An Ambiguous Hero: Alexander of Macedon in Old Polish Literature: Selected Aspects

Abstract

The paper focuses on the specific usage of the personage of Alexander the Great in old Polish literature. The author has decided to limit its scope to particular motifs only, originating in the biography of the king of Macedon that functioned in the body of argumentative topoi as a historical exemplum. This means that no historical works have been included here that present the history of Macedon, just as literary works dedicated entirely to Alexander and collections or fragments of collections of examples that do not form a complete story. The analysis of the compiled material leads to the conclusion that Alexander’s biography was basically used in two ways: first, as a source of positive examples, focused around the praise of the king’s commanding skills, his courage, methods of building trust of his soldiers, magnanimity towards the defeated, in particular women. The positive image of the ruler was also shaped by Alexander’s interactions with philosophers (especially Aristotle). Secondly, however, the figure of Alexander is characteristic in that it is equally associated with a negative vision, composed by pride, desire for conquest, drunkenness, anger and debauchery. Characteristically, the work of the very same author may depict Alexander as positive and negative at the same time (Mikołaj Rej, Wacław Potocki), and it is the balanced coexistence of both representations that makes literary Alexander truly unique. The serious examples present in old Polish literature are accompanied by a smaller group of works where the episodes from Alexander’s biography are employed in a humorous concept (Baroque poems by Daniel Naborowski and Jan Andrzej Morsztyn).