484 



NATURE 



[March 26, 1896 



copied from originals which must be put back many 

 hundreds of years, and some of the legends that are 

 inserted are of primeval antiquity. 



Among all races, and especially in the East, the figure 

 of some great national conqueror has always served as a 

 centre around which floating legends and stories have 

 gathered. .\.n historical kernel no doubt underlies the 

 mass, but it has been overlaid with numberless accretions, 

 comprising some ancient legends to a certain extent the 

 common property of all races, and others the special 

 product of the race to which the writer belonged. Each 

 nation that has retold the story of Alexander has modified 

 and added to it to suit its own national ideals, so that the 

 epic in its various forms comprises legends, the sources 

 of which range from traditions of the ancient East down 

 to those of mediaeval Europe. Thus in the history of 

 Alexander we find the ancient legends of Babylon have 

 been laid under contribution. Alexander makes himself 

 small, and flies through the air on the back of an eagle, 

 exploring the heights of the heavens, " the beauties and 

 the terrors thereof, and the stations of the birth and the 

 going forth of the stars," in the same way as the Baby- 

 lonian hero Etana flew to heaven with the eagle, who 

 described to him the fashion and likeness of the earth as 

 it seemed to recede from under them ; and the same 

 legend seems to be reproduced in another form in the 

 " Christian Romance " (p. 474), when Alexander sends 

 scouts from the Country of Darkness to the Country of 

 the Living by making them ride on the backs of eagles. 

 Alexander, too, is related to have travelled in the same 

 regions, and to have met with the same adventures as 

 the Babylonian hero Gilgamish ; while his slaying of the 

 dragon is clearly a reminiscence of the fight of the 

 Babylonian god Merodach with the monster Tiamat. As 

 an instance of the way one of his Ethiopian biographers 

 has incorporated material from contemporary sources,- 

 we may mention the story of the musical city (pp. 457 j^) 

 which Alexander at first cannot take, as his soldiers, 

 after scaling the walls, are overcome by the beauty of 

 the music produced by cunning contrivances of brass, to 

 which figures of brass continually danced — a story which 

 probably reflects some mechanical invention famous at 

 the time of the writer. 



The travels of Alexander furnish ample opportunities 

 for the display of his biographers' knowledge or theories 

 concerning geography and the extent and formation of 

 the world. Thus, when travelling in the neighbourhood 

 of Armenia, Alexander " came down to a very great 

 mountain gate i^or pass) wherein were many large roads 

 by which merchants travel." Alexander makes inquiries, 

 and he is informed by certain sages that the mountain 

 only "ends at the sea that surroundeth the world, that is 

 to say the sea Bontos (Pontus)," and this leads to a 

 description of the far East and the nations who were 

 said to dwell there. The same mountain, which was 

 supposed to surround the world " like a ring," is referred to 

 in another passage by the angel whose duty it is to hold it 

 firm, and who describes it as "the father of all the 

 mountains which are upon the earth," and adds that if 

 plucked up by the roots the destruction of the earth would 

 follow. Another curious geographical conceit occurs in 

 an account of the origin of the Dead Sea, which is said to 

 " stink horribly," because of the dead bodies of men and 

 NO. 1378, VOL. 53] 



women and the carcases of beasts and birds which lie in 

 its depths, whither they were brought by the waters of 

 the Flood. 



We gather, too, some interesting details concerning 

 the ancient practice of magic and astrology. For 

 instance, Aristotle is recounted to have presented to 

 Alexander talismans to protect him against his foes, to 

 enable him to enter fortified cities, for supplying him 

 with water in the desert, and for protecting him and his 

 army against fatigue. He also gave him certain amulets 

 with somewhat similar powers, and furnished him with a 

 device for destroying his enemies by means of waxen 

 figures : 



"And Aristotle also made for Alexander a chest, and 

 he placed therein figures which were made to represent 

 his enemies, and they had leaden swords, which were 

 curved backwards in their hands, and which they held 

 downwards, and bows the strings of which had been cut ; 

 and he placed them in the box with their faces turned 

 downwards, and he nailed them down with iron pegs and 

 fastened the box with an iron chain." 



Alexander had to keep the box carefully, and by lay- 

 ing his hand on it, and reciting certain prayers, he was 

 assured of success against his foes. Aristotle is also 

 credited with a knowledge of astrology, for he compiled 

 for Alexander 



" a number of tables, that is to say, plans or drawings, 

 wherein a star showed the time when he should go forth 

 against his enemies . . . and he spake unto him, saying, 

 ' Know, O King, that the stars are the head and founda- 

 tion of the dispensation of this universe, and that it is by 

 means of them that the world which is beneath the 

 lowest heaven of the moon standeth. Know too that a 

 certain section of the starry vault ruleth over each dis- 

 trict and country on the earth. Now the portion that is 

 over Persia hath therein the planet Mercury, and its 

 regent is Venus, and its guardian is Jupiter, and its 

 adversary is Saturn, and the star which hath dominion 

 over it and worketh misery therein is the planet Mars, 

 but the Sun keepeth it in safety, and the Moon giveth it 

 strength and power. And each of these seven planets 

 hath power over its fortune and over its days ; therefore, 

 O King, do thou direct thy course by the dispensation of 

 the planets Saturn and Mars, and by the spiritual force 

 which is in them, so that thou mayest be victorious over 

 thine enemies thereby.' " 



In the course of a review it is impossible to do more 

 than briefly indicate the value of but a few of the legends 

 and beliefs to be found throughout the 600 pages covered 

 by the English translation. Reference, however, at least 

 should be made to the stories of the magic stone, the 

 fishes and the water of life, Alexander and his diving- 

 bell, the monsters of the deep, Alexander's converse with 

 beasts and birds, and the ride of Gerasimus upon the 

 lion. The material here collected is, in fact, of great 

 interest from many points of view, and not least from 

 that of the student of folk-lore, who will find much useful 

 information in the notes in which Dr. Budge has worked 

 out the origin of many of the legends incorporated or 

 referred to in the text. Our knowledge of ancient and 

 mediaeval science and superstition is gradually becoming 

 more extended, and we venture to think that the volume 

 before us will do much to help on the study. To sum- 

 marise the universal character of the epic of Alexander, 

 we cannot do better than quote Dr. Budge's own words : 



