Comparison of Personality Dimension of Alexander as Depicted in the Films Alexander (2004) and Alexander the Great (1956) with Persian Poetic Iskandarnāmas, Especially Shāhnāma, Niẓāmī’s Iskandarnāma, and Āyina-yi Iskandarī

Abstract

Abstract Alexander the Great, the world conqueror who brought the Achaemenid dynasty to its knees, has attracted the attention of many Iranian poets and writers. There are numerous poetic and prose works entitled Iskandarnāma (Treatise on Alexander). Ferdowsi’s Shāhnāma and Niẓāmī’s Iskandarnāma are among the most well-known poems narrating Alexander’s life. In addition, several films have been made about Alexander’s life in the West, the most famous of which are Alexander (2004) by Oliver Stone and Alexander the Great (1956) by Robert Rossen. The present descriptive study identifies different dimensions of Alexander’s character in Shāhnāma and Iskandarnāma and compares them with those portrayed in the above-said films. The results show that Alexander’s complex character is composed of four distinct dimensions. Alexander is sometimes an ordinary human being entangled with fear, prone to misjudgment, and an avid lover of love and elaborate festivities. He is an envoy and a warrior. He is also compassionate, generous, resourceful, and politically quite apt. Finally, he has at times the qualities of a prophet and is pious to no end. The films didn’t behoove Alexander’s mysticism or benevolence and focused most tersely on his pillage, murder, and plunder. The literary Alexander of Iran represents a far more dramatic persona than does the film adaptation.