Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, and Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky. Two Manuscripts of “Alexandria” with Continuation in the Time of Troubles

Abstract

The article introduces into scientific circulation the two manuscripts of the famous monument of the Old Russian literature “Alexandria Serbian” - translation of the medieval novel about the life and exploits of Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia. Both manuscripts - in the Russian State Library (the first third of the 17th century) and in the State Literary Museum (the first third of the 19th century) - contain original additions to the text made by unknown Old Russian scribes. The most interesting of them is inserted in the story of the death and burial of the great commander the lengthy Plach (Lamentation) of his wife Queen Roxanne. The study of this text demonstrates not only its closeness to the traditional Russian funeral widow Crying and Prichitaniya (Wailing), including Plach (Lamentation) of the widow of Tsar Fedor Ivanovich - Tsaritsa Irina, but also the semantic parallels with the quite famous laments of the wife of the eminent commander of the Time of Troubles in Russia Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky - Princess Alexandra Vasilievna and his mother Princess Elena Petrovna, included in the several literary monuments of the early 17th century, where the central place is occupied by the description of his sudden death at the feast, that immediately gave rise to the story of his poisoning. To the Time of Troubles in Russia pointed the original epilogue written to Alexandria in the both manuscripts.