Alexander Romance in Persia and the East, ed. R. Stoneman, K. Erickson, I. Netton, Groningen. pp. 14–17. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ṭarsūsī. (1344/1965–1346/1968). Dārābnāma, ed. Dh. Ṣafā. 2 vols. Tehran.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2005). Alexandre le Grand en Iran, Le Dārāb Nāmeh d’Abū Ṭāhir Ṭarsūsī, trans and annotated Marina Gaillard. Paris. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue