Alexandreis by Waiter of Châtillon (review)

Abstract

running head waiter of châtillon, Alexandreis, a verse translation by David Townsend. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1996. Pp. xxix, 214. isbn: 0-8122-3347-6. $37-50. Walter ofChâtillon's Alexandreis, an epic poem composed in Latin between 1171 and 1181, was for a long time part of the canon in grammatical studies, at the same level as the classic masterpieces. With Colkers critical edition (1978) and Pritchard's prose translation (1986), it started again to attract the attention ofscholars and students of medieval literature. We now have David Townsend's new translation in blank verses, which proposes 'to afford the general anglophone reader a satisfying literary experience of the poem' (xxii). The image ofAlexander the Great (356-323 b.c.) transmitted throughout the ages is an amazing combination of facts and legends. Of the predominantly historical records kept by his contemporaries (Cleitarchus, Ptolomy, Aristobulos, Callisthenes, among others), only fragments remain. It was mostly on Cleitarchus that Quintus Curtius Rufus based his Latin biography (circa 50 a.d.), which in turn becameWalter's main source. Shortly after 1180—and thus roughly at the same time as the Alexandreis—the Old French Roman d'Alexandre, initiated much earlier by Alberic de Briançon and Lambert Ie Tort, was completed and recast in its final form byAlexandre de Paris. Its origin can be traced to the Greek Romance ofAlexander (Egypt, 3rd century ce.), amply disseminated through its Latin translations. These two major poems of 12thcentury France nicely complement each other as different views ofAlexander, the Alexandreis being more factual and the Roman d'Alexandre wildly fantastic. This is not to say that Walter's account remained immune to legend; it incorporated, for instance, the visit ofthe Amazon Thalestris, retained by the usually skeptical Curtius, as well as a number ofelements from the legendary tradition leading to the Roman d'Alexandre, such as the reference to Nectanebus. Also present, with lesser emphasis, are some ofthe amusing anecdotes which, to Plutarch, seemed 'to reveal far more of a man's character than the mere fact ofwinning battles' (ParallelLives—Alexander ?). Plutarch also tells of Alexander's intellectual curiosity and readiness to perform experiments, supposedly stimulated by Aristotle, when confronted with the exotic natural phenomena observed in his Asian expedition. This aspect is treated in a surrealistic fashion in the legends, being the most fascinating part of the Roman d'Alexandre. In the Alexandreis, the hero's hubris prods him to lay open Nature's secrets (x.10). Writing in Latin and modestly comparing his efforts to Virgil's in his Prologue, it was only natural that Walter should also adapt epic scenes from the Aeneid. The style used to describe individual participations in the course of battles between armies reflects this influence (e.g., Pallas in Virgil and Fidias in Walter). The personified Nature's appeal to Leviathan to detain Alexander and Leviathan's fear that the king is the New Man fated to harrow Hell, combines classic and Christian allusions: Juno's call to the fury Allecto in Virgil (also Ceres sending Fames to punish Erysichthon in Ovid's Metamorphoses) and Satan's predicament in the Decensus Christi ad Inferos arthuriana (part ofthe apocryphal Evangelium Nicodemi). Ofpurely Biblical origin is the explicit reference to the Book ofDaniel (8:20—21) to announce that a Greek should destroy the Persian empire. Walter's narrative is interesting and sometimes truly epic. One verse lingers in our memory: the proverbial 'incidís in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdim' [You fall to Scyllawhile you shun Charybdis (5.350)] . Not even an anachronic reference to Arthur is missing (7.457). All in all, I enjoyed reading Townsend's translation, which strives for literary quality, but never allows the self-imposed adherence to poetical conventions to obscure meaning. antonio 1. furtado Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro ...